Unpaid Standing Order

[supermac9]

I really don't know where to begin with this one, but here goes (apologies in advance for the length of this):

A couple of days ago (29.11.11), one of my standing orders wasn't paid because of insufficient funds (I had enough money in the account, but a small amount of it was uncleared) - I rang the call centre in Bootle and was told that the SO had bounced and that the next time it would be paid would be in a month's time (i.e. at the end of December 2011). In the meantime, to replace the unpaid standing order I made a one-off direct payment on the same date.

This is where the problems begin - the following day (30.11.11), the standing order was processed, effectively wiping my account out (it is for a large amount of money) - I rang the Bootle call centre at 7.00am, and then again at 8.00am (when their back-office, or 'Spock' (!!) as they call it, opens) to find out what could be done - they advised that the SO would be reversed and would be credited to my account by close of play. Job done so I thought.

Bulls**t! When I checked my account this morning (01.12.11), there is no reversal of the SO, and when I ring the Bootle call centre (at 7.40am) they tell me to ring back at 8.00am when 'Spock' has got himself into work. When I ring again (8.00am on the dot), they deny any record of the SO being reversed on 30.11.11 (liars), and they advise me that it has now been arranged and that it will be credited to my account by close of play tomorrow (02.12.11). When I asked about the rest of my direct debits which come out of my account today and tomorrow, the call centre operative told me that they may be bounced because of insufficient funds (my account is overdrawn beyond an agreed limit) - she couldn't do anything to help as this happens automatically!
Being at work prevents me from depositing cash into my account to cover today's shortfall - I might be able to do it via an ATM tonight, if that is early enough to stop them being returned.

As you can imagine I am absolutely fizzing about this, particularly as the call centre staff seem relatively unconcerned and unable to take any meaningful action. I am waiting for my direct debits to bounce all over the place and the letters and calls to start - I'll forward any correspondence to Santander if this happens.

I have submitted a couple of online complaints as well as other online messages - lets see what they say to wriggle out of this.

[leclerc]

Re: Unpaid Standing Order

ceo@santander.co.uk

Email santander and give a chronological view as well as what you have said. They should be able to audit trail your account for those people who have accessed the account and may be able to retrieve the transcript of the call because it is clearly a bank error and so they have to do something about that TODAY or if not then they can write to your creditors to apologise for their error as clearly they have tainted your character with those providers.

[labman]

Re: Unpaid Standing Order

Oh that Monopoly were real:

Bank error in your favour, collect £200!

:beagle::beagle::beagle::beagle:

[supermac9]

Re: Unpaid Standing Order

Thanks Leclerc, I have been submitting online messages to Santander to record conversations and explain my dissatisfaction (I've calmed down a bit!) - on a positive note, the SO was credited to my account yesterday, so all is well with my direct debits. However, one payment due to be made on 30.11.11 didn't happen and I have already told Santander that I want the penalty fee from them.
I made the calls from my mobile so I have a detailed record of the dates, times and durations of my calls to Bootle, the home of some fairly laid-back, and in at least one case incompetent, individuals, but a least the girl I spoke to yesterday actually did what she said she would do.
I'll put together an e-mail today while it's still fresh in my mind.

[leclerc]

Re: Unpaid Standing Order

You can forget secure messaging cos that is dealt with by some customer service bod. You need the executive complaints team to deal with this because they at least will reply having looked properly at the complaint. The calls are only important if they fall outside of your free minutes allocation and you are charged for them ie financial loss as a result.

[supermac9]

Re: Unpaid Standing Order

Have since received a message from Santander saying "A note has been placed on your account to advise that this was an error on our side due to you being misadvised and you are to be refunded any charges incurred due to this error."
I'm still inclined to write to them, as they have made a complete mess of my account over the past couple of days, coupled with the usual stress that goes with something like this.

[Gorang]

Re: Unpaid Standing Order

Hi supermac

Is everthing back to normal now with your account, ie all DD's paid and charges refunded, if not then save that message in case you need to use that as evidence

If that message is on thier website then take a screen shot of your computer and keep that safe as well, as website can be tampered with, but screen shots saved on your computer can't be

If you don't know how to take a screen shot, let me know what OS (ie XP, Vista or Windows 7) your using and i will let you know (well I will with the microsoft ones lol) exactly how to do it

Have since received a message from Santander saying "A note has been placed on your account to advise that this was an error on our side due to you being misadvised and you are to be refunded any charges incurred due to this error."
I'm still inclined to write to them, as they have made a complete mess of my account over the past couple of days, coupled with the usual stress that goes with something like this.

[supermac9]

Unpaid Standing Order

A quick update - my account has settled down and all DD's etc are being paid - however, despite chasing santander for the last week, I have been blanked by them when it comes to getting a refund of the fee mentioned earlier.
I am starting to lose patience with them again.

[Guest]

Re: Unpaid Standing Order

HI

I think you have a result here, they may refund your orriginal fee but i wouldnt go in to hard, the fact is that you did not have enough cleared balance to pay the orriginal standing order, they do not have to refund that particular fee, even though they should morally speaking.

Peter

[supermac9]

Re: Unpaid Standing Order

A quick update - I have received a written apology from Santander - 'lower than acceptable customer service' etc. They have also given me £75, of which £25 was for the unpaid item mentioned previously.
Looking back I think Santander, and in particular their horizontal staff at the Bootle call centre, have been pretty poor all round, but at least they recognised this.