Santander customer service

DevonCodger

In 2010 we closed 2 accounts with Santander after 25 years with them / their predecessors. This followed 6 months wrangling over an ISA they failed to transfer and customer service that had become beyond terrible. I was recently tempted to try again due to the current interest deal on the 123 account and stories of improved customer service. This account offers internet and telephone banking for which a customer number and pin are required. It is currently 18 days since the account was confirmed as open. After two customer numbers and three pins and three calls to their customer helpdesk I am still unable to access the account online and am now awaiting a reset of all the details. The problems arose because they used details from my old accounts, closed 5 years ago. I queried this when the problems first started but was assured this would work with a reset pin etc etc. It was again discussed in a subsequent call. During my call to them today, the helpful young woman told me that the problems had arisen because my old details had been used (Aaaaaargh!):mad:
If this is the "new improved" Santander, I cannot say I'm impressed. Any more problems and I'll be closing the account. I would rather lose the interest and keep my sanity.:eek:

colsten

Seems you are at the receiving end of some unfortunate circumstances. There are a lot of people on this forum who have multiple accounts with Santander and never had any problem - so if you persevere, I am sure you can also soon reap the benefits of the 123.

As you are frustrated with their handling of your account, why not raise a complaint? They might give you £25 for messing you about. http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/help-support/complaints

Stubod

I used to have issues with Santander, but re-tried a couple of years ago due to their 123 account rates, have not been disappointed to date and last year we took out their ISA as it was one of the best rates available....so at the mo no problems, although most of my dealings are now online

steensy

once you FINALLY get your account open, they have a sort of contact us section that lets you send a secure message. use this to write a complaint to them as i have on 2 previous occasions used this. on one occasion i used the service, wrote to them and walked away still annoyed. i then got impatient and rang them, they sorted this out over the phone and that was that. but then a few days later they phoned me in relation to the problem i had emailed them about. during this i explained myself again but informed them it had been sorted ect and was left unhappy about the service and the cost of the phone calls. then on the phone she credited my account 15 pounds to cover the issues as a kind of compensation payment and so that she could close the complaint and take it off her system. needless to say lesson learnt! if you ever need to complain about something do it in writing to them or email as they are more likely to ensure you leave having been compensated for time or call charges ect. so my advice would be stick it out, once you have opened the account the write to them and explain how unhappy you are, and ya never know it may be worth your wile.

Littlewesty

I have found that their secure messdage service is abysmal, how long am I expected to wait, I have a query going back to 05 March, an urgent request and still no answer, How long should it take. I am also with First Direct, got the required information off them within 48 hours, what a difference. I am putting my Santander account to bed and putting the cash back into a bank I can rely on. With their regular saver, you can get a decent rate of return if you are prepared to not make any withdrawals and feed in max amount each month.

colsten

Why not pick up the phone if you have an urgent query? Or if you have a complaint about thir service?

If you only have small lumpsum, a regular saver might be a good idea. You would, however, make the maximum amount of money if you drip-fed a regular saver from an interest-paying current account. Use this calculator to see the difference: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts#savingscalc

If you are saving monthly, a 6% account will of course yield more interest than a 3% account. After 12 months, however, you have a small lumpsum, so may be you want to drip-feed. Whether a 123 account is the best source account totally depends on how much money you have. There are other current accounts with higher AER% than a 123.

eagertolearn

Santander Customer Service is an oxymoron. I wanted to close a bad last year and was prepared to forfeit interest. Apparently this is at the discretion of the manager who decided I didn't really need the money so refused. When it matures in July guess where it isn't staying

Archi_Bald

eagertolearn wrote: »

Santander Customer Service is an oxymoron. I wanted to close a bad last year and was prepared to forfeit interest. Apparently this is at the discretion of the manager who decided I didn't really need the money so refused. When it matures in July guess where it isn't staying

What do the terms and conditions of your "bad" say? It sounds as if you have some sort of a fixed term account. I don't believe Santander - or any of the main banks - has any terms that say closure of a fixed term account is at the discretion of a manager. Please post the name of your account and/or a link to the T&Cs so somebody can give a better answer.

nearlyrich

I judge financial customer service by First Direct but I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised by Santander recently, I was expecting them to be dreadful. Their phone service is great once you get through but the press this press that and entering the card number does my head in.

Littlewesty

In answer to "why don't you pick up the phone" may I say that is not so easy for everybody, people with nervous dispositions, people with comunication problems, people with neurological disorders. These people, including me, rely on secure messaging to communicate and when no replies are forthcoming after 11 days, I can truly say there secure messaging system is ABYSMAL.

mgarl10024

I've found Santander to be a mixed bag.

They have an uncanny ability to screw up (often one small root-cause, but they will then struggle to recover and things often get worse before they finally manage to resolve the issue). I have also found (and told them) that the Secure Messaging service is a bit useless as most responses are just inviting you to phone them up - which you could have done anyway.

However, I have found them keen to put things right and ensure that the customer doesn't lose out. They also do tend to have the most competitive rates and better products for my needs.

Because I have a high tolerance for hassle, I've stuck with them. I enjoy the better rates/products, but just don't expect the ride to always go smoothly. If you're like me, then I'd stick with them.

However, if you have a nervous disposition, communication problem, or neurological issue, and wont deal well with any form of hassle like getting in touch with them to resolve an issue, I would wonder whether they are the right bank for you.