7-day bank account switching - how has it been for you?

SuperAllyB

Just booked a switch from Santander to Halifax (out of the frying pan into the fire CS?) but chickened out and went for the start of January in case my pay goes missing (even temporarily) at the end of this month!

weebjam

Recently used 7-day switching from Barclays to Santander. Switch went through in 7 days, however not all the direct debits were changed to use the new account. M&S card DD was fine, but the JL Partnership Card DD was cancelled, although Santander showed it as being set up! Needless to say I found out this when no monthly payment was taken. JL PC Services say I need to complete a new mandate and manually pay until set up.

Miss_Trust

After checking with RBS, it turns out that it was not an outstanding mortgage but a 'facility set up'...?
I have now cancelled this and transferred £10k into the new Santander Account.
When I asked Santander if I could now use this they replied NO! as there was a block on the new account.
I asked them to clear it but they said I had to go into a local branch for security reasons. The nearest one is 100 mile round trip!!
I have been into the branch today and asked what going on and could they transfer the rest of the funds and change over the D/D's etc.
They said they could not see why this has now taken 5 weeks and on checking the account - there was no block!!!
They advised that they have to start the process over again and they also checked every detail of my old account- addresses, numbers, debit cards etc etc.
I have just had an email from them to say that the debit card numbers don't tally with my old bank!!!!
Three people at the bank checked the numbers this morning to make sure they were right.
I am at my wits end as it looks like another 100 mile round trip and another day wasted as holiday.
Are they being obstructive here or are they just incompetent?
It's been a fiasco from day 1 and that was 5 weeks ago!!

chiefpossession

Just changed from Barclays to Santander. Everything was okay until we received a letter from a direct debit collection agency saying that they had failed to collect a payment. The account was live for claim on 9 Dec and the payment was due on the 15 - they say that they want 5 working days notice or £10 extra payment is required! Well I make that 5 working days. I will send them the money owed and they can whistle for the £10.

cupofjava

Switched from Natwest to Halifax, everything went through perfectly and was done by the date i specified. It was much much easier than i was expecting, my new account literally mirrored my old account - same DD's, same standing orders etc. I was a little apprehensive like everyone else, but next time i need to switch i won't hesitate.

Perfect!

UserX

Have just clicked the final online click to move from Halifax to Santander, having successfully got shot of the very expensive Halifax OD. Now I'm in the black, I want to be with a more rewarding bank.

Somewhat nervous though!!!

pennypinchingpenguin

hi all,

i just set up a switch to first direct from santander.

done it through the link on mse but when i phoned to set up bank transfer they said you have to do it by telephone anyway. didnt take long anyway and both advisors were very friendly.

i am hoping that it doesnt mess up any of my payments but i have been thinking about this for a long time and thought it was now or never.

heres hoping all goes to plan!

Miss_Trust

I finally got the switch from RBS to Santander completed on December 30th.
It has only taken 6 weeks!
I checked my new account on line yesterday for the first time and guess what?
Out of 19 Direct Debits, only 2 have made it through the switch. The others have completely gone.
I tried ringing Santander but there was no response - same with the email.
How do I get out of this mess without my credit rating becoming worthless?
I am rapidly losing the will to live!

redwing

Switched from Co-op to Nationwide, as their Flex Plus account is a better deal for me. Switch appeared to be going fine - new details were even given to people paying in regularly.
But problems with direct debit. I had a large bill on my Santander Zero card, having used it abroad a lot recently, and I always pay it off in full. This month Santander cards didn't take the payment, resulting in a £12 charge and about £30 in interest so far (this will get compounded next month presumably). I spent at least an hour on the phone trying to get through to both Nationwide - whose telephone service is awful, far worse than the Co-op - and Santander, and they both blame each other.

Still trying to get this resolved through secure messages, so will report back.

The scheme is supposed to guarantee that the switch is hassle-free. It wasn't. So where do I go from here?

Archi_Bald

redwing wrote: »

The scheme is supposed to guarantee that the switch is hassle-free. It wasn't. So where do I go from here?

Put a written, formal, complaint into Nationwide. They are responsible for sorting it for you because you are using their switcher service.