Santander free forever bank account changes

cocacolakid

It says that you can continue and ask an Ombudsman to look at the case. This is only a senior investigator. The case has not run to its conclusion.

Lightning360

Smurrfmo said:

Lightning360 said:

Smurrfmo said:

It would be hard to find a more lamentable decision by the FOS than that one, absolutely pathetic.   Almost everything they say is wrong, both legally and from a fairness point of view.  They even say that customers should be thankful they had their promised free banking for so long.  It's as if that FOS decision maker was a Santander representative.

This matter will be decided in court in any event.  Now courts can get it wrong as well but I'd be surprised if this dire level of decision making was to prevail.

So people, legal experts, and the courts are wrong because they disagree with you? Maybe all these official people are correct and the people trying to go after Santander are wrong?

What courts have ruled on this matter and been wrong?  Your bias gives you away a tad.

I was referring to the comment I quoted, which was clearly bias. They were suggesting that if the court rules in Santander's favour, then the court is getting it wrong. 

Lightning360

Smurrfmo said:

Major objective of litigation: right a wrong and force Santander to honour its promise.  Minor objective: watch the Santander fanboys squirm.  

Or maybe some people need to be more realistic and accept it isn't a black and white case. Slamming down any comments that suggest Santander may be legally fine with this isn't fair and isn't the point of this forum.

Smurrfmo

There's some scepticism on the facebook group about this initial FOS conclusion in Santander's favour.  Now I'm no conspiracy theorist but I did note that the poster had not previously posted on MSE for nearly 18 years.  My own complaint is awaiting a response from Santander and nowhere near even an investigator being appointed.  It needs to go to a final Ombudsman decision with robust arguments made around the Santander claims on contract terms, including the infamous E14.

MeteredOut

Sorry, but anyone suggesting that someone made up that FOS response just for lolz is clearly clutching at straws.

It was always most likely that the FOS were going to find for Santander from a legal perspective. The less obvious decision in my mind was the one of fairness, and in the case posted, it was deemed fair due to the changes in business banking landscape since the free forever claim was included in marketing literature. I did find it interesting that the FOS in that response took time to explain that adding the fee complied with the T&Cs of the original account, not just the post-2015 T&Cs.

What will be more interesting going forward is whether other people get the same written response (ie, they use that as a boilerplate) or whether they get something bespoke to their own submission.

Smurrfmo

It would be nice to find another FOS initial decision but no luck so far.  Maybe there will now be a flood using this template and maybe not.  It is certainly curious.

OrangeBlueGreen

clairec666 said:

In which case, Santander have played a blinder legally, which is what I have suspected for a while.

I agree and it tells you everything you need to know about Santander.

I am really surprised at the poor "quality" of this response and its implications especially with how marketing forms part of a contract seems to have been ignored. I can't remember who said "parroting Santander" but that is how it feels reading this.

I don't have a business account with Santander but am following these events to decide if I still want to bank with them or not, it's a trust thing. I know the bank won't give two hoots about customers closing accounts other than a potential performative "Is there any reason you are closing them" if we happen to speak to anyone, but it is about integrity. I know that when it comes to bank, you could ask if integrity is a thing at all, but it's just about the message it sends and the type of organisation it is, and ultimately if I feel they match with who I am or try to be.

Customers are not asking for free business banking, they are asking for the advertised promise to be kept. Ultimately it may be the same desired result, but the nuance is important.

Renfrewman

OrangeBlueGreen said:

clairec666 said:

In which case, Santander have played a blinder legally, which is what I have suspected for a while.

I agree and it tells you everything you need to know about Santander.

I am really surprised at the poor "quality" of this response and its implications especially with how marketing forms part of a contract seems to have been ignored. I can't remember who said "parroting Santander" but that is how it feels reading this.

I don't have a business account with Santander but am following these events to decide if I still want to bank with them or not, it's a trust thing. I know the bank won't give two hoots about customers closing accounts other than a potential performative "Is there any reason you are closing them" if we happen to speak to anyone, but it is about integrity. I know that when it comes to bank, you could ask if integrity is a thing at all, but it's just about the message it sends and the type of organisation it is, and ultimately if I feel they match with who I am or try to be.

Customers are not asking for free business banking, they are asking for the advertised promise to be kept. Ultimately it may be the same desired result, but the nuance is important.

Would you 'hold your hands up' if you got your weekly shopping at Asda for free by mistake?

OrangeBlueGreen

Renfrewman said:

OrangeBlueGreen said:

clairec666 said:

In which case, Santander have played a blinder legally, which is what I have suspected for a while.

I agree and it tells you everything you need to know about Santander.

I am really surprised at the poor "quality" of this response and its implications especially with how marketing forms part of a contract seems to have been ignored. I can't remember who said "parroting Santander" but that is how it feels reading this.

I don't have a business account with Santander but am following these events to decide if I still want to bank with them or not, it's a trust thing. I know the bank won't give two hoots about customers closing accounts other than a potential performative "Is there any reason you are closing them" if we happen to speak to anyone, but it is about integrity. I know that when it comes to bank, you could ask if integrity is a thing at all, but it's just about the message it sends and the type of organisation it is, and ultimately if I feel they match with who I am or try to be.

Customers are not asking for free business banking, they are asking for the advertised promise to be kept. Ultimately it may be the same desired result, but the nuance is important.

Would you 'hold your hands up' if you got your weekly shopping at Asda for free by mistake?

Whilst I’m not perfect and I think that you surely must have better things to do with your time than to go through strangers’ post history for a “gotcha” moment, I did attempt to explain to the member of staff who (to summarise) just shrugged. 

Smurrfmo

OrangeBlueGreen said:

Renfrewman said:

OrangeBlueGreen said:

clairec666 said:

In which case, Santander have played a blinder legally, which is what I have suspected for a while.

I agree and it tells you everything you need to know about Santander.

I am really surprised at the poor "quality" of this response and its implications especially with how marketing forms part of a contract seems to have been ignored. I can't remember who said "parroting Santander" but that is how it feels reading this.

I don't have a business account with Santander but am following these events to decide if I still want to bank with them or not, it's a trust thing. I know the bank won't give two hoots about customers closing accounts other than a potential performative "Is there any reason you are closing them" if we happen to speak to anyone, but it is about integrity. I know that when it comes to bank, you could ask if integrity is a thing at all, but it's just about the message it sends and the type of organisation it is, and ultimately if I feel they match with who I am or try to be.

Customers are not asking for free business banking, they are asking for the advertised promise to be kept. Ultimately it may be the same desired result, but the nuance is important.

Would you 'hold your hands up' if you got your weekly shopping at Asda for free by mistake?

you surely must have better things to do with your time than to go through strangers’ post history for a “gotcha” moment. 

He doesn't and he is far from alone in this.  Very strange behaviour in a consumer forum.  There seem to be a bunch of malcontents on here who get a kick out of supporting a untrustworthy bank against a variety of small businesses that are affected.