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Santander: what’s your verdict on the bank that is taking over the high street?
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Chris Marshall (Citywire)
Posted: 22 July 2010 10:41:04(UTC)
#1

Joined: 24/06/2010(UTC)
Posts: 47
Spanish bank Santander is buying up more of Britain’s high street banking network.

It has already bought Alliance & Leicester, Abbey and part of what was Bradford & Bingley, and is planning to buy 318 UK branches from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

In order to do this it will need cash and a London stock market flotation is being considered.

The global banking group is widely recognised as a well-run business. It also keeps popping up in the best buy tables for products like savings and mortgages.

But is its rapid expansion and corporate ambition being matched good service to customers? Many Citywire readers have complained about service at Abbey, but Santander has come in for a grilling too. A couple of examples from readers include:

‘Compared to UK banks Santander is a no no. Why d’you think its such a big bank? Because its been screwing it’s Spanish speaking customers around the world for years.'

‘For terrible service and lack of response Santander take the biscuit. Just Great offers to get you in but service ....it stinks. Read the Sunday papers, they feature every week in the complaints columns.'

Of course, all organisations the size of Santander will provoke complaints and few people use internet forums and comment boards to praise their bank.

For those of you have dealt with Santander, how does it compare with other banks? Is it any worse than Lloyds, RBS, Barclays, HSBC and co?
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Anonymous Post
Posted: 22 July 2010 13:21:32(UTC)
#2
Anonymous 1 needed this 'Off the Record'

Totally useless! It took me 7 weeks to open a business account no access to the account or funds for a further 2 weeks unless we went into the branch ! they advertise 3-5 working days.... , they lost all our identification internally. They refuse payments from accounts which have already submitted previous transactions. They close down accounts for no real reason and give you 30 days notice. The branch managers did not have a clue, you only get anywhere with this bank when you constantly complain! We are thinking of switching to HSBC!
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Anonymous Post
Posted: 22 July 2010 13:30:24(UTC)
#3
Anonymous 2 needed this 'Off the Record'

I have been trying to transfer an ISA since April, despite numerous phone calls, complaints by phone and net, still not done. As for promised phone calls to let me know what is happening don't make me laugh.

They don't seem to be able to have anyody who can take ownership of a problem and sort it. Even the complaints department only seem to be able to e-mail the relevant department, and then hope something happens.

The staff to be fair are always polite and try to help, Santander is simply an incompetent company.

My advise avoid them if at all possible, the better interest rates aren't worth the aggrevation.
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Anonymous Post
Posted: 22 July 2010 13:49:05(UTC)
#4
Anonymous 3 needed this 'Off the Record'

Scary!
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John Lacy
Posted: 22 July 2010 13:49:12(UTC)
#5

Joined: 14/05/2008(UTC)
Posts: 35

Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 2 post(s)
Why did you expect Santander to be any good when the companies that they took over were arrogant, inefficient and generally unhelpful.
Like cleaves to like as they say!
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vikki
Posted: 22 July 2010 14:06:08(UTC)
#6

Joined: 24/02/2009(UTC)
Posts: 3
I would agree that this bank is a waste of time, I have a old A & L account so have ot pay in via the post office counters,they have lost 2 large cheques up to now, causing me loads of problems and delays in getting this money back, they invited me to have a Santander credit card 2 months ago, filled in all the forms , now they keep asking me for further ID, have sent this information in twice to the bank, but still they write, I have now given up on the credit card which would have been good to use in Spain, no charges loaded, Just don't understand why they have done so well here in the UK,
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Anonymous Post
Posted: 22 July 2010 14:09:02(UTC)
#7
Anonymous 4 needed this 'Off the Record'

A one year bond I have with them is coming to an end. To get my money, I'm required to make several phone calls to contact the branch ( telephone numbers are not readily available), make an appointment at that branch and persuade them to give me back my money and hopefully some interest. Otherwise they lock my money into a new bond at a much reduced rate without my say so.
Avoid. They are a plague.
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Anonymous Post
Posted: 22 July 2010 14:15:46(UTC)
#8
Anonymous 5 needed this 'Off the Record'

Worked for them and can honestly say that however much staff want things to improve there is always a tonne of bureaucreacy and paperwork that gets in the way.

They pride themselves in having the best IT, however no one knows how the IT works so when "computer says no" there is nothing much that can be done.

As an employee I've banked with them, had credit card accounts with them and ISAs without much of a problem, however if you do have a problem chances are it won't be resolved very quickly/efficiently.
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Anonymous Post
Posted: 22 July 2010 14:18:18(UTC)
#9
Anonymous 6 needed this 'Off the Record'

No real horror stories as yet (touch wood!) but they do seem to be more difficult to deal with than some other institutions.

Basically, everything just seems to take longer and be more complicated than it need be.

E.G.. I am now on my 3rd set of log ons and passwords because their system keeps locking me out and the only answer is to call their Customer Service Dept (at considerable expense!) who then have to issue fresh documentation by post (not e-mail). Furthermore the documentation comes in two separate parts so the whole process takes about a week to complete.

