Alliance and Leicester.
Or Santander, as they're now known.
I had an ISA with them, when I tried closing it, they told me they'd "lost it". Their actual words.
How the FUCK can you "lose" an account? It's not as if they're a Wild West bank, with a big safe in a wooden building, and bars on the window.
2 months of complaining, and they eventually "found" it, probably down the arse crack of one of their massively bonused directors, or the back of the settee. They offered me 50 quid compo. 50 fucking quid for several grand they had "lost", useless cunts.
I refused, and suggested several of the consumer right websites/programmes/newspaper columns.
500 quid was forthcoming, not as trivial, but a lot better. Santander...cunts.
(Bear Pookie The Frankly Challenged. Halloween is coming to town., Thu 10 Feb 2011, 16:01, 14 replies)

I had a major issue with Santander which led me to close my account
As I finished my final year at Uni, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel, but I thought I'd spend up everything in my current account and then delve into my student overdraft if needed. So I knew I had approx ~£40 in my Santander account which I hoped to draw it out for a final night out with my mates. I didn't check the balance as I didn't want to tempt fate, and if I didn't have the money, it'd surely decline as I didn't have an overdraft with this account and it has done this before. Several times.When £40 worth of crisp notes came out of the machine, I was happy as Larry as I'd obviously just got enough to make it for the final night.
5 days later, I thought I'd check my account. £-132.xxp. My heart sunk. I went straight to my local branch and demanded an explanation. I had opened an "unauthorised overdraft" which charged me an initial £30 and £20 a day for "admin" fees to keep it open. I complained until I was blue in the face and ordered to pay me back my money as I went over a matter of £2 but to no avail. I paid off what I owed there and then and shut the account.
I feel no sympathy for any of the banks in this crisis. They are a bunch of money grabbing cunts and I fucking hate them. Even in my previous job as a carer, I was talking to one of my Clients daughter who worked in Santander, and I told her what had happened. She said I should have been more careful with my money.. Stupid bitch! When it was Abbey, it would decline as I didn't have the fees. Santander just bent me over and F'd me without any grease.

I like Nationwide though =)
(Jon_LTD Treat the world like a head!, Thu 10 Feb 2011, 16:49, closed)

You hear "...should have been more careful..." a lot.
As far as I can tell there seems to be a deliberate mechanism in place to make you overdrawn and keep you overdrawn. I'm sure some will say that's paranoia, but after hearing many similar accounts, and experiencing similar myself (bill refused one month but two allowed the next, regardless of overdraft) it's the only theory which makes sense.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Thu 10 Feb 2011, 17:51, closed)

not paranoid.
For instance. If you have debits and credits on the same day, the debits will be processed first. So if you had 20 quid coming in to an account with a fiver in it, and you took out 6 quid, you'd be a quid overdrawn, and voila! along come the charges.
Larger debits are processed first to maximise the chances of you going overdrawn. If you had three direct debits going out of an account with 100 quid in it. One for 90 quid, one for 20 and one for 15. The 90 would come out first, leaving the account with 10 quid. In that instance you'd be charged twice for bouncing the two smaller ones. If the 15, then the 20 went out first, you'd only be charged for bouncing the 90 quid one.
There's no way any of that is by accident, and smells to me like it's been given some serious thought.
(dchurch bah, Thu 10 Feb 2011, 19:42, closed)

^this^
in spades.
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Thu 10 Feb 2011, 22:45, closed)

AbsoLUTEly.
I paid a £300 cheque into my account (totally in the black). Two days later and voila - the money is in my account, and the available balance has increased accordingly. Happy day. I moved the funds out of that account and into my ISA.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I was charged interest. Eh? What?

I emailed the bank. The interest was for the "loan" they had given me, because the funds had not yet cleared.

This is clearly fraudulent behaviour - to trick you into thinking the funds are available to you with no penalty. There was no indication that they hadn't cleared.

What do you think of that little trick? The bank's name may be an anagram of HBSC.
(Stiltzkin, Fri 11 Feb 2011, 15:36, closed)

I think the thing that irked me was
the fact when she said "should have been more careful" was sort of implying "we screwed you over because YOU let us" mentality.

I could go all political and point out how the tax payers have done XYZ for the banks, and being charged £130 for using £2 of the banks is a bit of a piss take. Especially to an overdraft I never agreed on and to say my money has given them plenty of interest over the years I had that account.

Building societies all the way for me!
(Jon_LTD Treat the world like a head!, Thu 10 Feb 2011, 22:39, closed)

£130 charges for going £2 over, you say?
Try having a £1500 limit, being overdrawn by, ooh, £1480, and then having a £23 direct debit bounced. Cost me £35 to bounce it, plus £28 for going over my limit, plus £28 for BEING over my limit. Plus a £25 charge from the people the direct debit was supposed to be paying.

I couldn't get back inside the £1500 limit after that so I kind of stopped using the account. A year later, when I went bankrupt, the debit balance on that account alone stood at £3,800. £2,300 of that was made up of charges and interest. In fact out of the whole £22k bankruptcy I reckon only £4k of it was actual money I'd spent, and that was on rent and bills.
(WillI'mNot logs in twice a year, every year, Thu 10 Feb 2011, 23:35, closed)

"Cost me £35 to bounce it, plus £28 for going over my limit..."
If they let you go over your limit, then why did the direct debit bounce?
(Stiltzkin, Fri 11 Feb 2011, 15:38, closed)

I've had a DD bounce then get payed.
Around the same ammout as the OP too (£28). That meant a bounce charge, and overdrawn charge and a charge for paying a DD when overdrawn.
The charges are a complete scam but, sadly, those in power won't declare them illegal despite the fact they are by any logical intepretation of the UKs contract laws.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Fri 11 Feb 2011, 17:25, closed)

Letting
you go overdrawn wouldn't satisfy the "liquidated damages v penalties clauses". Bouncing a direct debit and then charging you would, yet, it's allowed to continue with impunity.
Most now have dropped the amount considerably, but it's still there.
(dchurch bah, Sat 12 Feb 2011, 12:36, closed)

You got F'd in the A
However, I took issue with the thieving behaviour as well as the money issue. It is just absolutely mind-blowing that this was legal practice.
(Jon_LTD Treat the world like a head!, Fri 11 Feb 2011, 18:32, closed)

Funny
...but when I mention these occurrences with banks, I'm told that I should put my tin hat away on this very website.
I know of thousands, yes thousands, of cases like this where money and accounts just 'disappear'. One dragged on for over three years - that was about 22k. It's usually larger amounts that this happens to.
(dchurch bah, Thu 10 Feb 2011, 19:38, closed)

"they've got lies so big that they don't make a sound"...
FZ
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Thu 10 Feb 2011, 22:47, closed)

You are by no means the first
person I have heard complaining about Santander. B.B.C. TV programme 'Watchdog' almost devoted a whole programme to this shower. A branch has just opened up in my town, I don't honestly think I will be paying them a visit.
(Mackeson_drinker, Fri 11 Feb 2011, 10:18, closed)