@santanderbankgb Nothing but problems and charges,

[jo5ephedward5]

Right its been a while since I posted on here so its going to be a long one.

 

About 2 years ago I opened an account with Alliance and Leicester mostly because I was in the market for a new bank and also because they were offering £100 to new customers that used their switching service.

 

Applied, got an account with a £250 overdraft and waited for them to switch my currant account. A month passed and no switch, I contacted them and they said that it hadn’t been set up and they’d do it now – another 6 weeks and no switch.

 

We’ll call this account 1.

 

I popped into a branch (they had rebranded to Santander during this period)and explained and they said that’s odd, very sorry etc and said they could only switch me for the offer if I opened a new Santander account as the offer with Alliance and Lester had no expired as technically A&L no longer took new customers. Fine I said, can you switch that account over and my existing current account – I was told yes they could. We'll call this account 2.

 

6 weeks passed and I called and said still no word on the switch and they said no sir we haven’t been instructed to switch your accounts – at this point she then announced that I also wouldn’t be eligible to take advantage of the £100 switching offer as I already had an account with A&L which was part of the same group and thus I wasn’t a new customer…amazing!

 

Account 1 problem:

 

So I’d toyed with using account 1 and I’d withdrawn most of the overdraft one day when the machine munched my normal bank card, I figured this didn’t matter as I’d have my salary going in when they move everything over.

 

Over the past 2 years it seems that the monthly couple of pounds overdraft interest has tipped me over the agreed overdraft limit and the charges have piled on to the sum of £750+

 

Account 2 problem:

 

As I’d assumed that it wasn’t possible for the fiasco that occurred with account 1 to happen again in anticipation of this becoming my main account I set up a small direct debit on the account – I think it was a fiver a month for something, long story short they didn’t swap my accounts so it bounced and I got a £35 charge which took me overdrawn leading to a further charge for an unauthorized overdraft – I paid this which put me £2 in credit and after all the problems I moved my direct debt back to my normal current account and vowed never to deal with Santander again.

 

It seems that they have charged me interest on the unauthorized overdraft on account 2 which has used my £2 credit and some and has now amassed £1375 in charges.

 

I have 2 shiny defaults on my account now, which is upsetting as they will sit there for 6 years regardless of how this gets sorted – I’m one unhappy bunny.

 

So to re-cap – I owe them £250 for the overdraft on account 1 + interest for that money I assume – everything else that makes up the £718 balance is charge. And on account 2 the full balance is charges.

 

I only got into this mess due to their errors and incompetence which basically told me I had to open a second account – if they’d done what I signed up for and switched my account they’d have been my sole bank.

 

What are my first steps to sorting this mess as this seems very hard to write down and they wont discuss it in branch with me.

 

Thanks

J

Edited July 12, 2012 by jo5ephedward5

[dx100uk]

BCOBS!!

 

dx

[jo5ephedward5]

OK I've gotten up to speed with a few things on the forum now - should I send a SAR to gain a fuller picture and some concrete dates before I start writing to them?

 

My biggest problem is their lack of ability to deal with this in branch - they made me wait 2 hours once as 'they don't take appointment bookings' only for me to be told I should try calling the helpline and they might refund 1 charge as a goodwill gesture - its impossible to deal with something this complex over the phone and very hard to simplify in words whcih worries me a little

[jo5ephedward5]

Little update:

 

I sent my SAR on the 25th of last month and since then every other day I get 3 calls 2 from different Santander numbers and 1 withheld, never any messages left - today I had 2 text messages off them saying:

 

'This is an urgent message for ME [in capital letters] please call 08456048148 This is not a sales call. the other message was 3 hours later and was the same but the number was different '08456048154'

 

I'm not going to call them, they know where I am if they wish to write to me.

 

I just wondered, I accept that I owe an overdraft to 1 of these accounts (£250), should I pay this off now? If so should I be paying interest as it was never an interest free account...?

[dx100uk]

i'd await the SAR

 

dx

[jo5ephedward5]

so we're approaching 30 days so far since I posted a SAR to Santander - they've not cashed the £10 cheque I enclosed, and today I received a letter from 'Home Collection Services Limited' relating to one of the accounts that starts off by saying:

 

Dear Mr E,

 

Balance £718.84 [100% charges]

 

GOOD NEWS!

