My Mum's purse was stolen recently. She informed her bankers, Santander, of the theft of two debit cards - her own and the one with the joint account she shares with my Stepfather. The cards were cancelled and she waited patiently for new ones to drop through the letterbox and for the PINs to both to follow, as she had been told would happen.
After quite a wait, her own card arrived. A few days later not one, but two PINs arrived for that card.
Two different PINs. 
The next day, another two PINs arrived, both for Mum's own account and both completely different to each other and to the previous two PINs!
So, she wandered into town and into her bank, where she was told by the cashier to put her new card into the hole in the wall machine, using her original PIN and that thus she would be able to change the PIN to a convenient to remember new number. She argued that this wouldn't work as of course her old PIN had been dumped when her stolen card was cancelled. But, no, the cashier insisted, her colleague even came over to help Mum put the card and number in. Three times they tried, but naturally, they had no luck. Mum gave up and went home to write to Santander instead.
Yesterday she tried to make an online order using the card - here of course she didn't need her PIN so she assumed that she could arrange for some groceries to be delivered, no problem.
Her card was declined.
She spent half an hour on the phone to Santander and guess what? Yep, the card had automatically been stopped by the bank a couple of days earlier because some twat in the branch had kept telling her to try using it in a hole in the wall using the wrong, defunct bloody PIN! 
And, it doesn't stop there. Yesterday she received not one but two cards to her joint account. Both in her name.
You can guess how many my Stepfather got, can't you? Yep, that's right, none. Zilch.
So, this time he gets on the phone to Santander and explains that his wife has 2 cards to the joint account and he has been sent nothing. Santander duly go through security procedure with him. Now, my Stepdad, who had the phone on loudspeaker, can happily quote his security password and date of birth but couldn't recall for the life of him what his last banking transaction on that account had been. He looked quizically at Mum, who reminded him, "You paid the council tax in the High Street".
Suddenly the woman on the other end of the phone spoke out. She was sorry, but she was going to have to terminate the call.
Why? Had Stepdad inadvertantly but understandably called Santander incompetent wankers?
No, nothing of the sort. "It's because you are being prompted by another party."
"BUT IT'S HER BUSINESS TOO! IT'S A JOINT ACCOUNT! IN THE NAME OF MR AND MRS JOHN AND JANE SMITH, AND SHE IS MRS JANE SMITH!"
"Oh no sir. We can't communicate with you about your account if you are getting information on it from another party."
The moral of this story is simple... for feck's sake, DON'T BANK WITH SANTANDER!
AIBU?
in thinking that Santander have surpassed even their own standards of incompetence this time?
Vallhala · 13/12/2010 15:04
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I agree, they really are the pits. I still get new debit cards sent to me for an account I closed about 2 yrs ago. That's not the worst of it tho, the reason I closed my account was because they made such a hash of everything that I just didn't trust them.
Basically, I had banked with them for years - my mum had opened a savings account for me, with her as the trustee, when I was a kid...my mum also banks with them (still does actually ) and somehow, when they 'moved over to a new system' apparently, all our accounts got mixed up. They say it was presumably because we both lived at the same address at some point, but it also appeared that somehow my mum was still linked in some way to my savings account, despite transferring it into my name when I turned 18 (some years ago!).
Anyway, all my new cards started to go to my mum's address (in my name, even tho I have never lived at her current address), I started to recieve statements regarding my mum's bonds/ISAs etc and my savings account statement also got sent to my mum.
No amount of phoncalls or going into the branch in person seemed to rectify it. I was told by someone over the phone, when I rang to tell them my card had gone to my mum's address, that I must be mistaken and that it couldn't possibly have even tho I had it in my hand!
After months and months (in fact I think it took a year), various letters of complaint, and me closing the old savings account that I beleived to have caused the problem, we eventually got it sorted out. I then closed my current account and vowed never to have anything to do with them again.
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i LOATHE Santander and won't even use their cash machines any more.
We had a car loan with them and missed one payment because they canecelled it with no reason or warning. DH noticed and paid the next day - ie 1 day late. Thought he had set up the DD again but a month and 3 days later we had a knock on the door and our car was to be towed we tried everything to stop it and the fuckwit twats sold it at auction not only that but they claim we still owe them the remainder of the balance
They are shocking.
recently got married, so went into branch to change name on joint account.
Then went to cashier's desk to deposit 2 cheques; 1 in maiden name and the other in married name. They said they couldn't accept the cheque in maiden name despite having changed the account about 30 seconds before. So, they had to change account back. Went to see the guy who I had just shown documentation to, and he said he needed to see it again 
. Changed account back, paid in 1 of the cheques, changed account to married name and was able to pay in other cheque.
Oh, and had an account with Alliance and Leicester in my sole name. I wanted to close account and they paid the money into the joint account at Santander despite me asking for a cheque.
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