A & L migration to Santander

Does anyone remember if HBOS had these problems when Halifax and Bank of Scotland merged their systems? Or if there were ever any problems with RBS and Natwest when they merged?

Simongw wrote: »

On 1st July I started this thread. Today my A & L accounts are finally and properly closed- all monies moved- and my account is with the Co-op.
:T

I think I have probably read every post on this thread- and what an appalling picture is painted...a bank that plays fast and loose with its "customers" money and seems to have little concern for service or existing customers.

I note how many people who have posted are relative newcomers to this site- their Santander experiences motivating them to come here and contribute.

Thanks to all who have contributed- it certainly made me feel better to know I was not alone!!:beer:

Many issues have been raised over the weeks- I shall watch with interest to see what happens.....

Hi Simongw............. I was about 3 weeks after you that my troubles started.
I still have 2 DD's to see if they work before closing this account, BUT, I am looking at a Co-op standard current account which says its anything but standard - as I need to be able to use my local P.O. it sounds ideal. Otherwise I would need to make a 100 miles round trip to my "local" Santander branch !!!! also I don't have the required monthly amount to pay in - poor OAP !!

It may be a couple of weeks before the set up is complete but I am really looking forward to telling Santander where to put my old account - and the sun don't shine there either !!!

I too, have been reading all the posts above and I find it distressing that so many folks have had such experiences and that the media have not picked up on it.

IT REALLY SHOULD BE EXPOSED.

If you're passing through the NW Highlands - have one on me :beer:

Regards WW

Simongw wrote: »

Your email address has been updated 21 August 2010


Your email address has been updated to santandersuck@yahoo.com
Alliance & Leicester will never send you emails that ask for confidential information or security details. Nor will we send emails with a link to a site that then requests such information.

DEFINITELY DITTO


If you agree - do a "ditto" and lets see how many we get.

WW

Ditto
I could think of worse names for them though lol

[EMAIL="satander_is_!!!!!@yahoo.co.uk"]satander_is_!!!!!@yahoo.co.uk[/EMAIL] is not used on yahoo.

Just another thing worth checking on your A&L / Santander account, if anyone reading this thread is planning on staying with them - I'm in the process of transferring my account away, but happened to look at the address they have stored for me (Other Services > View / Update Personal Details), and find that my address is wrong.

It's a similar address to mine, but not actually right. The following details are made up, but the difference is the same, let's say my address is:

8 Bobbins Street,
Cardiff,
CF5 4BL

They have for me:

8 Bobin Street,
Cardiff,
CF14 8HT

So - a different postcode, and a different street; sure enough, according to Royal Mail that street and postcode combination exist - so they're (presumably) sending my post to a totally different address!!! Worse, if I try to change it, I get:

"Unfortunately, due to a temporary problem, your updated address/contact details cannot be processed at the moment. Please try again later, and be assured that this has not affected the security of any of your details."

Yeah. Right. It doesn't affect the security of my details to be SENDING ALL MY BANKING CORRESPONDENCE TO THE WRONG PERSON!!!

Of course, I can't say for sure that this is the result of the merger, as it's not something I check frequently, but they certainly had my address right until recently, looking at old correspondence from them.

As a software developer by trade, with a passing interest in IT security, my mind boggles at how this could happen; presumably there was no manual process here, the details have been copied over automatically, and it's made some kind of best guess at matching the address! I can't see anything more unbelievably and obviously terrible that they could have done; especially because my correct address exists, has existed for many years, and I've never had any problem with it being listed on any company's address system.

Can it get worse? Oh yes, of course it can; I now get to sit on hold to their call centre for the rest of the afternoon. Just how I love spending my weekends.

EDIT: I've made the call (amazingly I was only on hold for about 20 seconds), and spoke to an address expert there, who, to his credit, was very helpful and understanding, even saying that he'd have been much angrier than me, if it had happened to him. However, he said that I wasn't the first, and that they've seen several of the same problem! Great to know that they haven't bothered to do a check their end (which would be very easy), instead waiting for individual customers to discover; presumably merrily sending out newly issued debit cards + PINs in the meantime...

If any MSE'rs are reading this, I really think it would be worth a mention on the weekly email - from this thread and the poll last week it seems like plenty of your users are A&L customers, presumably because you were recommending them heavily, and you're in a position to make sure people are aware before it's too late.