Santander can't do sums! Overseas charges approximation

ronnythefiddle

Hi people,

I have a Halifax credit card which I use for travelling as it is overseas transaction charge free.

I recently spent some time in China and there was a cockup whilst I was away, Halifax admitted their fault and agreed to cover any charges incurred using my other card/s as my Halifax card wouldn't work.

One of the cards I used while I was there was my Santander debit card. There were 3 transactions on 3 dates. I checked my (online) statement to find out what the charges were before trying to recoup them from Halifax. However Santander only provided the exchange rate as 2 decimal places, the rate being 0.10.

So the 3 transactions listed on my statement were:

¥568.00 x 0.10 = £62.59
Exact statement wording:
CARD PAYMENT TO GUANGZHOU XIANGRIKUN CAN,568.00 CNY, RATE 0.10/GBP ON 21-07-2013 NON-STERL £62.59

¥2500.00 x 0.10 = £273.10
Exact statement wording:
CASH WITHDRAWAL AT ATM 016.020.001.035,BEIJING,2,500.00 CNY, RATE 0.10/GBP ON 23-07-2013 £273.10

¥1500.00 x 0.10 = £163.86
Exact statement wording:
CASH WITHDRAWAL AT ATM 016.020.001.035,BEIJING,1,500.00 CNY, RATE 0.10/GBP ON 24-07-2013 £163.86


Given that this information obviously seemed lacking clarity (after all CNY ¥568*0.10=GBP £56.8 NOT £62.59) I contacted Santander to ask for a full breakdown of the figures.

One very long phone call later, I was assured that a letter would be sent to me giving me the breakdown of the figures I requested (and needed to recoup the fees from Halifax).

The letter arrived about a week later (dated 16/8/13) but the figures bore no relation to the actual amounts on my statement. Instead they read:

Original amount = 568.00 CNY
Exchange rate applied = 0.10720000
568.00 x 0.10720000 = £61.00
Plus non sterling transaction fee 2.75% = £2.00
Total debited = £63.00 (correct amount is £62.59)

Original amount = 2500.00 CNY
Exchange rate applied = 0.10630000
2500.00 x 0.10630000 = £266.00
Plus non sterling transaction fee 2.75% = £7.00
Total debited = £273.00 (correct amount is £273.10)

Original amount = 1500.00 CNY
Exchange rate applied = 0.10630000
1500.00 x 0.10630000 = £159.00
Plus non sterling transaction fee 2.75% = £4.00
Total debited = £163.00 (correct amount is £163.86)

So I contacted Santander again explaining that I wanted exact and correct figures, not rounded up or down approximations. I was assured that the letter would be rewritten and sent asap.

The next letter arrived (dated 11/9/13) contained the following similarly approximate, though slightly improved information:

Original amount = 568.00 CNY
Exchange rate applied = 0.10720000
568.00 x 0.10720000 = £60.88
Plus non sterling transaction fee 2.75% = £1.68
Total debited = £62.57 (correct amount is £62.59)

Original amount = 2500.00 CNY
Exchange rate applied = 0.10630000
2500.00 x 0.10630000 = £265.75
Plus non sterling transaction fee 2.75% = £7.31
Total debited = £273.06 (correct amount is £273.10)

Original amount = 1500.00 CNY
Exchange rate applied = 0.10630000
1500.00 x 0.10630000 = £159.45
Plus non sterling transaction fee 2.75% = £4.39
Total debited = £163.84 (correct amount is £163.86)

Again WRONG!!

Santander again apologised and their 3rd attempt (13/9/13) is as follows:

Original amount = 568.00 CNY
Exchange rate applied = 0.10720000
568.00 x 0.10720000 = £60.8896
Plus non sterling transaction fee 2.75% = £1.68
Total debited = £62.57 (correct amount is £62.59)

Original amount = 2500.00 CNY
Exchange rate applied = 0.10630000
2500.00 x 0.10630000 = £265.75
Plus non sterling transaction fee 2.75% = £7.31
Total debited = £273.1 (correct amount is £273.10 SUCCESS!!!)

Original amount = 1500.00 CNY
Exchange rate applied = 0.10630000
1500.00 x 0.10630000 = £159.45
Plus non sterling transaction fee 2.75% = £4.39
Total debited = £163.84 (correct amount is £163.86)

I can't understand for the life of me why a bank can get away with not providing a full record of my transactions on my statement in the first place. But failing to provide accurate information THREE TIMES is unforgivable. They seem to be picking figures out of the sky, or there's some rounding up (I suspect never EVER down!) that they're not telling me/us about.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Is this even legal?

Perhaps Santander needs to employ some staff with GCSE maths, remember "show your working"?!!

I'm looking to get a mortgage soon, there's no way I'll consider Santander as a result of this. If they can be so approximate in working out charges on a few hundred pounds I dread to think what they might do with a transaction for £100,000's.

Muppets.

ColdIron

On the other hand the Santander card worked and allowed you to continue your visit unhindered while the Halifax one fell at the post

Hominu

Right, lets see.

568 * 0.1072 = 60.8896
+ 2.75% fee = 62.564064
round up to £62.57

I don't know where £62.59 comes from.

2500 * 0.1063 = 265.75
+ 2.75% fee = 273.058125
round up to £273.06

1500 * 0.1063 = 159.45
+ 2.75% fee = 163.834875
round up to £163.84

It would suggest that your correct amounts are in fact, incorrect, or includes other charges. I don't have the T&Cs to hand to check.

mgdavid

Hominu wrote: »

Right, lets see.

568 * 0.1072 = 60.8896
+ 2.75% fee = 62.564064
round up to £62.57

I don't know where £62.59 comes from.

2500 * 0.1063 = 265.75
+ 2.75% fee = 273.058125
round up to £273.06

1500 * 0.1063 = 159.45
+ 2.75% fee = 163.834875
round up to £163.84

It would suggest that your correct amounts are in fact, incorrect, or includes other charges. I don't have the T&Cs to hand to check.

er have the rounding rules changed since I did A level maths in the 60s then? Third decimal place of 4 or less should be rounded DOWN, so the first answer should be 62.56

innovate

Using the base numbers provided by the OP, Excel says:
£62.56
£273.06
£163.83
This assumes that the only rounding takes places for the final sum, and that the standard Excel ROUND function, to 2 decimal places, is used.

You can get marginally different results if you use ROUNDUP or ROUNDDOWN.

Cycrow

mgdavid wrote: »

er have the rounding rules changed since I did A level maths in the 60s then? Third decimal place of 4 or less should be rounded DOWN, so the first answer should be 62.56

this depends how you round.

you could simply always round up, which isn't uncommon when it comes to pricing

System

I'm surprised Santander didn't charge you an admin fee for the work!

Could you not just sent a screenshot or partial statement? Halifax would be able to calculate the difference from the MasteCard rate that you would have got on those days and the values from Santander.

Gromitt

I can see how the admin person has calculated each of these sums, and it seems that they have guessed how its calculated, rather than knowing how the value is calculated on the statement. Not the best in terms of customer service and certainly confusing.

But personally, I would have just highlighted my transactions made and sent the original statement to Halifax. They know what the rate was and could have calculated it out. If they were a few pence of, meh, who cares. My life is worth more than that.