Santander appalling service

Daliah

RG2015 said:

j.p said:

Appalling service from this forum as well.

Complaint to the bank -- they won't listen to you.

Complaint here -- you're told, "The problem is you."

Time to vote with one's feet with regards to this forum as well.

Sadly though, the MSE Forum had a monopoly on decent financial forums.

Who/which forum challenged/destroyed their monopoly?

eskbanker

j.p said:

Appalling service from this forum as well.

Complaint to the bank -- they won't listen to you.

Complaint here -- you're told, "The problem is you."

Time to vote with one's feet with regards to this forum as well.

Who told OP that?

RG2015

Daliah said:

RG2015 said:

j.p said:

Appalling service from this forum as well.

Complaint to the bank -- they won't listen to you.

Complaint here -- you're told, "The problem is you."

Time to vote with one's feet with regards to this forum as well.

Sadly though, the MSE Forum had a monopoly on decent financial forums.

Who/which forum challenged/destroyed their monopoly?

Typo. Should say has. S next to D on keyboard 🎹.

RG2015

eskbanker said:

j.p said:

Appalling service from this forum as well.

Complaint to the bank -- they won't listen to you.

Complaint here -- you're told, "The problem is you."

Time to vote with one's feet with regards to this forum as well.

Who told OP that?

I am not saying this is the case here, but I have had similar reactions when I have said that I take responsibility.

If I have had issues with a company and suggested mitigations or workarounds, I have been accused of being an apologist and that the organisation should not rely on customers doing their job.

robatwork

I've been a pretty staunch supporter of Santander having my original Abbey National account subsumed into Santander. My previous posts on here have generally been very positive as I loved their original 123 account and find the website does just about everything I need without going into a branch or needing to call. Even with the 0 interest rates and £3 charge they are still my main bank.

My recent experience this weekend is a negative one. I needed something that I can't do online and can't venture out at the moment, so called. Yesterday (Saturday) I hung on for 30 minutes listening to a recorded message until the clock ticked to 18:00 (end of working hours) and the line just rang at which point I abandoned ship. Also hung on for 30 minutes this morning but did get through. The phone message is quite passive aggressive, stating that unless you're in dire need of help please keep the line free for people who do.

Not enough to switch by any means, but a sour taste regarding the call waiting time and the fact they are obviously still struggling with WFH arrangements (which the recorded message implied). 

topcat105

I must say I am not impressed with Santander this week.
Account blocked last weekend for security reasons.
Went into branch with passport on Tuesday. It was still blocked on Thursday.
When I rang I was told there is a note on file and it is being sorted.
Still blocked today so rang again and after being on hold for 30 minutes the girl in Liverpool said there is no record of a passport being scanned.
So I've got to go to branch again.
Will definitely complain if and when it finally gets sorted.
We were planning on moving our main bank to Santander in March but that won't be happening after this fiasco.

Lightning360

topcat105 said:

I must say I am not impressed with Santander this week.
Account blocked last weekend for security reasons.
Went into branch with passport on Tuesday. It was still blocked on Thursday.
When I rang I was told there is a note on file and it is being sorted.
Still blocked today so rang again and after being on hold for 30 minutes the girl in Liverpool said there is no record of a passport being scanned.
So I've got to go to branch again.
Will definitely complain if and when it finally gets sorted.
We were planning on moving our main bank to Santander in March but that won't be happening after this fiasco.

I'm not saying don't switch, but this sort of thing happens at other banks. I would say overall, most banks probably are very similar, but it's just luck if something bad happens to you 

born_again

Deleted_User said:

born_again said:

Daliah said:

If you find them unbearable, switch your account.

Which was exactly why the CASS was set up, to make it easy to switch accounts. Yet you still see posts like this one on a regular basis. 
Pretty sure many stay as they keep getting bunged a few £££ for each complaint.

Time banks had the power to say to customers, when they have complained a number of times. Clearly you are not happy with our service. Who would you like to move too, & start the process for them 👍

Lost count of the number of times a customer has said they are leaving as there is no way to help them. But they are still a customer months afterwards.

The idea bad customer service should be ignored because people can switch bank accounts is pretty nonsensical. For one, bad customer service by a bank can cost you money if it's something urgent. People clearly have a right to complain if a service isn't up to scratch.

I'm not saying it should be ignored. In fact, that people can switch so easily should mean the focus is on good customer service & resolving problems quickly.

My issue is that you get people that complain that you are not helping them, despite the fact there is nothing you can do to help them. They paid for something via FP and did not get it etc, 
Then you have the serial complainers who will find the smallest thing to complain about. Seen some complain every month. As some muppet thinks that throwing ££ will shut them up.
There should be a point, where the bank can say "Clearly you are not happy with the service" so we will assist you to move elsewhere..
Good for everyone 👍

I can never understand anyone standing for poor service when we have a marketplace full of alternatives. That not only goes for banking but all other consumer requirements.

robatwork

born_again said:

There should be a point, where the bank can say "Clearly you are not happy with the service" so we will assist you to move elsewhere..
Good for everyone 👍

There have been plenty of threads on this forum where the OP has posted along the lines of:

There have been no unusual payments out of or into the account, every payment has been identical for years, and suddenly the bank have given notice they are closing my account

I'm pretty sure those people are the serial complainers, so banks do close accounts because they just don't want to deal with a client any more rather than for AML or other fraud. They'd never admit that though!

Thrugelmir

robatwork said:

born_again said:

There should be a point, where the bank can say "Clearly you are not happy with the service" so we will assist you to move elsewhere..
Good for everyone 👍

I'm pretty sure those people are the serial complainers, so banks do close accounts because they just don't want to deal with a client any more rather than for AML or other fraud. They'd never admit that though!

There's the longstanding rule in business that 20% of your customers generate 80% of your profits. Some customers being more trouble than their worth is something I encountered often over the years. Time costs money. Likewise there's plenty of alternatives for customers themselves.