Santander UK Reviews 

189
TrustScore 1 out of 5

1.2

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Looking at 53 reviews, most reviewers were let down by their experience overall, expressing deep frustration and disappointment with the company. Customers frequently complained about dreadful customer support, extremely long waiting times on the phone, and unhelpful staff members who repeatedly passed callers between completely different internal banking departments. Consumers also experienced suddenly blocked accounts without proper warning, unexpected fee charges applied without consent, and extremely frustrating verification processes that severely disrupted their essential and ongoing daily business operations. Some reviewers were happy with certain positive elements, noting that the telephone assistance generally remained acceptable and the overall account closure process proved entirely straightforward.

What people talk about most

Customer service

Reviewers express deep frustration and dissatisfaction regarding customer service. Consumers highlight long... See more

Service

Customers had negative experiences with service, expressing frustration over closed local branches and... See more

Payment

Consumers find payment to be frustrating due to widespread account freezes and blocked transactions.... See more

Customer communications

Customers consistently note negative experiences with contact, highlighting severe difficulties in reaching... See more

Price

Clients share negative opinions on price, expressing widespread dissatisfaction over unexpected monthly and... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Changing the rules on fire banking for life. Seems crazy as they've had access to 20 year's worth of banking from my company while not paying interest. To introduce charges now while there are a hos... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The had an excellent customer service, but various parts of the service have become a law unto their own, very difficult to deal with. You'd think a complaints department would seek to improve or at l... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I wanted to open a business account. The amount of questions I was asked felt like I was taking a loan from Santander business. I needed to open an account so I can set up my direct debits with th... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Rang Santander over two weeks ago to close my business account. Ok we'll send you the closure forms, Today, over two weeks later the WRONG forms arrive - change business details ones. Call the busine... See more


Company details

  1. Bank
  2. Financial Institution

Information provided by various external sources

Santander UK plc is a British bank, wholly owned by the Spanish Santander Group.


Contact info

1.2

Bad

TrustScore 1 out of 5

189 reviews

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1-star

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1.2

All reviews

(189)

53 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Lying little charlatans/thieves- save yourself some money and stay clear of them

I brought my credit card balance to zero and closed my account 15 months ago or at least thats what Santander staff led me to believe.

However, I recently received a letter claiming I owed them money and my credit score has been affected by the lies told by Santander staff.

It would appear that I received a refund shortly after I thought my account was closed and then Santander kept my account open and started charging fees without letting me know that this was happening.

Now those fees exceed the refund that they sat on for 15 months they think I owe them.

I tried to complain by telephone and the idiot I spoke to lied and said I failed security when I correctly identified the last transaction asbeing their admin fee charge.

I then dealt with the completely useless chat bot that did not understand what 15 months was, to be passed on to a human being who waited until 17.30 and then clocked off and ignored the chat.

Someone else finally responded and put me on to a Danielle in complaints, who has then proceeded to ignore me as well.

Save yourself money and hassle and use a different bank.

This will no doubt end up with the ombudsman and cost them more than it needs to just so they can ignore their customers and hope they go away

They have finally responded and continued to lie, which included a spectacular request they made on 14/08/24 for me to pay the balance by 12/08/24. Complete and utter charlatans !

August 2, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Avoid this Bank at all costs.

After 20 yrs of Banking with Santander I am at a Loss. My Wife is SUICIDAL,after their treatment of her.
She attempted a Bank transfer to buy a caravan from a friend on Saturday. The transaction was blocked by the bank and the account frozen. She contacted the Fraud dept to clear the issue, but unfortunately got an agent who was having a bad day. The Agent told my wife to go into the branch to sort the issue. My wife told the Agent that she could not as she was in Bulgaria 2,000 miles away and would not be home until winter. The Agent again replied go into your branch.
MY ACCOUNT was also blocked.
My wife has spent 3 days and over 9 hours on the phone attempting to resolve this. The Fraud Dept Manager is refusing to overturn the Agents decision and demands that my wife ( who is 66 yrs old) makes a 4 day ( minimum) return journey at a cost of around £700 to show her passport in the branch to prove who she is, to allow her ACCESS TO OUR MONEY.
We have made a complaint but we are now stuck in Bulgaria with NO ACCESS to our own funds.
They have started declining payments so our financial footing is collapsing around us.
I am at my wits end and i can understand why people commit suicide now.
UPDATE, My card has now been blocked I cannot access my money.
Please avoid this bank at all costs.

My Daughter in law has bought my wife an airline ticket so that she can travel to UK to visit the bank branch, whilst i look after our Autistic grand children who stay with us in summer holidays

You may soon see a report in the press 'Elderly Couple in suicide pact, after UK Santander leaves them penniless and stranded in a foreign Country, after denying them access to their bank account'.

August 3, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Does anyone want to keep their money in…

Does anyone want to keep their money in a bank with so little common sense?
The short of it; Santander has blocked my online access because I will not tell them what the money I was transferring was for, for a transfer that did not take place.
I tried to make a transfer to a family member with a Santander account on my mobile app. The transfers was rejected. I was asked to call their customer service and again no joy plus my access to online banking denied.
Luckily my wife did the transfer in minutes with her account from another bank.
The following day I went to the local branch with ID to get the online access cleared. ID confirmed all seem good until I was asked to talk on the phone to their security department who wanted to know what the money that I was transferring was for. I said I no longer needed to make a transfer. However, I was told that unless I told them my account access online would not be reinstated. So that is where we are. Agents in Customer Services departments sit in front of computer screens and unless they can tick the box to a given question they cannot proceed even when the question makes no sense. The way business works today! I can't access my account online, so I'll have to move it.

