Santander 123 current account

[rosyposy]

Can I have anyone's views about this account please.Would you recommend it? Has anyone had problems opening it and running it? I am with Santander and have been since it was Girobank, (more years than I care to remember!!) I read about their really bad service but I must say I have never had any complaints.I did hear that you have to change over the direct debits yourself, and must open 2 new ones to open it? I don't know what they mean by this,do they mean two completely new D/D or just two that I have at the moment? I don't care to go into a branch as, like all the other banks etc. they want you to see a financial advisor who tries to talk you into all sorts of stuff - so I am hoping someone on AB will advise - it does seem to me to be quite a good deal but would be grateful for anyone's thoughts -TIA rosy

[furrypusscat]

Don't know about this particular account. I left Santander due to adminstration problems I was encountering like trying to get a Certificate of Tax on interest paid. In the end I involved the Ombudsman as I was getting nowhere. When I was with Alliance & Leicester prior to becoming Santander, I found them most helpful. I just think Santander has got too big.

[ubasses]

Just had a quick google at it, if you meet all the requirements it seems a good deal. Do you have £500 per month going into your account is the first thing. You will not get any of the credit interest if your balance is not at £1000.
As you would pay £2 per month, you also need to go to the site and type in the Companies you pay your bills to, to see if they are qualifying Companies, and calculate whether you will earn more than the £2 a month in cash back. It seem that they will transfer the DD's from your exisiting account for you but you must have at least 2 set up on the account.
Like furrypussycat I had no end of trouble with them and they ended up paying me £100 in compensation as it got so bad.

[furrypusscat]

They had already given me £25 the previous year and when the same thing happened the following year and I eventually took it to the ombudsman they gave me a further £75. I went to Halifax, got £100 for transferring over my current account and they sorted out my 2 existing direct debits. No problems.

[funnygirl]

I signed over to this account in May and I did not think it would be ok for me as I have only 1 d/d. But I have been getting interest on my money.
I have no trouble opening an account as I am with Santander already.
The financial advisor will explain and of course if you have d/d's the savings are good.

[237SJ]

The thing with Santander is that they offer good deals (especially interest-wise). That is what attracts customers to them. Unfortunately (IMO) they are absolutely appalling at administering anything. I have had to threaten them with legal action before now to get them to sort out problems that they have created. Personally, I wouldn`t trust them to run a current account for me. Just my opinion though.

[rosyposy]

Oh dear, thank you both for replying, I will wait for more replies, but it certainly isn't looking good - rosy

[gingejbee]

Which? describes this account as "market-leading" let down by "very poor customer satisfaction". Their top recommendations are First Direct and Co-op Bank.

[Maydup]

I looked at the account (as i don't like to turn down money for nothing!) but thought it looked too complicated for its own good. It looked like a full time job to transfer all your utility bills over in order to receive small rebates. Along with their reputation for not always getting things right first time I decided against it.

[rosyposy]

Thank you all for your replies. I think I will leave well alone for the moment, thinking 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Thanks again -rosy

[smurfchops]

I have had no problems although I'm a bit worried about all the problems with the Spanish economy - I am asking a separate question about this ... Anyway no problems with the 123 as I say, the more you have in, the more interest you get and they will transfer your direct debits, I think. Make an appointment with the branch or pop in and talk to someone if they aren't busy. They won't make you see a financial adviser just a member of their staff who talk you through the account. Dont feel pressured though, go away and think about it but as I say I have had much more interest since I opened this account, before I got about 0.01%. Now its up to 3%.

[boxtops]

I wouldn't touch Santander with a bargepole - I closed my account when my building society account was taken over by them, and their admin (and customer service attitude) was appalling.

[smurfchops]

Must admit when I made an appointment with them over the phone, and I went into the branch, the appointment wasn't on their system, I wasn't too happy about that. Otherwise all OK so far touch wood...

[boxtops]

I looked into moving an account into Nationwide, I have loads of DDs and SOs on my existing account and they said they would do all that for me. I wouldn't want to have to go to the effort of having to do all that myself.

[dzug2]

Like OP I have been with 'Santander' since Girobank days. I've pondered changing given the bad publicity over useless admin, but have to say that I've never had the much of a problem with it (unlike several other banks).

The main gripe I have now is that active use of internet banking is impossible (well not really - just very difficult) without a mobile phone. I've stuck with them because I find the ability to carry out transactions at a Post Office useful, though becoming less so as the number of POs falls.

If I switched to 123 this would no longer be possible - and I don't trust the switching process - and wouldn't with any bank.

I think I will switch in the end - but I'm not sure where to yet

[rosyposy]

Thank you all for the latest replies - I think the 'no's' still have it, and agree with you smurfchops about feeling a bit wary about the spanish economy, but hey- feel just as wary about our own!! I did pop in the other day and asked for application forms for the new ISA, the girl said oh I can't give you those, you'd have to see a financial advisor' I said ' I don't want them then I will go to the Halifax or somewhere else'. She said just a minute, disappeared and came back with two she had printed out!!!!! Grrrr. Thanks again - rosy

[nungate]

Santander in the UK is a totally separate operation from the Spanish bank.
It had to be otherwise it would not be allowed to operate over here, so there's no need to worry about the Spanish end of this bank as there is no direct financial connection between them.
I've been with Santander ever since they took over Alliance and Leicester and so far, I haven't had any problems with them.

[rosyposy]

I realise that nungate and as I said, am just as wary about our own economy. Really it is the poor reputation they have. I too have been with them since girobank days and never had any problem so don't want to rock the boat by changing, thank you for replying - rosy

[francis13]

To begin with they were unable to transfer my utility and water direct debits - they sent me a letter saying they had contacted the two companies electronically but had no response and they could do no more and to sort it out myself. I contacted to two companies and they had no record of contact from santander,
They have not paid the cashback from my Virgin media dd. I queried this by email and they replied that they could not sort it out and to phone Santander.They are slow to transfer dd's and their customer service is useless.