 

We may be able to offer you a substantial discount on your outstanding balance.

 

it then goes on to say the usual rubbish about how I can pay them but doesn't discuss an actual reduced figure...

 

I don't intend to respond - is this the correct thing to do?

 

Also does anyone find it strange that Santander haven't acknowledged my request or cashed the cheque? [but as soon as they get wind of my current address I get Home Collections writing to me?]

 

 

[dx100uk]

thats satans bank for you!!

 

the discount will be the PENALTY chagres

 

so they are not 'actually' giving you a discount

 

just taking off the unlawful penalty charges they should not have levied in the first place.

 

you are doing fine

 

sit tight.

 

dx

[jo5ephedward5]

Well 43 days since I sent my SAR and I have received a letter form Santander as follows:

Dear Mr Edwards

You have asked for copies of your bank statements, which we assume is to enable you to reconcile your bank charges.

I note that the address on your letter differs from that registered on your account. For your own security, we are only able to send this information to the registered address. I have therefore enclosed a Change of Details form for you to complete and return to us along with proof of your address such as a copy of your driving license, a recent utility bill or bank statement. We will not be able to provide your list of transitions until this information has been returned to us.

I therefore enclose your £10.00 fee for sake-keeping. Please return this with your proof of identification and a copy of this letter, so that we may proceed with your request.

If you have any questions please call us on the above number.

Jane Somers

Business Manager

You’d think that they would have asked for this within a week really wouldn’t you not wait until the 40 days had passed!

[jo5ephedward5]

Still no update on this but I’ve started getting 2-4 calls per day from 0800 3698634 they don’t leave messages but if I call the number it says its Santader card services.

I’ll keep ignoring the calls until I have the information from my SAR – it’s well over the 40 days but they sent me a request for further identification after 43 days because my address differed! I’m not sure what this does to the 40 days…does it start again or should they have dealt with it sooner?

 

I feel its high time I sent another letter chasing this overdue information?

[dx100uk]

yes def

 

failure to comply letter

 

dx

[jo5ephedward5]

So Santader have responded to my SAR with the following letter…before you read it be assured that my request to them was very clearly set out as request for information relating to current accounts which are / were current accounts, the numbers and sort codes were given.

 

As per my previous post they responded just after 40 days and requested that I filled in the change of address form and provided identification by the way of a utility bill / driving license etc – I did this and sent a copy of my passport which is the one they would have on record.

 

Below is their response.

 

 

Dear Mr. XX XX

 

We refer to your recent correspondence.

 

Based on the information you have provided – name, address(es) and date of birth – we regret that we cannot locate any Unsecured Personal Loan account data.

 

In accordance with Section 7 (3) of the Data Protection Act 1988, Santander UK Plc is not obliged to comply with your request unless you have provided enough information that enables us to comply with your request unless you have provided enough information that enables us to locate the data subject and the account data you seek. [the lack of punctuation is theirs]

 

We would like to advise you that historical information can only be retained for legitimate reasons, therefore some personal data may no longer be held as it has been deleted in line with our retention policy.

 

In circumstances where our relationship ceased with the customer more than six years ago we do not retain the documentation required, therefore we are not obliged to provide this information in accordance with guidelines set be the Financial Services Authority.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Pam Speed

Director of Santander Operations.

 

 

Funny that they can’t locate my information [albeit I’ve requested account details not loans] but they can report it to my credit file every month – one as ‘default’ and one as gone away.

 

I’d be very interested in peoples view on what I should do next as I’ve had nothing but obstacles – call them and I can’t pass security as I don’t know my password, visited the branch and got nothing after waiting 2 hours to see someone, their response was to call which put me back to square one. Now this. I can’t win!

[dx100uk]

have chagned title and added to twiiter feed to satans bank

see if that works..

 

i'd can you reply to that lette and send them proof that the accounts do exist?

 

dx

[jo5ephedward5]

...I also meant to add that they also returned the copies of bills / passport to me, the completed address form they asked me to fill in and even the envelope I sent it in! noticed the lack of returned cheque thought

 

I've just checked my bank and I can't tell if they've cashed my cheque or not - there is a £10 cheque pending but the number isn't available yet so it could be 1 of 2...will keep you posted but I suspect its them as they didn't return it but went to the bother of sending me my used ripped envelope back!