July 22, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 2 out of 5 stars

still waiting!

After 4 phone calls trying to close my Santander Investment I am still waiting for this to be actioned.
The first two calls they failed to inform me that I need to sign paperwork and return in order top get my cash. Third phone call sending paperwork, but second class!!!! three days still not arrived. why I cannot electronically sign in todays cyber culture is beyond me!!!
Fourth call today,,,raised complaint could take upto 8 weeks to respond. is that because you have so many complaints to deal with???
The amount in my account is less than £1k so whats the issue. and its linked to my bank so that should be proof enough of who I am!!!
very exasperated with the whole process....!!!

August 2, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Account went dormant and still not aorted

I set up an account for my son a s put some money in it so it could sit there until he went to college. It was getting a little bit of interest every month so I thought it was ok. He decided to open an account with nationwide instead and when I went to transfer it over, Santander said the account was dormant. I have had no end of trouble trying to get the money. they wanted me to go to branch and when I got there showed them my id they said could they see the card for the account. As we had never used it that was long gone. I am still waiting for an answer. I received no notification that it was going dormant

July 29, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Bad experience with customer services and complaints department

I have an account with Santander in the Uk since 2008. I have moved to France in October 2022 with my husband. We asked Santander to up-date our information with our new address, emails and phone numbers in France. My husband details have been changed whereas for me they have changed my email address and phone number but they haven’t changed my address.
For the past 18 months I have sent numerous letters, replied to numerous letters from Santander sent to my address in France, I have been speaking to numerous staff who always assured me that it will be dealt with shortly. Today I have spoken to a very rude staff, Stephen from the complaints department. After 57 minutes he gave me an email address to send a further piece of identification because the staff cannot read a French passport. This is very stressful because I do not have access to my account.

July 29, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This has to be the worst bank in the world

This has to be the worst bank in the world. Avoid like the plague. I have had so many attempted uses of my debit card blocked for 'security reasons' So tbhis time I thought I'd use my personal account, and tried to transfer money from Santander into it. The request was blocked, so I phoned Santander fraud unit. They asked for a recent transaction so I went on to my app to find they'd blocked it. And they've also blocked my wife who is a cosignatory. So now we have no way of accessing OUR money. Santander are not a bank, they are fraudsters. Please do not let them get hold of your money.

July 15, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Connect cancel lost/stolen debit card at weekend

I've been with Santander business for years but have lost my debit card. I've cancelled all other cards easily but its impossible to cancel via Santander business whether via online app, via the mobile app or via chat they all direct to calling 0330 123 9860 which returns a message saying they are only available Monday to Friday. No bank should be allowed to put customers at this level of risk this is very bad.

July 14, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

KYC requests and general inability to…

KYC requests and general inability to to simply change address despite many requests.
Why should I explain why I pay and receive money into my business, no cash, nothing suspect, money in and out like any small business, all to legitimate companies and salaries.
Why on earth should I provide information from other bank accounts, 3 months statements, commercially sensitive information and none of their business
Oh dear this is tiresome and I recommend everyone steer clear of this pathetic virtue signalling institution
Maybe its an excuse to debank me, ahhhh Im debanking them instead.
JJ

July 1, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

How can a major company provide such a…

How can a major company provide such a poor customer service and survive. I closed my account by mistake and asked for it to reopened. I would accept an answer saying this is not possible, but being ignored is very annoying. They just reply to online chats by saying we are still investigating and close the chat so I can't reply. Their help desk staff need retraining!

June 12, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Santander Debanking Small Businesses

They asked me to supply information on a questionnaire or otherwise they would close my account. Problem they didn't supply a questionnaire . Or is this Santander trying to debanking small, unprofitable accounts

June 6, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Terrible customer service

Terrible customer service. Called in to Folkestone branch only for manageress Stephanie to refuse to provide a two page print out, something I've had no problem with before. Apparently they can refuse to serve a Business customer, nice!! only been with them for 20 years or so. Time to move banks. BEWARE!!!!!!! if you have a business account branches may choose not to serve you. Looked on trust pilot couldn't believe how many bad reviews this bank has, perhaps they just don't care about customer service anymore.

May 28, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The worst service I have ever had

The worst service I have ever had. This bank support is terrible. They will speak with you polite, but never help you. They will spend your time but never resolve your problem.
I Paid for Flight Tickets paid by Santander Credit Card, the payment was taken by the Supplier in two Chunks too a few months to resolve and finally got the refunds in March , In May 2024 receive a letter saying they will charge back part of the payment as we have used the Tickets and if you are unhappy withj how we've handled your claim, details of our compaints can be found at
santander co uk personal support customer-support how-to-complain
but no option as to how to proceed with the complaint. and this is after visiting the Branch for teh second time, the branch staff were good, helpful and they were frustrated by the Fraud team response who choose to believe the Fraudsters and not own Customer

May 28, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Would not recommend Santander buisness…

Would not recommend Santander buisness banking.

Our business, established nearly 30 years with a healthy revenue, applied for a corporate account nearly 3 weeks ago.
To date, we have received NO communication from their onboarding team.
Totally unprofessional, unreliable & unresponsive!

NEVER AGAIN!!

Our business will now look elsewhere.

May 7, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Really poor

Really poor, have experienced lockout from the account when trying to do international payments (that can be up to 48 hours) and they make no effort to fix it quicker regardless of circumstance,

April 23, 2024
Unprompted review

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