On 20 August I posted a sad tale about my bankers - Santander. As promised, I emailed them. About three days later I received an acknowledgement. On 15 September, I received a more detailed, though useless, response. Below is a transcript of my email and the 'more detailed' response.
Dear Bankers
On 20 August I discovered that I could not access my main business account. On calling the bank, I was told that this was because I had been sent a new card, which I should have received by then. Apparently there was nothing that could be done to enable me to access my account but the new card would surely be with me "tomorrow or the day after".
On 27 August I was able to access the account. - it appeared twice on the list - but unable to access my e-saver account. When I telephoned this time the story had changed. Now it was a problem related to the recent "improvement" Santander had been making to its IT systems. This was apparently a "known issue", whatever that means, but there was still no way for me to access my account. On 28 August I received a letter, dated simply "June 2010", containing my new card and various instructions.
To summarise; I have been without access to one or other of the accounts I hold with Santander for at least 10 days. The bank is unable to tell me when I will have complete access. It would seem that your customers are being used to beta-test (whatever that means) systems created by a clearly incompetent IT division. Under the circumstances I feel it only right that the bank compensates me for the inconvenience and potential damage to my business. I therefore request payment at the rate of £25 per day for the lack of access, which seems to be in line with current banking procedures, and £15 per phone call I have been forced to make to try to resolve the situation. I calculate that, to date, I should receive £175 for lack of access and £30 for telephone calls; a total of £205. Please credit this amount to my account number above. With two chances to access it I should be able to find out when the money has arrived. I will contact you again when you have finally resolved the problem regarding further payment.
Sincerely J. Ewan
Please note that the italics in the message below are mine - just a couple of things that struck me as bizarre!
Dear Mr Ewan,
We are writing to let you know that we have received your complaint. Thank you for contacting us and telling us about your concerns.
At Santander
we want to keep our customers happy, however we know that sometimes things can go wrong and we welcome complaints as an opportunity to improve the service we offer you.
In the first instance, your comments need to be addressed by the area of Santander you have an issue with. As
some of our products have specialist complaint teams, I have forwarded your complaint to the relevant department to be investigated.
We will endeavour to keep you regularly informed of the progress of your complaint.
To find out more about the Complaints Procedure we have set up to make sure you receive a quick and fair reply - please visit our website:
www.santander.co.uk
• Select ‘How Do I?' from the top of the page
• Then click on ‘Contact Us'
• Select ‘Feedback and Complaints' from the drop down list followed by ‘Customer Satisfaction'
If you would like to talk to us about anything else please give us a call. To find the most appropriate telephone number:
• Click on ‘Contact Us' in the top right-hand corner
• Click on the relevant product type
Regards
Jason Cheeseman
Customer Relations Officer
Santander
So far no sign of any money coming in to my account!
I will endeavour to keep you, dear reader of this blog, regularly informed of the progress of my complaint.
