Santander voted worst for customer service, again

Santander has a odd way of protecting customer's debit cards - I had my card stopped because I 'Unusually" gave my card number over the phone to my exercise person - - a sum of 35 pounds!

I was quite out of cash - so could not do the shopping on the way home - and then take a taxi -

I came home and after 3 attempts finally got their phone to answer and not hang up - and then spent 1/2 speaking to them -

this all took about 4 hours out of my day

they seem to have very odd computer signals for customers that could not possibly help the customers and it took three people on their phone to answer the question and take the block off my card.

I am seriously thinking of leaving the bank

I have accounts with Alliance & Leicester, and Abbey, both now in Santander.

I have recently had problems, as yet unresolved with both of them.

I am shortly going to vote with my feet.

We closed our account with Santander recently after one saga after another. Life is too short. It would be nice if they could keep their cash machines operating and even clean them from time to time.

I'm not surprised that Santander are voted worst for customer service in the UK. I live in Spain, and the Spanish generally do not know what customer service is.

I recently closed all my accounts with santander they would not answer any mail I sent to them about my investments. One million pounds approx. had gone through my account in the previous year due to the sale of my business, a large portion of which I invested through them.

I am moving to First Direct - UK (Scottish mostly) call centres and great service. Current account pays nil interest, but does that really matter when average balance is only a thousand. Ironically I am moving from HSBC!

In May 2010, I accidentally went beyond the agreed overdraft limit for the first time in my life! Santander filled my account with horrific charges. I asked them to refund some of these charges but they refused. Incidentally, they made a number of mistakes with my account in the past. So I reported separate incidents to the Financial Ombudsman Service and asked them to consider my complaint. Finally I won and Santander had to refund all their charges.

It is useful to be able to email questions through their website, but not when the answers are obviously only selected from a range of templates that never quite address the question you have asked - no personal touch at all.

I have banked with Cahoot an internet offshoot of Santander. So far with no complaint, but I do wish this computer keyboard was madew of wood.

Well I must be in the minority here as I have banked with Abbey now Santander since Abbey floated and I have to say that its been a fairly problem free experience. Any minor glitches that I have encountered have usually been sorted out pretty rapidly which is more than I can say about some of their high street rivals that I have had to deal with in the past.

John N

I have used the email system too and you don't just have to use the templates to pose a question.

I think that Citywire and other forums like TMF, who run critical items about Santander should also turn the spotlight on some of their rivals shortcomings, it could prove pretty enlightening.

I have done business with Alliance Leicester and Abbey for a year. When Santander first took over the phone lines were appalling, but over the last month the lines have cleared miraculously for me and I have found them efficient and very pleasant to deal with.

I bank with First Direct and have had no problems. Unfortunately HSBC and First Direct wouldn't touch an account I wanted to open on behalf of my mentally handicapped daughter. (I am an officially court appointed Deputy and have a legal right to operate her account.)

Alliance and Leicester did agree to open an account for her and it took the best part of six months of emails and phone calls to set it up. It ran satisfactorily for about a month but for the last month or so access has been unavailable on-line.

It's hard enough to deal with my daughter's situation without A&L - now Santander - making things more difficult.

If I could find another on-line bank that would allow her to open an account I'd move. Like a previous correspondent I'd vote with my feet.

i have dealt with Cahoot for a long time and they are fine but i think they operate separately from the rest of Santander.

Santander have charged me £12 because they cannot organise a simple direct debit for me - and have had the audacity to charge me for their failings!

STAY AWAY FROM SANTANDER THEY ARE USELESS.

This bank Abbey is the worst in the world. The call centres in India are useless and the branch staff are incompetent.

The staff fail to deal with complaints, there is no empathy, the staff lie to customers, even the managers are useless.

They are a bunch of idiots.

In May this year my husband applied to transfer a matured Isa to the Newcastle Building Society as it was paying a higher rate of interest. It took them over a monthbefore the money was tranferred. This only happened

after having to contact them again to see what the hold up was, they had to be provided with copies of the paperwork that had all ready been sent to them by the Newcastle Building society. When it was completed they had transferred the wrong Isa account. It is now September and it still has not been rectified properly. I have never dealt with such an unbelievable unhelpful company. Even when the mistake is theirs. To compound their incompetence they have now transferred the money from the correct account not once but twice to the Newcastle Building Society along with all the wrong documentation.

What sort of company is this.