Cunting Santander.

[GreenHairDontCare]

Robbing bastards.

I posted about this the other week, when it had just been a few days. We transferred £11.5k from our joint FD account to our joint Santander account on the 10th April. It left the FD account immediately but didn't appear in the Santander one. After the bank holiday we called both banks. Santander said they hadn't received it and couldn't help. FD were much more helpful, said they had released the money on the 13th and that we should have received it that day.

FD ran a banking trace and told us that it was definitely with Santander. After a bit of to and fro (with Santander telling us nothing) FD got back to us to say that Santander were waiting to clarify DH's nationality. DH is British and called a John Smith equivalent. Never lived abroad.

At no point during this saga have Santander contacted us at all. I have phoned them six times now and all they will say is that they can't see it on their systems (even though they've confirmed to FD that they have it ).

I've now escalated it to a complaint but all that seems to have done is generated a text message saying they are looking into it.

All the account details are correct. Santander definitely have our money. It's now three weeks later. We are now paying interest on a credit card.

I am utterly furious, and powerless. How can this be allowed to happen?

Just a rant really but if anyone has any idea how I can get my money I'd be very grateful. I've googled and found horror stories of people losing tens of thousands for months. As soon as we have our money we'll be switching banks.

[Goondoit]

Used to work in a bank- seen this all the time
Their checking your money in line with their anti money laundering processes. Any income to your account over xx amount triggers the money to be "held" until they validate it's origins
If iwas you id call them say I know what your doing ^^see above. What evidence would assist your investigations? Bank statements from fd? Payslips? P60? Passport? It's shit though I hated when this happened and just felt sick for the poor customers... hence why I no longer work for a bank

[Pinkheart5915]

This happened to my friend with Santander for the best part of 20k and 8 weeks later still no money, it was sorted eventually but it was a fight.

I can't understand it me & dh bank with lloyds, NatWest and nationwide and transfer large sums between the 3 in alll these years no problems at all.

Keep calling them to find out what's going on, make sure your complaint is listened to, leave for a better bank once you can.

Hope it won't take much longer for you

[skyzumarubble]

This is why I left Santander. They are utterly shit. Hope you get it sorted asap.

[JanetBrown2015]

Try saying you will sue if they don't refund it within 48 hours (and then possibly go on line to mnoeyclaims on line and sue but you'd have to pay a court fee) and also email the head of Santander. Make sure you also have a visible complaint on Santander public twitter feeds too.

[specialsubject]

I also suggest twitter. It is sometimes the only way to get attention. Or a polite but attention grabbing tantrum in the branch.

Otherwise it is formal complaint and then ombudsman.

[scoobydoo1971]

I would complain to the Financial Ombudsman. You may be entitled to compensation, a friend of mine had a payout for a similar blunder (deprivation of income argument used). It is not that Santander are reviewing your funds against money laundering policy, but their lack of communication to you that is the key to this.

[EmmalinaC]

As suggested, ask them what they need to expedite the process of you getting your own money and mention the financial ombudsman. That often helps.

But you're right. Santander are cunting bastards. I had a helluva time trying to close an account wit them. I'm still not entirely sure it's over. Thieving scumbags.

[ArchiesMamaBird]

Report to trading standards/ombudsman, or at least threaten to do it. Something similar happened to my boss's sister recently, and as soon as she threatened ombudsman they sorted the query straight away and gave her compensation too.

[ajandjjmum]

Sadly social media is the only way to get a response to a complaint these days - are you listening John Lewis?!!!!

[harderandharder2breathe]

You can't go to the ombudsman until after you've complained to Santander and they've exhausted their complaints procedure (i believe they have 8 weeks to do this) I wish people would stop telling people "go to the ombudsman" at the first hint of trouble. The ombudsman will just tell you to complain to the bank first.

Complain to the bank definitely. And advise them that if they don't resolve it to your satisfaction within the correct timescales you will use your right to take it to the ombudsman. This shouldn't make a difference but it does (whereas if you just say you're going to the ombudsman now they know nothing will happen).

[chickenowner]

Write to the Guardian Money pages - lots of companies seem to magically sort problems out as soon as they are contacted by them!

[kaitlinktm]

I wouldn't bank with Santander if they were the last bank on earth and I agree with a pp about contacting the financial ombudsman.

They were called upon by the small claims court to fulfil a third part debt order - we had won a case against someone for £4000. They were ordered by the court to respond within the statutory 7 days and just didn't bother replying - this happened twice with a couple of months in between to allow for court proceedings.

On the third occasion they gave a half-arsed response (didn't search for other accounts in that name or something similar) and the representative they were ordered to send to the court wasn't even an employee, didn't know anything and couldn't answer any questions.

The person we were suing by this time had moved any money out of his accounts - so we got nothing.

We couldn't go via the financial ombudsman because we weren't actually customers of Santander.

When we complained to them directly they said they had investigated themselves and considered they had done nothing wrong. When we wrote a second time to protest and outline the evidence, we got a reply saying that they would ignore any future correspondence.

Such breathtaking arrogance - all the bad things you hear about bankers, well in their case I imagine it's all true.

[pringlecat]

The trouble with the anti-money laundering legislation is if you think someone is laundering money, you cannot tell them. It is against the law. Hence the frustrating lack of communication.

Appreciate the above doesn't get you your money any quicker, but you asked how this is allowed to happen and that's your explanation. I wouldn't have transferred such a high amount of money in one sum - it was always likely to get flagged.

FWIW, I do sympathise!

