Santander's OUTRAGEOUS fees!

D0bsie

I recently failed to have sufficient funds in my Santander current account to cover a £57.00 direct debit. Stupid of me, I know. I live in Australia and managing accounts that I use rarely has lead to this "gap".

I expect to pay a reasonable fee for this transgression, but, to my absolute shock and horror, Santander has charged me an incredible £85.00 "fee"!

Naturally, I will challenge this, but I fully expect them to tell me to get lost. I have always found their customer service to be "passive aggressive" in other situations.

Can anyone advise me regarding what else I can do about it? And, has anyone had any similar situations with a fee of this size?

Thanks,
Dobsie

masonic

There's no need to be surprised by Santander's overdraft fees. They are set out here and quite simple to understand (go to the rates and fees tab):
http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/current-accounts/understanding-overdrafts
It's £6 a day, capped at £95 per month, for an unarranged overdraft.

Unarranged overdrafts are quite pricey. It's much cheaper to arrange one. You can also set up email or text alerts that would enable you to find out quickly if something like this has happened. The £85 in charges suggests you were overdrawn for around 2 weeks.

veryintrigued

Have you advised them of your Australian living arrangements?

I'd get on with paying the owed fees and put it down to experience if I were you....

Ballard

The charges are hefty which is why everyone should be checking their accounts at least a few times per week. You may get a refund by contacting their customer services and asking them nicely if the fee can be at least partly waived. If this is your first transgression you may find that they are helpful.

As has been mentioned before, they may not be happy with you living overseas as this could fall foul of their terms and conditions.

MyOnlyPost

Is that the outrageous fee you agreed to when taking the account? I assume you read the T&C at the time so would have been fully aware what this would cost you

societys_child

I recently failed to have sufficient funds . . .

As usual, this is the banks fault.

Shakin_Steve

Message for new posters: If you go overdrawn, esp. without permission, you will incur charges.
Please don't come on here looking for sympathy, all you'll get is abuse.:D

NotRichAtAll

Can anyone advise me regarding what else I can do about it?

Keep sufficient funds in your Santander current account would be my advice

JuicyJesus

Shakin_Steve wrote: »

Message for new posters: If you go overdrawn, esp. without permission, you will incur charges.
Please don't come on here looking for sympathy, all you'll get is abuse.:D

My mind utterly boggles at the sort of person who could have somehow missed everything about bank charges from 2007 onwards.

bigadaj

JuicyJesus wrote: »

My mind utterly boggles at the sort of person who could have somehow missed everything about bank charges from 2007 onwards.

Look on the bright side, it's fewer Aussie dollars now.

Nick_C

Shakin_Steve wrote: »

Message for new posters: If you go overdrawn, esp. without permission, you will incur charges.
Please don't come on here looking for sympathy, all you'll get is abuse.:D

I don't see any abuse on here. Just plain talking. Nothing wrong with that.

As for expecting sympathy, you're right, don't expect it.

My sympathy is with Santander, who are being accused of OUTRAGEOUS fees. Nothing outrageous about them. They are similar to the fees charged by many other banks.

Other banks are available. If you don't like Santander's fee structure, take your business somewhere else.