MSE News: Santander is most-complained about bank, FCA figures show

anoncol

SailorSam wrote: »

I opened my first Abbey a/c when i left school and started work. Can't say i've ever had a problem with them.

I would class your kind of account and my hsbc which i'm replacing in a similar group. But neither of those have competitive products any more, so what the hell could go wrong if there are no new customers? I've only kept my hsbc for 15 years because it had a massive OD left from my student days but i haven't used it in years anyway.

Now i'm trying to make my money work for me i'm going to the most active bank, so there are bound to be more complaints. But that doesn't mean they are worse.

girl_withno_name

rb10 wrote: »

Complaints upheld is the percentage of complaints where the consumer 'wins' the complaint - i.e. the bank made a mistake.

Number of complaints opened/closed is in absolute figures, yes.

Thanks - I get that it's a measure of 'wins', but it does it cover both those upheld by the banks and the ombudsman? If it's just those upheld by the banks then these could be skewed if some banks are better / worse at dealing with claims before getting to ombudsman (and then that data would be helpful in developing a full picture?)

NPowerUser

Had to complain twice in writing during the past 12 months, both times they acknowledged it was their mistake and offered a token payment as compensation.

Whenever I make a mortgage overpayment at my local Santander branch, they sometimes struggle. Some members of staff just dive in on their computer screen, without allocating the payment correctly eg reduce monthly mortgage payment or end date, hoping someone at head office will know how to allocate the overpayment.

They have also gone from 7 days to provide a written update of revised mortgage payments, once an overpayment has been made, to up to 9 days (happened twice in the past month).

If you watch and listen to their staff dealing with customers whilst in a queue, just watch at the number of times staff have to keep referring to another member of staff as they are not 100% confident of their own actions or convictions.

The online experience might be better but the face to face leaves a lot to be desired.

AT0407

Looking to change my current account and am interested in these results to inform my decision. Bit confused about one part of this article though MSE! e.g. where it says HSBC had 2.6 complaints per 1,000 banking customers. I've had a look at the FCA survey report on their website and I can't see where it says how many customers each bank has? Thanks! AT0407.

JohnRo

NPowerUser wrote: »

The online experience might be better but the face to face leaves a lot to be desired.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there to be honest.

I telephoned them to send me a couple of funding mandate forms for external accounts, no problem, they're in the post.

Family member, who didn't know better, went into the local branch to ask for the same and was told by staff there is no such thing...

Travis_Bickle1972

I pity anyone who has to deal Santander based on my call to them tonight, to try and make a withdrawl from my ISA. Despite taking 10 minutes to get through to the correct dept (they transferred me incorrectly twice), passing all the initial security questions, they then asked 2 more completely off the cuff security questions. What was your opening balance? How much have you deposited this year? Things you would only know if you had your statement in front of you. Believe me if you are not familiar with them their initial security questions are more than sufficient and you need a ream of paperwork to answer them!

After failing this test I lost my temper and asked to speak to a manager, whom I answered some more security questions correctly to, only to be told she couldn't help with my withdrawl.

Lastly, I was transferred again, got half way through the process only to be cut-off (probably when the centre closed!).

My cynical side presumes the staff are deliberately obstructive as they are incentivised to stop you withdrawing your cash. I was willing to overlook the fact the 'online' account can't actually be managed online. Now I for one with never bank with them again.

Travis_Bickle1972

Just tried again after finding out on their website that the savings line is open until 11pm. Despite the centre I'd spoken to earlier closing around 6.30pm. Now have been told I need a phone banking security number. Something I'd never been advised about in my previous calls, they are UTTERLY USELESS. I'd avoid at all costs. First Direct wipe the floor with them in terms of service.

anotheruser

rb10 wrote: »

Complaints upheld is the percentage of complaints where the consumer 'wins' the complaint - i.e. the bank made a mistake.

Ah ha, but what about those complaints that the bank have said they "don't agree with it" but here's some money to make you happy.
Would they count as the bank say they haven't made a mistake.

terryads

Well this what marks out a bank as good or bad in my view is how well they respond when something goes wrong. We have a Zero CC account for which a correctly set up, acknowledged and previously working fine Direct Debit had been set up to pay off the balance in full. The DD was still in place in May when I last checked with my bank. This month we discovered no DD had been taken and were rapidly hit with default and interest charges. Furthermore trying to pay by debit card through the internet site was rejected and the site refuses to allow a new DD to be established even though the facility exists (telling me the details of the account to be debited are wrong, when they're coorect). Initial complaint just produced a message confirming there was no DD in place and to ring an 0845 to set one up, with no attempt to address the question of what had gone wrong and remove charges. Further complaints have secured nothing more than an acknowledgement well over a week on. Shame they don't sort out problems as quickly as they whack on the charges. HSBC confirm the DD was cancelled by Santander in June - but we were never told. We were going to try one of these 123 accounts, but not now, and indeed we've withdrawn all our savings from Santander - I need to be able to trust a bank. For all those expressing surprise at them faring badly in the ranking - have a look at the financial problem pages in newspapers and see how often this lot occur.

terryads

Following a tip on this site I e-mailed a copy of correspondence to ceo@santander.co.uk . This has produced rapid action, refund of charges and £100 compensation for the trouble, more importantly with a promise to investigate the reasons for the failures and report back to us. I'm afraid I still have had confidence shaken too much in them to open a 123 account.