Non-motoring > Santander have closed my account! Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Rudedog Replies: 8
View Threaded 

New Fri 11 Aug 23 15:54 
 Santander have closed my account! - Rudedog
Yesterday my wife went to check the balance in our joint Santander account by using the hole-in-the-wall outside of the branch (not local) ….which then proceeded to swallow it!

She went inside the branch, after waiting quite a while she was rather curtly told that the account had been put into 'hibernation'!.... no explanation why.

This account is the only joint account we have and is a legacy of when it used to be Abbey National and is an emergency backup account which probably has only £100 in (we have separate daily bank accounts with completely different companies).

How can they do this without even sending us a letter?? The last time we might have used it was pre-pandemic, is that really that long before an account is classed as 'dead'?

Worst thing is is that they then flatly refused to deal with her at the counter as it was a 'joint' account meaning they wouldn't discuss it without me being there!

Makes no sense... so my wife could still use the card to withdraw money...on her own, she could still use the contactless bit... on her own!

Apparently they only said to 'awaken' the account would involve us both going together and proving our nationality etc. - although they then said it could be done over the phone...what!! I could be anybody at the other end.

Zero customer service....I hate Santander!

I would walk away but £100 is £100.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Fri 11 Aug 23 16:27 
 Santander have closed my account! - Bromptonaut
Interesting to see Zippy's take on this but I suspect a know your customer issue.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Fri 11 Aug 23 17:16 
 Santander have closed my account! - zippy
I don't deal with retail banking, though there is this on the Santander website:

www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/current-accounts/closing-an-account

www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/savings-and-investments/dormant-and-lost-accounts

I think we do similar to be honest, especially hot on security re reactivating accounts.

Rules often make the banks look officious. One that I get a lot is insisting a spouse or partner seeks independent legal advice before signing a guarantee for a business owned by their partner - and insisting on seeing a document confirming advice has been taken. We've had spouses and partners wriggle out of guarantees because they said they didn't know what they were signing hence the insistence.

Rudedog would no doubt still moan if he had separated from Mrs Rudedog over the period of lockdown and she accessed the money without him. The banks cant win.

(BTW as a rival I see customer service stats captured by industry bodies and Santander always does well. Unlike us all call centres are in the UK.)
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Fri 11 Aug 23 17:21 
 Santander have closed my account! - zippy
>>what!! I could be anybody at the other end.

Have you never called a bank and asked for information on your account?

You won't be able to call up and just say you're the account holders - they will take you through security based on information that you have already given them.

>>without even sending us a letter

I hear this so often. The letters will have been sent and there will be a trail. Were they treated as junk mail at the time? Could it have been so long ago that its been forgotten? Have you moved without telling them?

Banks rarely print letters themselves any more. They go to secure document printers who keep a very good audit trail of what has and hasn't been sent and of course test documents get included (so the bank can confirm that a letter was sent). The printers are regularly audited.
Last edited by: zippy on Fri 11 Aug 23 at 17:24
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Fri 11 Aug 23 20:55 
 Santander have closed my account! - Terry
Having recently moved house, notifying all concerned of the change was a chore.

I had an ISA with Barclays. I had just left the fund to grow over the years and not logged in to the account for over a decade - they were sending paper statements so no issue.

To get the address changed I had to go to a branch (nearest now 10 miles away due to branch closures), take passport and proof of address. The branch certified my identity. I then called the central ISA administration who later sent me new pass codes etc.

A real pain. But I would rather the banks take care of me and my money even if it means a little inconvenience. That the account was locked was absolutely right.

The "learning experience" - go online at least once a year to keep accounts "live" - includes banks, pensions, insurances, NHS etc - anything that will cause you grief if your account is blocked.
Last edited by: Terry on Fri 11 Aug 23 at 20:56
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Fri 11 Aug 23 21:55 
 Santander have closed my account! - Rudedog
Thanks all.

Definitely not an address change as we've been here since 2009.

I think most irritation was around the seemingly utter contempt by the staff once they spotted it was a joint account and suddenly got an 'attitude'.

Still don't understand the timings as the card was still in date (just) so wife could have embarrassingly tried to use it to make a purchase.

I have several long term ISA's that I've never accessed apart paying into them via a DD so hope these will be ok.

Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Fri 11 Aug 23 22:22 
 Santander have closed my account! - bathtub tom
I've several different accounts and always access them occasionly to prevent this happening.

Got £275 off Ernie this month!
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Sat 12 Aug 23 00:12 
 Santander have closed my account! - smokie
I've lost all my Costa Coffee and Subway points in the last year or so due to non-use!!

Use it or lose it, I say!! :-)
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Sat 12 Aug 23 13:55 
 Santander have closed my account! - zippy
Rudedog - I've just re-read my posts above and they are very brusque! Apologies!

Basically, the banks have to do close dormant accounts or they get walloped by the regulator because there is a security risk.

They also have to get customers to go through the hoops to get the accounts re-activated - so as to ensure they have the correct authorisations, people etc. Again, sensible security, but from a customer's point of view, it can be a right pain in the a***. You'd be miffed if the dosh was stolen due to lax security though.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
Latest Forum Posts