Santander UK Reviews 

189
TrustScore 1 out of 5

1.2

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Looking at 53 reviews, most reviewers were let down by their experience overall, expressing deep frustration and disappointment with the company. Customers frequently complained about dreadful customer support, extremely long waiting times on the phone, and unhelpful staff members who repeatedly passed callers between completely different internal banking departments. Consumers also experienced suddenly blocked accounts without proper warning, unexpected fee charges applied without consent, and extremely frustrating verification processes that severely disrupted their essential and ongoing daily business operations. Some reviewers were happy with certain positive elements, noting that the telephone assistance generally remained acceptable and the overall account closure process proved entirely straightforward.

What people talk about most

Customer service

Reviewers express deep frustration and dissatisfaction regarding customer service. Consumers highlight long... See more

Service

Customers had negative experiences with service, expressing frustration over closed local branches and... See more

Payment

Consumers find payment to be frustrating due to widespread account freezes and blocked transactions.... See more

Customer communications

Customers consistently note negative experiences with contact, highlighting severe difficulties in reaching... See more

Price

Clients share negative opinions on price, expressing widespread dissatisfaction over unexpected monthly and... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Changing the rules on fire banking for life. Seems crazy as they've had access to 20 year's worth of banking from my company while not paying interest. To introduce charges now while there are a hos... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The had an excellent customer service, but various parts of the service have become a law unto their own, very difficult to deal with. You'd think a complaints department would seek to improve or at l... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I wanted to open a business account. The amount of questions I was asked felt like I was taking a loan from Santander business. I needed to open an account so I can set up my direct debits with th... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Rang Santander over two weeks ago to close my business account. Ok we'll send you the closure forms, Today, over two weeks later the WRONG forms arrive - change business details ones. Call the busine... See more


Company details

  1. Bank
  2. Financial Institution

Information provided by various external sources

Santander UK plc is a British bank, wholly owned by the Spanish Santander Group.


Contact info

1.2

Bad

TrustScore 1 out of 5

189 reviews

5-star
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1-star

No history of asking for reviews

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1.2

All reviews

(189)

53 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The app doesn't work

The app doesn't work. My available balance hasn't changed since Monday but the transactions are showing money has gone in and out since then. I have no idea how much money I currently have available to spend. I called Santander and asked to make a complaint they said somebody would ring me back and obviously no one has done so.
There's a good reason why it's got such a poor rating on trustpilot, it isn't fit for purpose.

November 16, 2023
Unprompted review
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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Useless

Tried to make a transfer today, now locked out of my account for 2 days. Not the biggest transfer in the world just under 8K got a 1 time passcode sent to my phone. Woman in fraud team could not unlock the account even after I went through additional security very inconvenient.

Asked to raise a complaint only to be put into a telephonic abyss with not answer. That old chesnut…..

November 15, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Business account cannot be relied on

Business account cannot be relied on to give me access to my money when I need it.

Constantly logs me out without any apparent reason.
I have tried Google, Edge on laptop and android phone all have this same issue. After many attempts I can eventually complete my transactions but not without a great deal of stress.

Most concerning this is an ongoing issue (months). Based on my experience I would definitely not recommend a business account with Santander.

November 4, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Struggling to open a new Fixed Deposit…

Struggling to open a new Fixed Deposit account with #SantanderUK for my mother-in-law. Continuous tech errors online and the support line is unresponsive (Dead line). Visited a local branch, but they can't assist without an appointment - earliest slot in late Nov. Reason? Due to Christmas being around the corner!!! Is it just me, or do this bank make it this challenging to hold onto accounts with minimal interest? 🤔 #CustomerService

October 1, 2023
Unprompted review
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Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Useless phone service

Although the electronic side of the bank works ok if you need to actually speak to a person the call centre service is absolutely appalling - no one knows what they're doing and you get passed round many different people all of whom can't help you

September 18, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Please avoid using, zero customer service help, lack of communication and everything takes months as they're short staffed

Please avoid using, go elsewhere. Terrible experience and haven't even been able to access my own money to run my business for months now.
Recently purchased a business which included transfering the business bank account with it. Application has been going on for months with no update. I have had to chase and chase daily for updates being told one day it's completed and I'll get a letter in the post by the end of the week as confirmation, the next day that the case is still in their work back log and that they are "fast tracking it" load of bull. Despite being the business owner since the 5th of July I Haven't been able to access my account or money atall and still waiting for updates after multiple times being told "expect a letter by the time end of the week" being fobbed off to the complaints team who didn't call me back and then after complaining again I was told they were short staffed so hadn't been able to deal with my complaint yet. The previous business owner also lodged a complaint after her personal information was lost and she was asked to resubmit her identification documents after 3 weeks. I haven't been able to purchase equipment and medical supplies, pay invoices etc. Ruining our reputation and good name.

Please please stay clear, they have very poor service, in their own words "are short staffed" and if you want to run a business and access your money, good luck banking with them.

The second this account is in my name we are transferring to another business bank account elsewhere.

September 4, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Terrible in Every Way!

Terrible, Terrible Terrible Bank!!!

