Santander - When is a Policy not a Policy?

[supermac9]

I found out a couple of days ago that Santander have a policy of only refunding bank charges as a 'gesture of goodwill' once during the lifetime of an account. They mentioned this after an exchange of online messages when they referred to a previous refund made to me in January 2012.
I asked an obvious question - where can I find details of this policy? However, I am told there isn't anything in writing about this - it is an internal 'policy' that allows them to decide on a 'case by case basis' (i.e. make things up as they go along).
In the end I got a refund because their online message in 2012 didn't say that I wouldn't get any more refunds, although I now know that I definitely won't be getting any more!

[nemesis45]

Re: Santander - When is a Policy not a Policy?

It is an internal policy used on case by case basis which is reasonable I think.

[leclerc]

Re: Santander - When is a Policy not a Policy?

I found out a couple of days ago that Santander have a policy of only refunding bank charges as a 'gesture of goodwill' once during the lifetime of an account. They mentioned this after an exchange of online messages when they referred to a previous refund made to me in January 2012.
I asked an obvious question - where can I find details of this policy? However, I am told there isn't anything in writing about this - it is an internal 'policy' that allows them to decide on a 'case by case basis' (i.e. make things up as they go along).
In the end I got a refund because their online message in 2012 didn't say that I wouldn't get any more refunds, although I now know that I definitely won't be getting any more!

It is standard across all banks however, there are circumstances in which that may change ie financial hardship. It has been a policy of many banks for many years so it's not a new policy but it is a discretionary one where if you make a mistake the bank will look at the whole of the account history and refund as it is expected to be merely a one off refund.

[supermac9]

Re: Santander - When is a Policy not a Policy?

I'm not convinced that Santander have had this policy in place for a long time, as I have had numerous refunds over the years.

[stevemLS]

Re: Santander - When is a Policy not a Policy?

It is perfectly reasonable though for each case to be considered on its own merits.