Deception by Santander with its credit card!

claudialou

I had a phone call from Santander, who are my current bank, asking if I'd like to take advantage of their card offering 0% on balance transfers, with a 0.9% set up fee. He said I was GUARANTEED to get it.

I had a gander online and saw it was one of the lowest set up fees. So I went on their website and SPECIFICALLY applied for their 'Credit Card with a Low Balance Transfer Fee'. If you go to the Santander website, choose credit cards, you can see this in the bottom right hand corner of options.

It specifically says:
0% for 17 months on balance transfers
0.9% fee applies (minimum £5)

So I applied and a week later I've has my card sent through the post. Simply says your new card is here, please activate, here's the enclosed booklet for terms. So I checked the booklet (many people wouldn't) and the small print is that it's a 3% set up fee. I called Santander and was reassured it is 0% APR for 17 months but it's 3% and he was ever so apologetic but said there's nothing he can do about it.

The only other balance transfer card advertised on their site is the "'Credit Card with a Long Term Balance Transfer', advertised as:
0% for 29 months on balance transfers
(3% fee applies. Minimum £5)

No mention anywhere of a 0% for 17 months, 3% fee deal, which is what I've ended up with. False advertising!

I'm wanting to transfer £1,300 so that's £39 I would be charged (if I transfer over) instead of the £11.70 as I expected (based on what was advertised, what the guy told me and what I applied for). But imagine if you owe £10K on a card? That's £300 instead of £90!

It's the principle too. Why should these greedy corporates rip me off a single pound. The letter doesn't clearly state that I wasn't accepted for what I applied for as advertised on their website. You'd only find out if you checked your small print. It's deception Santander, you thieves!

BonkersBonkers

Start a formal complaint in writing.

claudialou

I have, I've copied and pasted the above and included a link to this page in an email to customer services. They had a chance to rectify it when I called. It's literally daylight robbery. I feel for anyone else with larger sums who could get caught out. Surely this is false advertising and illegal.

runforlife

Request a SAR (Subject Access Request) too and ask for a recording of the phone call.

bengal-stripe

Right now (today) the offer is 29 months balance transfer with 3% fee (minimum £ 5.00)

These days we're all looking for ways to save money and improve our finances. Use our Balance Transfer calculator to see if you could save on interest payments.

- 0% for 29 months on balance transfers from date of account opening (3% fee applies, minimum £5)
- 0% for 3 months on purchases from date of account opening
- No annual fee


http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?appID=abbey.internet.Abbeycom&c=Page&canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1237850596847&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateW2

Could it be the previous offer had been withdrawn before you applied (or when your account was opened)?

You do get another twelve months interest-free, that should be worth more than an additional 2.1% in fees.

claudialou

No, if you look on the website it clearly offers two balance transfer cards:

0% for 29 months, 3% set up fee
or
0% for 17 months, 0.9%

I applied for the latter but got 0% for 17 months, 3% fee - a mixture of the two and not as advertised. Santander have simply messed up here.

bengal-stripe

Yes, I did miss that "low balance transfer fee of just 0.9%" card.

claudialou

As did Santander!

SuperAllyB

I believe only 51% have to get the advertised offer. Santander probably thought they were doing you a favour offering an alternative rather than rejecting your application outright.

The initial call from Santander was (intentionally or otherwise) misleading. You have the option to cancel if it doesn't suit you.

dotdash79

I got the 29 month offer with 3% fee and that was guaranteed, if you are told you are guaranteed a offer you should have it. I was just looking on line and the BT page has the following on it:

The total amount of transferred balance(s) outstanding on your Santander Credit Card may not exceed 95% of your current credit limit. You cannot transfer balances from any other Santander Credit Card or from Cahoot credit cards. You will be charged a handling fee for Balance transfer transactions (unless we have told you otherwise), of up to 3% of the transaction (minimum up to £ 5).


Have a look at your key facts to see if that says different. If you are being charged interest I would still transfer and then claim it back and you might find it charges at the lower rate.

claudialou

Perhaps they have somewhere in their small print (certainly not on their main credit card page) that they can offer different rates to different customers but in that case they should write a clear letter stating that you weren't accepted at the rate you applied for but here's what they are offering.