Santander - as bad as the feedback?

Peter999_2

I've had a Santander account for 32 years (it was Abbey National back then).    In the 32 years I have had loads of products with them including my mortgage.     The only real problem I have had was when a mortgage overpayment I sent didn't come off the mortgage.   It took about 5 days to resolve and they did send flowers to my wife as an apology.     Since then, no real problems.   I moved £10,000 to a marcus account and they locked my mobile app access.   They phoned the next day, I went through some questions and they unlocked it and made the payment.

I have taken out an Esaver account for both my wife and myself and have taken out the 4.2% fixed rate ISA.   We both transferred in from a Virgin ISA and it couldn't have been any easier.   Clicked on the drop down of ISA providers, selected Virgin, gave them the Virgin sort code and account number and that was it.    I'm very happy with them to be honest.

However, it should be noted that I have worked in IT for a few banks and anyone I met who has worked for Santander say their IT was horrific and was run on a wing and a prayer.   Some of these people really know what they are talking about and not prone to exaggeration.

GeoffTF

caveman38 said:

Thanks for the info. I had Santander bank accounts in 2017. Although they are closed, the online banking username and password are still active. However they do not allow me access savings for my ISA application. Do you imagine I need to proceed to the generic application page and having set up the account, the info will appear in the online banking page I have. Or do I have to register again for online access for savings purposes?

I have an active Santander current account. I applied for an eSaver Limited Edition using the public page on their website. The account promptly appeared next to my current account when I logged in. I do not think they are any better or worse than the other big banks.

CompulsiveSaver

I have been with Santander (and prior to that Abbey National) for a few decades, and found Santander better than most, I have had an assortment of Current and Savings accounts, all have been fine. The only thing I would say is they frequently don't pay the best rates (particularly when the BOE, Government is flooding the market with printed money). They also seem to pay better savings rates than most of the other high street banks on decent sums of money.  Also, at the moment their ESaver is top of the table for that type of account .

They all have their issues, but so far their interest payments have always been correct and on time, they still have a branch open on a Saturday if that is an issue, and don't claim to be "looking after their members", when their rates are substandard (unlike lots of building societies...).

I suppose as one of the biggest banks, they will have more customers than most institutions, so will inevitably have more complaints!  I am sure some people will have issues.