Santander free forever bank account changes

Smurrfmo

eskbanker said:

Smurrfmo said:

GJS123 said:

I made my complaint to Santander on 16th July by telephone and obtained a complaint reference.  As soon as I described the basic nature of the complaint the agent said that they would not change their decision to charge for the account and that they would not provide a response.

Santander is obviously trying to run the clock down on complaints to the FOS, not a sign of an organisation that has any real faith in its position.  If they don't respond you have to wait 8 weeks to complain to the FOS.  They did the same to me and no doubt many others.  You need to diarise the end of the 8 week period and make sure to get your complaint in so that your voice can be heard.

Fortunately there's no need to diarise this as such, as eight weeks from 16 July is...........today!

It is!  GJS123 get that complaint in!

aksteele69

moto16 said:

fest0r said:

I would certainly be naming names then, so it helps others. I opened a new account with Monzo. It took around 5 minutes, including the verification process. I didn't use the switching service though.

I really like the app features and you can have favourite payees. They also don't have all the additional warning stages when making a payment, unlike Santander. They have a web option too if you don't like the app.

It was the Co-Operative Business free banking account.

Judging by the time it took for someone to answer the helpline (~20-25 minutes on hold), they seems to be having a lot of issues!

I've submitted my complaint to FOS today regarding Santander and have also opened an account with the Co-Operative Bank. My experience with Co-Op couldn't be more different to yours. A single named person to deal with regarding the switching process and my new account up and running within a week. The switch is still to complete but I couldn't be happier with them at the moment. Yes they are an "ethical" bank so need to know about the business and the HID Approve app takes a bit of getting used to but I managed OK and I'm not a techy. 

flickadee001

So just catching up on this thread, which seems to be growing all the time!
As its now 10/9, is there any movement on Santander backtracking on this?

I have just opened a Monzo Lite Business Account, in preperation for this, and it looks like they do Business Bank Switching too.

It's a pain having to switch after 20+ years, but like everyone else, I was told this would be free for life?!

Does anyone have any thoughts on Monzo? or has anyone else moved over to Monzo.
This is the first time, I've had to move due to Santander, and you never know if you're going with a reputable bank or not.

I do have a First Direct Account also which has been open for a few years, and they seem ok, although its not a Business Account as such, but some advice is that if its a small business, you can actually use an account like First Direct?

But any thoughts on Monzo, would be great.
And if anything changes at Santander, I guess it will be posted here.

I shall keep my Santander account open for the rest of the month, up until the 11th hour I guess, then consider switching to one of the accounts above.

MeteredOut

flickadee001 said:

So just catching up on this thread, which seems to be growing all the time!
As its now 10/9, is there any movement on Santander backtracking on this?

It's clear there is no chance of them doing that, unless forced to by the FCA or as part of some legal proceedings.

After a blip at the start, a groundswell of ongoing bad-press that people were hoping for seems to have faded away. The hope will be that any FOS announcement into an investigation due to the volume of complaints might bring it back into the media limelight, but I doubt that would force Santander to change tact; they are steadfastly sticking to their line.

fest0r

flickadee001 said:

So just catching up on this thread, which seems to be growing all the time!
As its now 10/9, is there any movement on Santander backtracking on this?

I have just opened a Monzo Lite Business Account, in preperation for this, and it looks like they do Business Bank Switching too.

It's a pain having to switch after 20+ years, but like everyone else, I was told this would be free for life?!

Does anyone have any thoughts on Monzo? or has anyone else moved over to Monzo.
This is the first time, I've had to move due to Santander, and you never know if you're going with a reputable bank or not.

I do have a First Direct Account also which has been open for a few years, and they seem ok, although its not a Business Account as such, but some advice is that if its a small business, you can actually use an account like First Direct?

But any thoughts on Monzo, would be great.
And if anything changes at Santander, I guess it will be posted here.

I shall keep my Santander account open for the rest of the month, up until the 11th hour I guess, then consider switching to one of the accounts above.

I went with Monzo too and I'm delighted, so far. I based the decision on reviews from various platforms and that they have kept their free business account running since it was introduced 5 years ago. It's not a free forever promise (haha) but they do seem to have an ethos of supporting small businesses.

The app is also a breath of fresh air in comparison. Having notifications again and no excessive/repeated warnings when you make a payment is great. Also like the customisation options. I haven't had to speak to support though, everything just works.

gt94sss2

flickadee001 said:

I have just opened a Monzo Lite Business Account, in preperation for this, and it looks like they do Business Bank Switching too.

Does anyone have any thoughts on Monzo? or has anyone else moved over to Monzo.
This is the first time, I've had to move due to Santander, and you never know if you're going with a reputable bank or not.

I do have a First Direct Account also which has been open for a few years, and they seem ok, although its not a Business Account as such, but some advice is that if its a small business, you can actually use an account like First Direct?

But any thoughts on Monzo, would be great.

It depends on what you are looking for in a business account and how you intend to use it.

Be aware that Monzo has certain limits or charges for things which you may not experience from competitors.

If you are a personal Monzo customer, you will know that Monzo constantly like to try new things including changing their app design and packages. It's the same on their business side. Also, the quality of their support can be variable (at least for personal accounts).

Most banks state using personal accounts for business purposes is against their T&C. However, HSBC who own first direct have recently abolished the monthly fees on two of their small business accounts.

Mettle (owned by NatWest) may also be worth a look.

GJS123

eskbanker said:

Smurrfmo said:

GJS123 said:

I made my complaint to Santander on 16th July by telephone and obtained a complaint reference.  As soon as I described the basic nature of the complaint the agent said that they would not change their decision to charge for the account and that they would not provide a response.

Santander is obviously trying to run the clock down on complaints to the FOS, not a sign of an organisation that has any real faith in its position.  If they don't respond you have to wait 8 weeks to complain to the FOS.  They did the same to me and no doubt many others.  You need to diarise the end of the 8 week period and make sure to get your complaint in so that your voice can be heard.

Fortunately there's no need to diarise this as such, as eight weeks from 16 July is...........today!

Thanks for pointing this out!  Hopefully, the FOS will also realise that 8 weeks has passed and deal with the complaint.

GJS123

May I ask if anyone (everyone?) was also told at the point of complaining to Santander that their decision would stand and that they would not issue a response?

Thanks.

neilsedaka

Yes and No.

Section62

GJS123 said:

eskbanker said:

Smurrfmo said:

GJS123 said:

I made my complaint to Santander on 16th July by telephone and obtained a complaint reference.  As soon as I described the basic nature of the complaint the agent said that they would not change their decision to charge for the account and that they would not provide a response.

Santander is obviously trying to run the clock down on complaints to the FOS, not a sign of an organisation that has any real faith in its position.  If they don't respond you have to wait 8 weeks to complain to the FOS.  They did the same to me and no doubt many others.  You need to diarise the end of the 8 week period and make sure to get your complaint in so that your voice can be heard.

Fortunately there's no need to diarise this as such, as eight weeks from 16 July is...........today!

Thanks for pointing this out!  Hopefully, the FOS will also realise that 8 weeks has passed and deal with the complaint.

I think you'll need to be proactive and tell them you still haven't had a response and the 8 weeks is up.

Be prepared for them to possibly say you need to submit a new complaint (to FoS) because the first one was premature.  They might not, but it is arguable the first one wasn't a valid complaint because you didn't have a final response from Santander and less than 8 weeks had passed.

If FoS do reject your complaint on those grounds then the sooner you know and can submit a fresh complaint the better.  Hence be proactive with them.