Santander free forever bank account changes

Renfrewman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81965198#Comment_81965198

…but…but…but they said they were going to see Santander in Court no matter what. Have they now changed their mind and if so is there an ombudsman I can complain to?

4justice2

No updates? Have any of those who were going to fight Santander to the bitter end actually gone to court? I take it all the ombudsman complaints were rejected?

MeteredOut

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82054712#Comment_82054712

The Facebook page has gone quiet. I've seen no word of anyone actually taking them to the small claims court andI suspect they've realise that Santander stitched them up good and proper and it'd likely be a waste of money.

robatwork

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81849782#Comment_81849782

fizzle fizzle

noitsnotme

Someone on the Facebook group saying they are in court today. Apparently Santander have sent a barrister.

MeteredOut

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82072463#Comment_82072463

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Anyone here?

eskbanker

Unsuccessful:

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noitsnotme

I’m sure the cost of the barrister was pocket change to Santander. It was probably worth it on their part anyway. I know precedents are not set in small claims, but a loss for Santander would have opened the flood gates for more claims. This kind of nips it in the bud.

MeteredOut

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073216#Comment_82073216

Not a huge surprise. Santander played the long game and their customers were well and truly stitched up.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073400#Comment_82073400

Indeed - while junior courts don't literally set precedent in legal terms, there's little doubt that a customer winning a case would have attracted the attention of others on here and Facebook, and may even have achieved some media coverage, so there was an obvious business case for Santander to use the resources at their disposal to head that off.

It would still be interesting to see the details of the decision if the claimant chooses to share those, and in particular whether the rationale differs from that applied by FOS (who are able to use different criteria).