[jo5ephedward5]

Right I've checked with my bank and Santader have cashed my £10 cheque and then provided me with nothing. I don't know what my next move is really.

 

From what I can glean from my credit files they have listed one account at £718 and DEFAULT and the other is £1775 Late Payment. – both accounts are labelled as ‘gone away’.

 

I really need to sort this out now as its destroyed my credit file – they messed up the opening of these accounts and that’s why I’ve ended up in this mess but I can’t even communicate with them to rectify the problem.

 

On top of this since my SAR request I’ve been getting 2 calls daily form their generic collections number – I haven’t answered, maybe I should and see what happens when they ask me for my address and I can’t get past the first security question!

 

All help gratefully received as always guys

Edited December 9, 2012 by jo5ephedward5

[dx100uk]

time for a bcobs complaint me thinks..

[jo5ephedward5]

Hi,

I’ve had a good read about the BCOBS – am I right in thinking that my first port of call is to write an official complain to Santader as in a nutshell they’ve failed me by:

• banks treat their customers fairly
  

well we can see that they haven’t … they lured me to their bank with an introductory offer then failed to carry out their duties to swap my accounts over. Their response to this was to then open me another account without the any facilities and still not honour their 'swap' offer.

• banks communicate with their customers fairly
  

I’ve attempted to deal with this in branch, on phone and now letter including a SAR which they cashed in and not delivered.

• banks have regard to their customers interests when making decisions
  

Again not the case, they could have handled my bank switch correctly and now they’d be receiving large monthly payments, I’d have probably moved my savings account to them and my recent car finance would have no doubt been with them – instead what’s happened is I now have 2 very over drawn accounts which are out of my control.

They’ve destroyed my credit file so a recent loan with my current bank has gone up from the 6% I have paid on the previous 2 loans to 19% because I’m no longer a prime customer, I’ve also recently tried to transfer my credit card to a 0% one but now I fail on ‘credit check’ which I’ve never done before.

[dx100uk]

are you on any benefits that get paid into that account?

 

dx

[jo5ephedward5]

no benefits, the account has nothing going into it.

 

J

[dx100uk]

adapt this

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?353395-Letter-to-send-if-you-are-being-charged-bank-fees-whilst-on-benefits

dx

[jo5ephedward5]

Thanks,

I do however feel that without the information from the SAR that I’m fighting rather blindly as I don’t have all the information I can only speculate based on what’s on my credit file. I’d like to have dates and figures to give my complain some strength.

This makes me wonder, should I formally complain about their inability to respond to my SAR, then hope that this produces my information – then follow this up with a BCOBS complaint?

Or is the general consensus to just crack straight on with the BCOBS?

Sorry to be a pain!

J

[jackomolight]

Banks are just ripping us off. Its ridiculous!

[jo5ephedward5]

I wrote a letter of complaint as a first port of call as I really need the facts from my SAR before tackling anything else.

 

I got a response on xmas eve that said they were extremely sorry that they had misinterpreted my SAR and that they would escalate the matter to ensure I receive my SAR as soon as possible.

 

I’m hoping that they get this to me soon as I really want to get this debt that they’ve caused resolved!

[jo5ephedward5]

Received a letter today from Robinson Way claiming they are now authorised to collect the smaller of the 2 accounts [£750ish] on behalf of Santander.

I’ve received no deed of assignment – do they still have to issue such things?

Still no sign of the SAR information – I guess it’s time to take thinks further.

[comebackjimmy]

Hi

 

I think you will find that if they sell the debt to Robinson Way they should give you the "goodbye" letter and Robinson Way should give you the "hullo" letter.

 

However, if the debt is still owned by SADtander then Robinson Way will be acting on behlaf of them and no Deed of Assignment is needed.

 

See what others say.

[dx100uk]

dunno where this deed of assignment keeps coming from

 

you'll never get to see that

 

its the Notice Of Assignment you'll need

and would be sent if SOLD

 

robbersway are merely trying to COLLECT on dehalf of satans bank

 

in other words...they have some deluded mindset that they have

any more powers than your CAT to collect money..they DON'T

 

DCA's are NOT BAILIFFS and have

NO SUCH LEGAL POWERS

 

ignore them, if you need to

always DEAL with the OC.

 

dx