Fortunately, i have never been locked out of my account at a critical time but why is their system so diffiult to use and why do I not have this trouble with anyone else?
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Anonymous Post
Posted: 22 July 2010 14:19:23(UTC)
#10
Anonymous 7 needed this 'Off the Record'

I couldn't agree more with the other comments. Transferring my old Santander accounts was one of the best things I ever did. The old Abbey National had got really, really bad but when Santander took them over everything really went down the toilet.
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Gerry Walker
Posted: 22 July 2010 14:28:08(UTC)
#11

Joined: 22/07/2010(UTC)
Posts: 4
I have accounts with Santander and Halifax. My Santander account was moved from Alliance and Leicester. I am very uneasy about this move. A & L were easy to deal with. Abbey National was always known for being the opposite. Santander might bring from Spain a livery and logo and some account branding, but can they change corporate culture? This is my worry. I've yet to see any change at Halifax from the days before Lloyds ripped off all its shareholders. Simple requests are often difficult to fulfill these days at most banks. Are we being over critical? Perhaps. The reason most banks fail to deliver these days is human error caused by them being almost totally reliant on part-time staff. Go in to a branch on Monday and need to call again on Tuesday and you'll see what I mean. It is employment policy that is at the heart of most bank shortcomings and it affects them all.
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Peter Izard
Posted: 22 July 2010 14:34:02(UTC)
#12

Joined: 02/06/2009(UTC)
Posts: 1
I personally have no complaints with Santander at all. I have recently upgraded my Current Account as they offer a very competive new account and this was executed in a very effecient manor. I have also recently taken advantage of their market leading ISA product. I am only too aware that they will try and entice new customers with attractive rates but if you read the small print and continually review cannot go too wrong. They certainly seem to want to establish themselves as a major UK player and perhaps give the so called established big 4 a run for their money!
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Dennis Baker
Posted: 22 July 2010 15:21:10(UTC)
#13

Joined: 01/07/2010(UTC)
Posts: 2
Absolutely abyssmal.It took 10 weeks to transfer in an ISA to them.Endless and time consuming phone calls,e-mails and letters before the transfer was concluded all were Santanders ineptitude not the previous provider.Having to deal with four seperate offices in Belfast,Glasgow ,Bradford and Milton Keynes was a recipe for disaster.We did receive a cheque for £25 fo our inconvenience but this is the last time I will invest with Santander.The only consolation was the attitude and sympathy of my local office but even they did not have full access to all our dealings with the bank.
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David Hicks
Posted: 22 July 2010 15:36:49(UTC)
#14

Joined: 19/06/2009(UTC)
Posts: 4
I fear that Santander is another RBS in the making. When all is revealed in the domestic spanish market I suspect Santander will have to declare massive problems. The current state of the Spanish property market must be a massive problem for the whole of their banking industry.
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DENNIS
Posted: 22 July 2010 16:51:59(UTC)
#15

Joined: 28/06/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3
I am not surprised that ex Abbey customers are still having problems, but I am very surprised that ex Alliance & Leicester customers are as well. I am an ex Alliance customer of some 10 years standing and do not have any problems as long as I do not need to speak to anyone. There clearly is a massive problem in the the banking industry which should tell them all that their employment and staffing policies are causing their customers a great deal of trouble. My local postmaster tells me that the Co-op bank are one of the better ones in his experience.
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harry marsden
Posted: 22 July 2010 17:09:29(UTC)
#16

Joined: 17/07/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1
IT IS RAPIDLY REDUCING OUR CHOICE OF BANKS AND IT MUST BE CURBED AS TOO MANY BUSINESSES ARE OWNED BY FOREIGN COMPANIES.
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RPK20
Posted: 22 July 2010 17:12:35(UTC)
#17

Joined: 17/12/2009(UTC)
Posts: 1
For personal banking, I believe that you can't beat First Direct (with HSBC branches) for excellent banking by telephone, internet and mobile. Simply terrific service 24 / 7 and you actually get to speak to a person who understands your needs without trying to hard sell additional services you don't want.
My wife also eventually moved seamlessly to First Direct from Barclays a few years ago and still can't believe the difference!
She banked with the same Barclays branch for over 30 years but was asked to bring her passport in to enable her to withdraw £500 to take on holiday - that was the last straw!
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grahame wills
Posted: 22 July 2010 17:12:57(UTC)
#18

Joined: 25/08/2009(UTC)
Posts: 1
Santander are the worst bank I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. Last year it took 3 weeks to get my money out of them when a bond matured. Having paid monthly interest into my bank account for a year, they informed me that they couldn't make a BACS payment of my capital!! I asked for a cheque but they wouldn't send me one. In the end after numerous 'phone calls I went into a branch and eventually got a counter cheque.
This year I have been trying to transfer an ISA, after 3 months it still hasn't happened! They are incapable of complying with written instructions, pass you from piller to post, lie and simply couldn't care less. I have now removed all of my money from them (once they transfer my ISA) and will never ever invest with them again!

Grahame
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Brian Hills
Posted: 22 July 2010 17:17:45(UTC)
#19

Joined: 16/06/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1
During the 2 or more years past I have been having problems with Santander, they fail to reply to letters and this year I had an incomplete Tax Certificate, it took me three attempts to get the tax information that I needed, this was through the local office, it seemed to me that the local office understood my problem well enough, but, they just could not get the information from their Head Office, as for phone calls, forget it. Each time that I tried to get them, I was placed on a roundabout of recorded messages and I was completely unable to get the answers that I needed. I look forward to the end of this financial year when I can take the cash out of my bond and close my savings account (both from the days of Abbey National)
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david harrison
Posted: 22 July 2010 17:22:58(UTC)
#20

Joined: 11/06/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3
Santander are rubbish when things go wrong.

My wifes ISA was credited with 1% interest on last twelve months instead of 3% which she had signed up for with Santander Wimbourne Branch in Dorest

From 25th March we have visited the branch 4 times, written three letters to head Office,rung head Office but no interested, at long last after me making a big scene in Wimrborne branch (Next day received a bunch of flowers) but still wanted my wifes interest

Finally after 14 weeks we have been credited with correct Isa interest.

I have switched away from Santander on my ISA, also switched household insurance, and shut e accounts.

Dont rate them a foreign bank with now a monopoly situation- it is wrong for UK.
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