To be furious at santander/ post office....

[spinyffud]

4 weeks ago I deposited 6 cheques totalling £2,700 in a Santander lodgement envelope.

I handed it in to the Post office, who have a special pouch for these envelopes. They don't go in the recorded mail.

2 weeks on and no cheques. Multiple visits to post office who assured me it was sent in normal way. Multiple phone calls and visits to Santander, who just seem to lodge the call and do nothing.

I then get a letter in the post asking for the cheque numbers. I didn't record this information (does anyone?) but obviously have no clue what these details are.

I have had to take a day off work to phone round various companies, establish if cheques have been cashed etc and ask for a re-issues. Not everyone has been sympathetic and to date none have been reissued.

This is my income and I've had to take out a loan to cover the cost of living this month. I'm beyond furious but can't seem to get anywhere.

Any suggestions?

Oh and I've already set the ball rolling to switch banks.

This is why I only pay cheques in with the teller window in the actual bank. One got lost once by doing it through the deposit ATM and it is such an arse to get reissued. It's hard enough to get accounts payable to write the cheque to begin with, let alone a second time! You'll just have to keep on and get them all reissued. If it is your income can you not get the company to issue payment made by direct transfer in future? It's easier for everyone.

It's one of the reasons we considered leaving santander. It's a pita depositing cheques as it adds at least a day to the clearance cycle.

All you can only is ask for cheques to be reissued. We started using recorded delivery to send cheques in when 1 went missing. Most companies pay by bank transfer nowadays though.

It's a huge pain but if I were you I'd write to each company stating your bank has lost your cheque, asking them to cancel it and to pay the enclosed invoice again. This time put your bank details on invoice too so they k ow where to send a BACs payment. Apologies for inconvenience etc. That will then end up in a pile of invoices and whoever it is who is responsible for cheques will reissue or send via bacs

I'd be fuming though

Most of the cheques are from small legal companies and the solicitors are reluctant to pay by BACS so I'm stuck with cheques. It's been a nightmare and getting any advice from Santander has been stressful beyond belief!

If the bank haven't received the cheques they won't be able to help you - whay are you hoping for them to do? Furthermore it costs money to cancel a cheque so the small businesses you mentioned will have additional costs incurred.

Sending cheques via unregistered posts sounds highly questionable to me. You need a rethink - not of the bank but of your personal practices

Aren't the cheque numbers on the stub in the chequebook?

Oh sorry I didn't read properly, I would say it's probably easier to call the companies and ask them to cancel the cheques and re-send them to you like a pp suggested. I've had a few people do this at work over the years because a cheque has been lost in the post or something, it happens!

I don't see why they would be reluctant to use BACS though, maybe you can use this situation to stress future payments must now be made by BACS?

Can't you pay cheques in at a Santander branch?

I would always want a printed receipt for depositing large sums into my account, not sure i would trust Royal Mail.

I don't have a local Santander branch and santander specifically advised me that the post office had a secure system that does not involve Royal Mail normal post. It was the bank who advised this as lodgement method.

This does not sound like a Santander problem at all - but a Royal Mail problem!

All you can really do is lodge a formal complaint with both Santander & the Post Office. Many consumers use the PO to deposit cheques either for convenience of the PO location or due to the high number or UK bank closures.

However as this is your income & there is the possibility of the cheque being lost in the post reaching you or this happening again I would push for companies to pay you electronically going forward

As rubbish as Santander are and the post office don't seem to be helping, you're due the money and as you're cheques haven't been cashed you need to get the cheques reissued or electronic payment. I've worked in solicitors. Not sure what you were being paid for, but if you want to insist on bacs you should be able to. They have the facilities and it should be easier for them!

Won't help now, but next time send each cheque separately.

I insist on going to the branch and handing it to a teller and getting a receipt (bitter experience). Last time when I was queuing the girl in the bank tried to get me to use the deposit machine...no thank you!

There won't be a next time- I've switched to a local bank, with much less incentives, but hopefully safer banking!

Royal Mail and The Post Office are separate companies.

Cancel the cheques!

Sorry, no help, but yanbu - sounds like a pain in the arse.

I had the same problem with Santander, luckily the cheque was reissued. On a second occasion a cheque for £3000 was paid into my account as £300. They refused to accept they had made the mistake, said it was impossible and again luckily the company was able to issue another cheque for £2700 but caused their bookkeeping no end of problems.At that point I changed banks and eventually Santander gave me 2 x £100 compensation. Going to a Santander branch to pay cheques in would cost £7 in bus fares and in a town I have no other reason to go to so post office was my only option.

Last time when I was queuing the girl in the bank tried to get me to use the deposit machine...no thank you

I always use the deposit machines for cheques in RBS and have never had any problems - you get a receipt, and you can choose to have images of the cheques printed on your receipt too.

I use the machines but I would not use an envelope that I posted it in if that meant the only info I got was from me writing the cheque numbers

Deposit machines in my bank take a photo of the cheque and you get that as your receipt - love them and use all the time

I had a cheque go missing from the post office. It turned up 3 weeks later at Santander clearing centre. It had gone to one of the other banks clearing centres they think.