Santander doubled up my balance transfer

jd87

Last night I called Santander and requested a balance transfer moving debt from my Amex gold charge card to my Santander 123 credit card. I checked both accounts this morning and the balance transfer has gone through twice.

I've searched these forums and can't find any cases exactly the same (most situations seem to have been people's own fault - eg. they requested it once on the application and again after the card arrived).

This is definitely not my fault. I've called Santander and been told that the "back office" will look into it and correct it and that it will take 7-10 days. The problem is the person I spoke to today didn't exactly sound like she knew what she was doing. She didn't ask me for details of the other card (the Amex) or anything like that and when I offered to give her the details she asked for the sort code and account number...

Anyway I'm worried that this is going to turn into a big mess. Is there an easier way to fix it myself or can anyone recommend a particular department in Santander to speak to?

agrinnall

As Santander have the number of the card they issued to you they won't need the Amex number from you as it will be in the transaction history for your card. It might be worth calling them back to ask if they can describe in more detail what will happen and when, but I'd imagine it is now under way and will eventually sort itself out.

Consumerist

If I've understood you correctly, the first BT will transfer the balance from your Amex card and so will the second but in the latter case the balance to be transferred will be zero. Since the minimum transfer is probably £100 (check Ts&Cs to verify) the second BT will be rejected by Santander.

Frankly, I don't think there will be any problem.

jd87

Consumerist wrote: »

If I've understood you correctly, the first BT will transfer the balance from your Amex card and so will the second but in the latter case the balance to be transferred will be zero. Since the minimum transfer is probably £100 (check Ts&Cs to verify) the second BT will be rejected by Santander.

Frankly, I don't think there will be any problem.

No you just tell Santander how much you want them to pay to the card that has the debt on it and then it gets paid. The Amex card now has a positive balance. As I said in my first post I have checked my accounts online and can see that this is exactly what has happened and Santander have themselves confirmed this.

I've had a text today saying my customer service request has been completed but looking at my online accounts nothing has changed.

Consumerist

jd87 wrote: »

No you just tell Santander how much you want them to pay to the card that has the debt on it and then it gets paid. The Amex card now has a positive balance. As I said in my first post I have checked my accounts online and can see that this is exactly what has happened and Santander have themselves confirmed this.

I've had a text today saying my customer service request has been completed but looking at my online accounts nothing has changed.

That's odd. Santander told me that they will only transfer the entire balance from another card unless it's greater than 95% of your credit limit when they will reject it.

I haven't actually applied for a transfer yet so don't know whether they ask how much to transfer. That would seem to be at odds with what they told me.

That's Santander for you! Useless!

frank777

I find it best to do the transfer online, if you have a Santander online account. You can transfer any amount up to 95% of your credit limit - I use it to pay my other credit card bills as long as they are over £100. I do a pdf printout of the transaction for my records in case of any problems - no problems so far - I would say it's up to you to work out 95% and if you go over your limit you suffer the consequences.

Don't forget to keep a balance of at least £100 on your credit card, some petrol stations charge a deposit on your petrol purchase at the pump - you get it back, but it could make you go over your credit card limit.

Happy to be earning 3% interest on my debt + 3% off my petrol bill with the 123 credit card

csteinle

They sent my balance transfer to someone else's account. When I phoned up to find out where at had gone I was informed it was not possible that it could go to an account that was not registered to my name and address, and it could not possibly have been their fault. I opened an investigation (after being told it would take 28 days in a manner that suggested I might be better off not bothering complaining) and was refunded it after 14. Complained further and was told it was sent to the wrong account and given a goodwill payment.

jd87

frank777 wrote: »

I find it best to do the transfer online, if you have a Santander online account. You can transfer any amount up to 95% of your credit limit

It doesn't seem to be possible to do it online if it's going to an Amex. You just get an error message.

Have received a letter today from Santander telling me I need to chase it myself and get Amex to send the money back. I called Amex and they said they can't do that and it doesn't work that way. So I then called Santander who told me their back office put a note on the account saying that "because it's not a Santander error" the customer has to resolve it themselves with the other bank. I explained that it 100% is a Santander error and I'm now waiting for a manager to deal with it. I'm not holding my breath...

Consumerist

Since only one of the transfers was authorised by you then, from a technical standpoint, you should report the second transfer from your Santander credit card as an unauthorised transaction. Since Santander are already aware of the circumstances, I would lodge a formal (written) complaint.

Edit
Perhaps, lodge the complaint through <Resolver>.

jd87

Just an update on this story (I know I posted this over two months ago). Basically Santander have finally refunded the money back onto my Santander credit card, but the Amex card remains in credit... It's been a few weeks now. Have Santander basically given me free money or will it sort itself out? I'm reluctant to call up and question it...