Santander Edge Switching Nightmare

the3ggmaster

I switched from my First Direct account to Sandander Edge so I could take advantage of the linked saver account. All seemed to be going well for a week. Payments on card and mobile were fine. I could transfer money and all of my direct debits and standing orders were switched.

However, on Friday lunchtime I went to purchase a baked potato in the work canteen. My card was declined so I got the payment put into the book so I could pay later.

After hours of phonecalls, it turned out that my whole account and all of my money had been locked as I was a new customer. They finally registered a complaint at 5:30pm on Friday.

Called multiple times over the weekend to be told that the team who dealt with this only works Monday-Friday so I had no access to any of my own money, which is everything I have.

After an horrendous weekend of trying to feed my children, I called this morning to basically be told to wait until I get a call back as the team dealing with it are not contactable.

Absolute worst banking experience of my life.

flaneurs_lobster

Perhaps come back and update when Santander have given their reason for freezing your account, locking your account because you are a "new customer" seems unusual.

Does demonstrate why having access to a second account (with a different bank) is always a good idea, perhaps backed up by a credit card.

the3ggmaster

The 'new customer' reason was the latest. The first one was fraud, then on Saturday I was told my account and card were unlocked (they weren't as I went to the shops to try and purchase).

I do have an emergency credit card for exactly this reason, but now I'll be setting up two separate accounts under two different banks (not in the same group of banks).

the3ggmaster

Looks like this has happened before -

Blocked by Santander — MoneySavingExpert Forum

the3ggmaster

Found this from the Ombudsman:
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-4234912.pdf

GeoffTF

A few years ago I had my Santander account blocked more than once when attempting to move large sums to new own accounts with other banks that did not support Confirmation of Payee. I was able to fix that with a single phone call. I had been a customer for over 30 years and had a history of making large payments to own accounts with other banks. Perhaps that helped.

I second the recommendation that you keep a backup account with another bank and the means to fund it. A credit card with a third bank is also a good idea.

the3ggmaster

Update on this:
After around 10 hours on the phone over the weekend and yesterday, despite being told not to call back because nobody could help, I eventually got through to someone on the security team who took the call and was able to unlock the account while I was on the phone. Absolutely no reason given but by this point I was just glad to have access to my money again.