Santander Current Account 123

anneliese123

Hi ,
Just a warning to people considering this type of Account
I opened a 123 Account a number of yrs ago , due to attractive rate of interest .
Have to say staff at my local branch are brilliant , however I had a really bad experience with them last week , calling their Call Centre .
I totally understand they have to be security conscious , due to Scams etc , however in my opinion , this Bank is totally over the top .
I wanted to set up a New Bill Payment for 2500 to be transferred to a new Savings Account , I'd recently opened with a another Bank .
I called them to set this Payment up , went through all Security with the Call Handler , then I was advised I would receive a Call Back from the Security Team in 5 mins .
They called me back on my Landline and I went through Security again , the lady said she would email appropriate Dept to confirm genuine Transaction .
I then went on my Online Banking , my Bank Account had been blocked , I was so stressed .
I had to call them again , was advised Transaction could take up to 24 hours to go through , Bank had to perform Security Checks , they couldn't advise me when my Bank Account would be unblocked .
She advised they don't have time to call Santander Customers to advise when their Accounts will be accessible , I stated I didn't have time to keep,constantly checking , it was a nightmare and so stressful .
I was then passed onto a Complaints Handler who just wanted to offer me nominal Compensation and close the Complaint as soon as she could , said I would get a letter in post and leaflet saying I could go to Ombudsman .
My Account was unblocked in the end but it was a total nightmare .
I have just received a letter from Santander outlining facts of Complaint , as they haven't been able to reach me , they appear to have credited my Account with nominal Compensation and closed Complaint down without consulting me , will be checking this tomorrow .
Incidentally letter does not state they did not consult me before blocking me access to my Bank Account

bigadaj

Make sure you have at least two current accounts, several more are generally more profitable.

AndyPK

why didn't you just do it online ?

Jo_Blogs

AndyPK wrote: »

why didn't you just do it online ?

I was thinking that.......:o

hollie.weimeraner

I opened a new FD account for the regular save earlier in the month. It has taken me a month to get the account fully up and running (still haven't received my debit card yet though).

Anyway I set up the regular £1,000 per month transfer from my 123 account in about 10 minutes on line. No problem at all.

With all the scams going round at the moment there is no point in complaining about security.

anneliese123

Totally agree

anneliese123

Wish I had now.

anneliese123

I understand totally they have to be Security conscious , however they called me back on my home telephone number to confirm it was a genuine transaction , went through Security so many times it was ridicioulous

mt99

I had a very similar experience with lloyds - had o go.into the branch with my passport

GingerBob_3

It's a symptom of banking security paranoia generally, and MLP in particular. I reckon it will get worse before it gets better. It will only get better when the banks realise they are losing business as a result (though that doesn't seem to bother HSBC) - people will move to banks that operate a more sensible security regime.

firely2327

Customer service and banks, don't we just love them. I learned my lesson about six years ago when, with only one current account and no credit card, I was left stranded nearly 100 miles from home without access to my funds thanks to my bank. It's a long story, the short version being that I phoned them and, being frustrated at their insincerity at their incompetence and their sheer nerve at trying to charge me for giving me emergency access to my own funds (£50 was the attempted fee!), I called them something rhyming with 'bankers' and was hung up on. The Ombudsman found in my favour and the bank issued me compensation for the dilemma they left me in. I now have three current accounts. Lesson learned. Trust none of them. They are all bound to get it wrong on occasion.


Oh, and said bank blocked my account once too as they said they were worried about fraud. When I asked what was the problem they said that there was a significant amount of money going in there each month. It was my salary..... duh