Santander: the bad and the good

krishna

This was going to be a vent, but had a good ending today.
We moved home in 2008 and notified banks etc of this. Everyone informed managed to change the address correctly, but for some reason statements on one of our Santander bank accounts (we have two) still continued to go through to the wrong address. My wife and I both went into different branches of different occasions to try to rectify the matter but in spite of several hours trawling through computer screens, could find no reason why this should be the case. They could not explain why the statements were wrongly addressed! So we stopped using the account. Planned to close it down but didn't get around to it.

Nothing more was heard until a few weeks ago when we received, separately, a statement with the correct address, and a letter notifying us that we were overdrawn by about £125. My wife went into branch. They said we had to ring up :mad: as the matter was in the hands of a debt collection agency! So today we rang up and explained the situation and our frustration. The person my wife spoke to just kept repeating that we owed the money and that it was our responsibility to keep track of the account. Eventually my wife asked for a manager who was extremely helpful. It turns out that we HAD used the account once 2 years ago to withdraw some cash which put is about £14 in the red. This was an error on our part (wrong account). Anyway, within 2 minutes of explaining the situation, they agreed to recredit all charges, leaving just £14 for us to pay which we were able to do by transferring from another account.

We've had accounts with Santander (and Abbey) for a long time and got more and more frustrated with them over the years. We're going to close our Santander accounts down anyway. We find Nationwide Building Society more user friendly and accessible. But it was nice to have a positive ending to the frustrations.

adamc260

I moved to santander.. entire process was smooth and 0 fuss (I have about 3 direct debits and a standing order)

My parents then moved their accounts to santander and have quite a few direct debits/standing orders and everything was sorted in about 10 days and a similar time frame for my account

0 problems, our local branch is really helpful/friendly and whenever i've rung up (which was only once or twice to ask something) the person on the end of the phone was really friendly (based in ireland i believe?).

I've had 0 problems with santander and i'm unable to say anything bad about them (unlike a lot of people who jump on the bandwagon on MSE)

mrcow

I moved to Santander too.

Massive mistake. They cocked everything up that they possibly could, including losing my paperwork 3 (!) times bringing a whole new meaning to the word "incompetence".

And their customer service is without doubt the rudest I've come across in any industry (not just banking). I moved back to Lloyds with my tail between my legs. Lloyds are no walk in the park, but they knock bells off Santander any day of the week.

adamc260

I guess everyone has a different experience with any company.. my experience and my parents was very positive

notatroll

Santander regularly sends me my statements addressed to myex and they even sent me one addressed to both of us although we have no jointaccounts. I assume she also gets her statements addressed to me. Santander is certainlythe most unorganised bank in the UK (that is to put it mildly); clearly had morethan they could handle with all the mergers/acquisitions (if only they had happenedpost-2008). They have good products, however, and as long as you do not holdmore than £85k i thought it is okay to take a risk. I believe they had paid me moredue to their mistakes/subsequent complaints then they had paid me in intereston my current accounts. Not sure San will last, unfortunately. RBS sold themplenty of unused branches/dormant accounts and they had been a poopbasket of ourbanking sector since they took over Abbey. With such poor service most of the fattestaccounts had long left and they clearly failing to get quality ones despitetheir competitiveness. The years they had been rated above their parent-bank (mostlydue to being a former UK institution) are gone now.

hartcjhart

mrcow wrote: »

I moved to Santander too.

Massive mistake. They cocked everything up that they possibly could, including losing my paperwork 3 (!) times bringing a whole new meaning to the word "incompetence".

And their customer service is without doubt the rudest I've come across in any industry (not just banking). I moved back to Lloyds with my tail between my legs. Lloyds are no walk in the park, but they knock bells off Santander any day of the week.

I agree,they are the most incompetent bank I have ever known.

I paid a cheque in on the 6th,went in on the 12th and they say not cleared(what happened to the 3 days)I eaxplained that I would be working away(300miles) and needed to transfer funds to my fathers account,
no problem they say, just call the number on the back of the card and they will do it over the phone.

well after 45 mins on the phone guess what?

NO cannot be done without phone bank codes,why did the branch not tell me

to say I am furious is an understatement and plan to close the account,

Adam you are lucky and NO I am not jumping on the 'bandwagon'

fluffig

We had endless problems when Santander took over our A&L a/c. Lovely staff, but appalling systems

I didn't think they could beat that. Then we had to register a power of attorney. Beyond them. Completely beyond them. More lovely staff, more appalling admin.

Then said relative died. 4 times I gave them the death certificate. More lovely staff, more appalling disjointed systems. It took 2 months for them to stop writing to late relative, to put their accounts on hold and take them off my internet banking.

Now they have started emailing late relative ... I have that groundhog day feeling ...

They are awful. As soon as the fixed term on our mortgage is up, which requires us to keep an account with them, we will be off.

hartcjhart

was going to close my account today,BUT as my brother said draw all but a few pence out and then just let the account trickle along,that way it costs them money etc to administer it:T:j

innovate

hartcjhart wrote: »

was going to close my account today,BUT as my brother said draw all but a few pence out and then just let the account trickle along,that way it costs them money etc to administer it:T:j

That's pretty much b*ll.

But if it makes you feel better, then do it.

jen245

hartcjhart wrote: »

was going to close my account today,BUT as my brother said draw all but a few pence out and then just let the account trickle along,that way it costs them money etc to administer it:T:j

You better check the terms of your account before doing this, as most Santander current accounts have monthly underfunding fees

hartcjhart

innovate wrote: »

That's pretty much b*ll.

But if it makes you feel better, then do it.

I think you are pretty much b*ll

think they send statements etc for the sake of a few pence,yep that makes me feel better