Santander or not?

bryanb

About 8 years ago I was given the runaround by Santander when sorting my late mothers affairs. At the time I decided never to have anything to do with them again.
I am now tempted by their 123 account but unsure if their customer service has improved (it couldn't have gone the other way)
If the general consensus is that they are OK these days I'd like to whack 20k in and rearrange direct debits etc. Putting in 1k monthly would need a bit of juggling between banks but could be done.
So, Are they any good these days?

Archi_Bald

They are fine, and according to this site, second best for CS (not sure whether the MSE and your definition of CS is the same). http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts

You only need to pay in £500 a month but you need 2 DDs as well.

jenfa

I have been with Santander since about 2002 and at times customer service was good then it went down hill. I have had to contact them over a few things and I would say that it seems better in my opinion.

Check the amount you have to pay in because at one point it was £1000 but then it changed to £500. The back of my statement says interest is earned up to £20,000 when you have at least £1000 in the account.

I know what you mean about judging companies when you deal with a death, it is a very stressful time and some make it even worse. For me it was Virgin broadband that complained my father had not given them notice, I told them that he didn't tell me he was going to die either and that I was very cross with him too, he was young and it was very sudden so not really what I was expecting to hear.

happy_with_my_lot!!

bryanb wrote: »

About 8 years ago I was given the runaround by Santander when sorting my late mothers affairs. At the time I decided never to have anything to do with them again.
I am now tempted by their 123 account but unsure if their customer service has improved (it couldn't have gone the other way)
If the general consensus is that they are OK these days I'd like to whack 20k in and rearrange direct debits etc. Putting in 1k monthly would need a bit of juggling between banks but could be done.
So, Are they any good these days?

I had problems a few years back as well (to be fair they were sorted after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with a payment of £50 for my trouble ).

I already had a few ISAs and I was tempted by the 123 account as well and opened a while ago - so far I've had no issues. After the initial hassle rearranging of DD's and juggling money around from other accounts it more or less runs itself (with a nice wee earner every month) I've had no problems...so far!

grumbler

jenfa wrote: »

I have been with Santander since about 2002 ..

They've bought Abbey National in 2004. AFAIK this was their first presence in UK.

anotheruser

I have been with them for just over a year now and had no problems.
Cashback/Interest is well over £400, not had anything break before so all good so far (Y)

pollypenny

Opened a 123 account about six weeks ago. The only problem has been with my council tax Dd, which seems to be cancelled every few days.

Not earned any interest or cash back yet, but everyone I speak to is helpful. No one admits to cancelling my Dd though!

mrgoggins

I recently opened a 123 Acc, and , although getting cards and pins dragged on a little, all went ok. Spoke to customer services a couple of times and any issues or questions resolved with no problems. Personally, find the account website a little old fashioned, I prefer the Lloyds layout, maybe because I am used to it. Generally I would recommend Santander, as they have given no reason to be negative.

mrpsmith

I've been with them since the Abbey National days and have never had a problem. Had 2 current accounts, 3 mortgages, 2 credit cards and a few savings accounts and an ISA.

But then again, nothing has gone wrong which had needed me to test their customer service.

NotRichAtAll

i have been with them for 4 months after alot of humming and harring to myself i took the plunge and transfered away from RBS, seriously my best move of 2014 so far. earned myself £65 cashback and interest, excellent android app and online banking.

do it