Santander

dachse

I'm considering changing my current account to Santander 123. On paper it looks like a no-brainer as it also pays 3% on up to £20K balance. I currently have a savings account that only pays about 1% so the 123 account would be a good place to put my balances from my current and savings accounts. The problem I have is that the only experience I have ever had with Santander is to do with a Debenhams credit card and it was a nightmare to get help when something went wrong. The customer services was an Indian call centre and they were atrocious, totally unhelpful and immensely irritating. I always vowed never to have anything to do with Santander again.
So can anyone tell me what their customer services is like with regard to their bank accounts please?

dachse

As a PS to my previous post Newday has taken over the Debenhams credit card business from Santander and will be using UK based call centres from August/Sept. Phew that's hopefully good news.

Strapped

I hate Santander with a passion. Their CS staff are overwhelmingly useless. I'm switching away!

tightfisteddave

I opened up a 123 a couple of months ago. Application process all very smooth on the web and account opened straight away. Some of the other accounts ive applied for recently requested I go into branch (TSB, Natwest).

So far no problem at all. Debits set up easily. Internet banking OK. I even opened up an Everyday current account as well which I've just switched to Halifax 6 weeks later for the £100.

Don't really understand all the negativity re customer service. I'm only looking to bank online, I don't go overdrawn and cant say I've had a problem with any bank.

innovate

I am in the 20+ current account club and would say that Santander's CS and Branch staff is on par with other banks. All of them have people that are incompetent, most of them are capable of sorting any issues quite quickly. I have had the Santander 123 for 3 or so years now and never had any problem with it. Even the official MSE view on the Santander is positive as they have it in their Best Buy for current and savings accounts.

lurkylurky

I opened a Santander 123 account about a year ago. I wanted to open through Topcashback who were paying £55 at the time. There was something wrong with Santander's system at the time so I phoned customer services but was unable to open it online. This was on a Sunday and was the last day for the £55 on Topcashback. I emailed the Chief Executives office. They phoned me to ask for the telephone number I phoned customer services from - they listened to my phone call then sent me a cheque for £55. They said I could use it to open an account in branch or treat it as compensation. I then couldn't resist the urge to bank the cheque and open the account through Quidco who were still giving £55.

I didn't use their switching service as I wanted to keep my other current account which gives me free travel insurance so I moved over all of my direct debits which attract cashback from Santander. I get £5.50 to £7.50 a month casback.

I have phoned customer services a few times and I have to say, they have been a dream. So I would heartily recommend them.

My 15 son has just set up a sports club and is thinking of opening a Santander 123 Mini account. We're just waiting to see if this account comes onto Topcashback.

Topcashback and Quidco are currently paying £35.

SeduLOUs

I just switched to a Santander account but I had a really old account with them that I'd forgotten all about.

Had to phone to find out what to do with it as it was at an old address, and had to send it some ID etc but it was all sorted very quickly and the people I spoke to were more than helpful, especially considering it was my own error to begin with.

Everything now up and running perfectly.

I read on Martin's article that the CS used to be terrible but that their reviews have increased somewhat recently, so I was willing to chance it and haven't been disappointed so far.

Older_But_Not_Wiser

I'd been a disgruntled Barclays customer for 25 odd years, and switched to Santander this January via the Switch scheme which went perfectly, no hitches or problems.

Santander have been better than Barclays by a country mile and my one contact with Santander customer services was so good I praised them on the MSE 'Praise, Rant etc" board.

HTH

NotRichAtAll

i switched to santander about 3 mths ago their counter staff in branch have been very helpful and polite, the account is a no brainer i make on average £15 per month interest and cashback, online is simple to use and i cannot fault them so far

jenfa

I banked with lloyds from age 7 but after some really bad experiences we went to Santander in 2002. During this time i have had to contact them over a few things. Certainly all my dealings in the last few years have been with UK staff.

I complained over a missed payment, a few months ago, which a member of staff contacted me by phone to discuss their investigation rather than putting a first response in writing. This helped as I was able to explain exactly what happened and we discussed the fact that their internet banking hadn't been clear about the timescale when you make changes to a payment amount. I received a follow up letter, the charges were wiped from my account and a payment made for the following month in case anymore charges were put on. I was annoyed at the time BUT since then they have changed their banking page and made it clearer.

I rang Barclays this week and was cut off by their advisor so I think it really depends on the staff in your local branch but tbh all the banks seem to have some problems or other.

LittleMissGiggles123

We've just switched our joint account over to the 123 account. Were with HSBC but had no benefits from being with them so seemed a no brainer. I popped in to the branch recently to pay a cheque in & the staff were very helpful.


We have also had a mortgage with Santander for over 10 years (on our first house it was Abbey, which was part of the Santander group). I have to say in all the time we've had mortgages with them (1st & 2nd house) we've not had any problem with them at all & I've found the Customer Service to be fine.