Santander problems

lilherbz

Hello,

I am looking for some advise. I am having problems with Santander, I will try keep this as short as possible.

So I have had my current account with Alliance and Leicester for about 3-4 years never had any problems, since being taken over by Santander Ive had problem after problem! We are not talking about masses of money here and i do live dangerously close to the overdraft limit but never go over it!

I checked my bank statement and was shocked to see I had various charges of £25 each totaling £150. So I called them to ask what the heck was going on, I was told that I was meant to reapply for my overdraft and I have been sent a letter. Obviously I had not received the letter and carried on as per normal! So after I had explained no letter was received and I wanted my overdraft back it was all fine - I was reassured the money would not be taken from my account. A few days later whilst checking my online banking and i thought i would check the charges and there were a couple of charges left showing. So another phone call again was assured the money was not going out and their system had not been updated.Ok so about a week later I went out for lunch and my card was not work it kept declining at the till (highly embarrassing) luckily my friend paid. So I checked my online account and the money had been taken, another phone call to Santander they were not bothered i was stranded 20 miles from home unable to put petrol in the car with a 1 year old in the back seat. The money should not have been taken and the refund will take 24 hours to be credited to my account.

So I asked for the complaints procedure as I was unhappy with their service, this apology letter turns up explaining it was human error and steps will be taken to prevent this happening again. My letter back basically outlined the whole process of what had happened and said I had lost all faith in Santander, i don't believe they treat customers fairly. Within the next few days I had a phone call which I missed as I work 40 hours a week I do not have easy access to my phone - there was a message to call back. I call them and spoke to the complaints department and explained it all over again, the bloke on the phone asked permission to transfer a form of compensation into my account - I asked how much, to which he said he will have to take into consideration how many times I have called regarding this matter etc and he would send out another letter. Nearly 2 weeks later a letter turns up no mention of compensation just apologizes some more and hope that i appreciate all the charges have been refunded and its a done case. Of course if I am unhappy with the decision I can contact the financial ombudsman. So today another phone call to be told they can not offer me any compensation for the phone calls I have had all charges refunded and had 2 charges refunded in the past. So its been left they will process this as a stage 2 complaint and will send me another letter.

Right sorry to waffle on a bit there.

Am I just expecting too much? I just want to have my phone calls refunded as this was not my error and for 0845 numbers they are expensive from mobiles. Do you think I should pursue this any further with Santander or the Ombudsman? Or should i just take it as a learning curve and move on.

Many thanks :-)

BobQ

For future reference try saynoto0870.com if you must ring them.

You are better off sending a letter, its not so instant but they are less likely to ignore it.

If you have an admission of their culpability, pursue the complaint. Let them go to Level 2. Just keep pursuing the matter. They may try and wear you down but do not let them.

Most organisations that think they have a reputation to protect tire of my complaints long before I do.