Thursday 29 April 2010

Banking woes at Santander!

One of the annoying things about this blog site is that it's not too difficult to delete text accidentally, when you're just trying to put the odd thing in italics.

I'd written a long epistle about my problems at Santander Bank, but found that all but the title had been deleted - by me, not Santander, unless they've got a stake in Yahoo!

I can't be bothered to write it all again, but as I told Santander that I would make my experience public, I'd better just outline things:

Branch: Former Abbey (Plymstock Broadway, Plymstock, Plymouth)
  • I wanted a cheque from my account in order to pay this in to the NatWest just around the corner, to be able to finance a 2010 ISA, and pay for the balance on a new car

  • Cheque (payable to me) printed, but cashier seemed hesitant to give it to me. I had my Santander Cheque card on me, + my driving licence, and thought this would be sufficient
    The cashier knew me personally, as I'd even taught him at my last school, and we are known to this branch, as we've been there for some years

  • Apparently I needed an EXTRA item of identification. 'Did I have a NatWest bank card with me?' No, why should I - I did, however, have my NatWest cheque book with me, which has all the same details. This wasn't deemed enough and I had to leave without the cheque

  • I returned the next day with more identification and picked up the cheque. Of course it had already been debited so had lost a few pence interest. The cashier reimbursed my from petty cash for this, although not for the inconvenience of having to drive over twice!

  • I complained online to Santander and, despite a number of communications and acknowledgments, am still waiting for an answer!

Yes, Santander has become one of the best, most successful banks, but its customer relations side seems poor and uncaring! At the local level the branch seem to be unable to change a ribbon on a printer, so that my Dad can barely read what's printed in his pass-book. We've complained about this too but........

Finally, should a young Mum with a baby, or even one who is expecting, come into the branch, this seems to bring out the ultimate in broody behaviour from at least one member of staff, whilst the queue gets longer and longer!

I'll let you know if Santander ever bother to reply!

UPDATE!

Well, I did eventually get a letter back, but of course, they said they were entitled to ask for as many bits of identification they wanted, for me to take my own money out, and that they were 'sorry' that I'd had to make two journeys there!

As to the efficiency within the branch itself, there was NO COMMENT! The next time I'm there, and there's a delay because someone wants to discuss 'baby' issues with a customer, I'll film it on my mobile. Of course, I'll then probably get done for filming inside a branch ...with a view to robbing it later. On the other hand, that might still be a quicker way to get my own money out in future!

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