Santander free forever bank account changes

dunnowot

LordDavos said:

Any recommendations?

I went with Virgin whose application process and service has been excellent so far.  Starling was a painful process and I gave up with them as was Monzo.  Co-op was also good.

Oneday99

I have now switched to HSBC but have been charged £19.98 for I'm assuming Oct and Nov. I appealed to Santander for a refund but they said that I had to route this complaint via the Ombudsman. Who else is in the same boat? 

eskbanker

Oneday99 said:

I have now switched to HSBC but have been charged £19.98 for I'm assuming Oct and Nov. I appealed to Santander for a refund but they said that I had to route this complaint via the Ombudsman. Who else is in the same boat? 

You are entitled to complain directly to Santander and they are obliged to deal with that complaint in accordance with FCA regulations - if they ultimately reject it, you then have the right to escalate it to the FOS, but Santander can't just refuse to speak to you and tell you to go straight to FOS.

If you've actually had a complaint rejected by Santander and have then referred it to FOS, and are awaiting their response, then yes, there are plenty in that boat, as you'll see if you read the most recent few pages of this thread - I haven't seen any references to FOS upholding customer complaints about these charges yet though....

Oneday99

eskbanker said:

Oneday99 said:

I have now switched to HSBC but have been charged £19.98 for I'm assuming Oct and Nov. I appealed to Santander for a refund but they said that I had to route this complaint via the Ombudsman. Who else is in the same boat? 

You are entitled to complain directly to Santander and they are obliged to deal with that complaint in accordance with FCA regulations - if they ultimately reject it, you then have the right to escalate it to the FOS, but Santander can't just refuse to speak to you and tell you to go straight to FOS.

If you've actually had a complaint rejected by Santander and have then referred it to FOS, and are awaiting their response, then yes, there are plenty in that boat, as you'll see if you read the most recent few pages of this thread - I haven't seen any references to FOS upholding customer complaints about these charges yet though....

Thanks for posting. Yes, I've been following this thread for a while now so am aware many of us are still waiting for the FOS response although based on the response which others have had, it would appear the the FOS will rule in favour of Santander regarding the introduction of fees. It's whether the FOS come down in our favour about the charges whilst the complaint is still pending which is what I'm interested in. 

eskbanker

Oneday99 said:
It's whether the FOS come down in our favour about the charges whilst the complaint is still pending which is what I'm interested in. 

Even if the act of escalating a complaint to FOS puts charges on hold while it's assessed, my assumption would be that those charges would then be payable if the complaint is rejected, for as long as you held the account after 1 October, although conversely an uphold would see the charges dropped.

amyfairweather

Now they have no use for them, it's good to see someone on the facebook group (Lynn Watson) is responsibly going to be sending all of their pre-paid envelopes back to Santander - individually in the post box, of course.  

BlueonBlue

I forgot all about this !
Received a 9.99 overdraft charge notice for Oct by email on wed 10th oct.
Customer service woman probably working from home was like talking to a robot ..... but she said I would be charged for nov and eventually dec as well and cannot waive any charges .

Rang back again after paying 19.98 for oct and nov into the Buis account.
This new advisor said only octobers charge had been processed so far ......so refunded me 9.99 and closed the account at my request ......meaning nov and or dec wouldnt be charged according to her .

You never know if one hand knows what the other is doing with Santander customer service but the first lady was very very bullish .
The whole sh..t show behaviour is typical of banks moving the goal posts .....they have a long history of doing so its nothing new.
I wish I had the time and the energy to fight this like others on here but am up to my eyeballs with my health so have swallowed the loss of a tenner .

martindow

Oneday99 said:

I have now switched to HSBC but have been charged £19.98 for I'm assuming Oct and Nov. I appealed to Santander for a refund but they said that I had to route this complaint via the Ombudsman. Who else is in the same boat? 

I've just opened an HSBC account.  Managed to jump through all of the hoops to get the account open - photo of passport, video of me, lots of texted passcodes at intervals, etc.  

What i can't manage is setting up internet banking.  I got part way through and received an email saying it was set up.  I need to use the app, but when I request a code (6 digits long) it provides one 8 long and a mixture of digits and letters, which of course it won't accept.  It does seem unbelievably complicated.

Futuristic

amyfairweather said:

Now they have no use for them, it's good to see someone on the facebook group (Lynn Watson) is responsibly going to be sending all of their pre-paid envelopes back to Santander - individually in the post box, of course.  

So a poor employee has to handle with someone’s mental issues? How professional. It doesn’t hurt the top directors who made this decision. That FB group and some of the stuff they come up with is beyond sad.

fest0r

Futuristic said:

amyfairweather said:

Now they have no use for them, it's good to see someone on the facebook group (Lynn Watson) is responsibly going to be sending all of their pre-paid envelopes back to Santander - individually in the post box, of course.  

So a poor employee has to handle with someone’s mental issues? How professional. It doesn’t hurt the top directors who made this decision. That FB group and some of the stuff they come up with is beyond sad.

Thanks for bringing attention to this and posting it again Futuristic, great idea. I must have missed the original post.

Further expense to Santander while the "poor employee" is being paid for their time, incurring yet another expense, a win-win!