[TheTabardOfDoom]

I nearly opened an account with Santander because I work in a small town and after the other two banks closed, they were the only bank in that town. Online reviews put me right off and that was some years ago. Even if they are following procedure it is basic manners to be in touch and explain what they are doing. I'm amazed they are still as shite as ever.

[SecretNetter]

I work in bank complaints. Tbph I wouldn't expect any quicker resolution from 'threatening' the Ombudsman...people are aware of the FOS now and I'd say one in three complaints we get threatens them. It makes no difference, the complaints are treated equally regardless.

[pringlecat]

TheTabardOfDoom See my above comments. If you think a client is laundering money, telling them constitutes "tipping off" and is against the law. You want to get angry at someone, get angry at the politicians who passed that law. Not the bank.

[SecretNetter]

Disagree with a pp about the amount being flagged...for domestic (uk) payments, £11k wouldn't cause a ripple. It's generally Solicitors who get shafted what with massive house purchase amounts being transferred.

It's more likely that your Dh John Smith shares a name with John Smith, political person of interest from Switzerland who is on a Watch List. Unfortunate...and worth bearing in mind that if this is the case, this is unlikely to be a one off and future payments may be affected.

If Santander want clarification of the beneficiary's nationality, it is FD's responsibility to contact the sender for this info and send it to Santander...have FD done this, asked you the question and sent the info on?

[Plipplops]

I fucking hate Santander, very happy to no longer be banking with them. Unfortunately our mortgage is still with them (it was A&L but got taken over), I'll be a very happy bunny if/when we can move that too...Good luck OP

[SecretNetter]

Also please ignore the comments about contacting the FOS or suing/threatening to sue. It will make no difference.

Unfortunately there is NO maximum timescale for which a bank can withhold funds. They'll have a bit in their T&C saying this. Shouting, screaming, demanding a final timescale or 'action within 48 hours' is pointless and will be ignored.

Contact FD and ask for a timeline of everything, especially the dates of contact with Santander. Then call Santander, speak to their payments department (not telephone banking, pointless) and give all this info and ask for an escalation/response from FD to be reviewed ASAP.

The issue is not where the money is...don't get pulled into thinking Santander are automatically at fault. It could just as we'll be FD in not providing answers yet to the questions Santander have asked them.

[GreenHairDontCare]

Thanks all. Have now tweeted and emailed, so we shall see.

[JanetBrown2015]

The reason it seemed to be a money laundering query was because the bank had said it was because of the husband's foreign connections or something. You would not normally expect a sum of that size (which is frankly tiny compared to many payments made every day ) to banks to cause alarm bells for the amount.

(If you sue generally suing does get action as if no defence is put in you can get a judgment and sent in bailiffs which tends to get attention and court claims go to the legal department and they know they have a limited time to reply or else they lose the case which is the reason I suggested sometimes suing gets people's attention if twitter etc does not).

I presume you went on your on line banking originally and transferred from your FD direct account to one of your regular payees - your own other account at Santander so there is no chance you keyed in the wrong number for the Santander account? Perhaps ask FD to send you the proof the money went to Santander. Both accounts are in the UK I assume.
(This is one reason I have all my accounts in the same bank and the children's are mostly that too although as people say above if there is evidence of terrorism etc the bank can even just freeze or close an existing bank account.)

Has your husband worked abroad in the past? Has he received or sent money to anyone connected to or involved with places like Iran, North Korea, Somalia?

[peaceout]

I wouldn't have transferred such a high amount of money in one sum - it was always likely to get flagged
Me too, I just transfer a test amount say a tenner to make sure I've got the accounts set up right, then maybe a couple of thousands at a time, just to avoid the stress of transactions getting flagged by the bank

[GreenHairDontCare]

Yes, sent it through the already set up payment details that we use several times a month.

No living abroad ever, no foreign connections at all.

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

I echo those saying don't bother with threats as it won't make them love any faster.

Make a complaint and set out exactly what you want. I'd suggest you want any accrued interest compensated, plus a correction to credit files (if applicable). You also want your calls to be covered at £x and compensation for the inconvenience, at least £x. Go twice what you deem appropriate and they'll probably meet you in the middle. I used to work in banking complaints, particularly those that went to FOS and you will get a quicker response to the complaint once the situation is resolved if you clearly set out what you want to make amends.

Infuriating as it is, if it is money laundering checks, as pringlecat says they're not allowed to even hint - it's ripping off and the personal fines can be astronomical.

Money laundering checks kick in at any sum over £10k, so I don't know why people are saying it's a drop in the ocean? It's not really about the amount it's more about the connections and other patterns that have been spotted. Not saying that is you at all OP just pointing it out!

[ElsieMc]

Our local branch must have the rudest most unhelpful staff on the planet. There seems to be only one staff member who has a clue and she has said she wants out. Crikey.

An example would be going in to pay a Laura Ashley card which is marked Santander on the payment slip. I tried to pay over the counter but they would not take cash (at a bank!). I was told I could not pay it there and had to go to the main Post Office. A 30 minute walk. The PO told me they did not take them and were bemused by Santander. I knew it couldn't be right so I went back. I asked the staff member involved why on earth she had not suggested I pay the cash into my account and then pay with my card if that was the issue. She said it was because I had not suggested it.

I then asked for a receipt for my pay in (clearly I needed one) and my payment slip stamped and dated. She did not give me a receipt so I had to queue again. She insisted she had given me one but angrily produced one. She then began arguing with me. An elderly gentleman in the queue behind me said "Never mind love, she always has a face like a fart.."

Next time I was in, the deputy manager saw me and waved me over to her immediately to avoid the horrible cashier.

When I started to tell my dh what had happened, he knew who the cashier was before I described her.