If you need a Business Account, Trust me......go elsewhere. Hopeless service, outdated, expensive and usually doesn't work. I am currently on a 30 minute hold for the Fraud Line as they have just declined an Invoice Payment I was doing from my own account AND they have locked me out of my account whilst they fail to answer.

Simple question: Santander, if you don't trust your own security that allows me into my account to make payments, what is the point in having it and why should I trust you?

A dinosaur in a digital world.......I wish I had never started with them 12 years ago.

Update........when this happened, Santander told me they were very concerned and would be in touch to go through the problems in order to improve.......and surprise surprise, 4 months later, no call from them and no contact. Terrible bank!

August 31, 2023
Unprompted review
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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Inadequate, inconvenient and outdated

Before having a business account I was using a second Santander personal account. Now I’m using the business app, it is totally inadequate compared to using the personal app. I can’t change the reference number when paying someone so I’m going to have to find a computer to add a new payee. You can’t see all of the information on any of your transactions. It looks old and outdated compared to the personal app. There’s nothing convenient about the business app. I still have the personal app for all of my other Santander accounts because I prefer to use that one.

August 12, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 3 out of 5 stars

I’ve marked the app as a three because…

I’ve marked the app as a three because it seem you can’t sort your payees by alphabetical order. You end up having to scroll through a random order of names to find a payee. Other apps for other banks seem to be more open to allowing you to search payees. Santander doesn’t.

July 29, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Bank cards have to chase. Slow

Having been a personal customer for many years, I assumed the business side would be as competent- not so! The initial chat is all very chatty and glossy. However - trying to get bank cards through is difficult - initial card I got was a cash card which I didn’t need - I did check on this twice Likewise I had to chase the debit card twice which is effective the efficiency of admin for my business. Not impressed at all

July 14, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Brilliant till today, now i will change bank

Simply asked via phone banking to add my partner (wife) to my business account as an equal partner.
I have cancer, a year or two to live. I want my partner to have equal access/rights to the account so that if im dead she can sort everything out and access money etc without needing probate.
Followed instructions nice lady gave me on line. Filled form in, sent loads of identification.
But no. Cant be done unless i close account and open new one as a full business partnership.
So i will close account and open new local one.
Loved the online banking, it worked great.
Goodbye
Miles

July 3, 2023
Unprompted review
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Rated 2 out of 5 stars

The Business iPhone app is really bad.

The iPhone app for Santander Business is really bad.
a) You can’t make payments to anyone you haven’t paid before.
b) your existing payees are listed not alphabetically, but in the date they were last paid - with the most recent (likely to be your most frequent) at the end of the list, so you have to scroll through pages and pages of the list to find the one you want.
Most of the rest of my experience with Santander Business has been acceptable.

July 3, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Don't waste your time

Don't waste your time if you have a business that does a lot of online payments, this bank is not equipped for it, I have to call them almost every day to get payments authorised,

A big bank with a small mind for business is how I would describe them, awful service

June 26, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Online payment service terrible ...

What on earth is wrong with your online banking?! I am always paying invoices online as I have a business account with you and in the last few months every time you go to do a bacs transfer and after you go through the whole flipping process, a screen pops up saying 'online banking not available at the moment' its the most annoying thing ever! I have spent the last 3 hours logging on and off and retrying, then randomly a payment will work, it never used to do this, I have been banking with you for 8 years and it was always fine but in the last 6 months it's terrible. Please fix this and make sure your online payment system works EVERY time!

June 11, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I just lost 2 hours of my life

I just lost 2 hours of my life on 3 different phone calls to Santander for having the cheek to try and transfer money out of my own Santander business account to one of my other business accounts. Complete shambles. Their online & mobile banking is 5-10 years behind their competitors. When you have to phone up the staff are beyond a joke. Accounts are getting closed, sick of my payments getting blocked. Impossible to run a business when Santander is your bank

June 5, 2023
Unprompted review
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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Santander ignores the Direct Debit Guarantee

Santander has taken more than one month to refund a direct debit charge that was completely unauthorised and against the Direct Debit guarantee instructions! They have issued two letters saying they are investigating and only today have credited our account without apology or explanation for their mistake. Is this their interpretation of the immediate repayment as in the guarantee? If we had owed the bank they would have made a daily charge for money owing.

April 14, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

the i do not want customers bank

i opened a business account after speaking with Santander they advised me on the account .7years later they reviewed the account and said i had opened the wrong account .i have a private account with them and was told i could change to a business account.After 2 hours they made an telephone appointment for 2 weeks this they never called i called again and made another this one never came through on the third time it was made in Altrincham branch (we are now 7 to 8 weeks on ) 2 days before the said appointment i am called from the branch saying she can not do business banking.So i made another appointment on this occasion i was called but 2 hours earlier than the appointment on answering the phone the lady said she was finishing but she would speak with me ,this became farcical as she did not have the time or inclination to open the account (not listening to anything regarding my business).so after 38 years with a private account and 7 years with a very healthy business account i must say your service is an utter disgrace regards wayne

March 30, 2023
Unprompted review

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