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

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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

I have given Santander 1 star because I…

I have given Santander 1 star because I can't give it zero! I used Santander, Cheapside, London atm to withdraw3 £400 on 8th April. The money was not dispensed although I was issued a receipt. Luckily I have a witness to this fact. It is now the 16th and my money has not been refunded to my account and I can get no answers to what is happening to it. All I am told is that I have to wait until the 25th someone will write to me. This is a great example of the British banking system!Good luck to everyone who thinks a cashless society is a good move!!!

16 April 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

No Customer Support

I have written to Santander about being logged out of my business account every minute. "We're sorry Online Banking is not available at the moment. We are working to fix the problem" Like hell you are! It happens over and over again. I am continually logging in and I can't run a business like this. You have answered my written complaint but you are totally in denial. How can this possible be my fault when it is your stupid message! Morons!!

3 April 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

this bank is appalling

this bank is appalling - they ask you to call to "give information about your account" - the phone goes unanswered for more than an hour...then they block your account because you havent provided information..i travelled to a branch and tried to give the information there but that did nothing to prevent them blocking my account WARNING - have another bank account set up for when you decide to ditch Santander that way your bills etc will continue to be paid

dont bother complaining ... no one cares

20 March 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Contacting Business Account team

My husband John received an email regarding his business account saying we need to call to give them more info due to new legislation.He called the main number as it looked like a spam, and had no part numbers on it of any of our personal details, the advisor on the general line said the number was one of Santanders, they transferred him to the correct department. After nearly an hour on hold my husband had to stop. Today he tried calling the number from the email as he had been told it was correct, no answer after over 30 mins..He then tried the normal santander number again twice, and was put through again, even though he said he did not want to be left hanging on, one advisor said the department we needed was only small. Two members of staff said they couldnt contact the relevant department themselves to ring us back. A complaint has been logged by the final member of staff as our account has been threatened with restrictions if we dont provide the information they need, no one seems able to give us this information except this small team, which sounds to be too small to deal with whatever they are supposed to be doing.

19 March 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

aweful service - well, no service!

received a text saying I need to call to give them more info. Called main number to check legit and they said it was, they transferred me to the correct department, after nearly an hour on hold I was cut off. I then tried calling the number from the txt as had been told it was correct. After another hr a lady answered, then cut me off. No call back. I then tried the chat on the website. It said I was connected to 'Lynn'... after 5 mins of messaging, no reply.

If my account is restricted when it says it will be on the text, due to Santander's incompetence, I'm moving my business elswhere

19 March 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They don't care about small businesses

I've been with Santander for my business since 2016 and things seem have gotten worse. At first, I had a business adviser, but then they left, then the next left and now I haven't had one since 2019. They don't contact you for anything positive or to provide assistance. I have been trying to close some accounts for the past 4 months, after going from being a sole trader to a limited co, but because my old business partner died suddenly, the process has been excruciating! Those accounts still aren't closed. And now we are trying to modernise our accounts onto Xero and find that we cannot download our statements in anything other than PDF format. Santander have obviously not stayed up to date with more modern accounting practices. I think it is time to shop around for a new bank, as much as I hate to move banks. They obviously don't care about small businesses

1 March 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Locked out of business bank account

Locked us out of our account due to paperwork mistake. The team dealing with it are unavailable to talk to us or customer service it seems. Told it would take 20 minutes or 48 hours to get us back in - thought at least that means it will be back by Friday. Still not in by 10pm Friday evening. All direct debits and bacs blocked. Can't pay the staff. No-one can tell us if the payments blocked will go through automatically or have to be reset up. Absolutely shocking service for business. Who has a department that cannot even be contacted internally. Santander really doesn't show any interest in it's customers

26 January 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Santander Commercial Bank KYC

Really awful service for companies!!!! Santander have a 'know your customer' system that does not work, and they keep threatening to block our account. No way to talk to a human who knows what they want. Waste of time, my advice is DON'T USE THIS BANK.

25 January 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

For no apparent reason blocked my…

For no apparent reason blocked my accounts, all of them as they a linked to the same login. Business and personal. Asked me to supply documents for a large sale I made. I have no access to any statements, not to online login or the app. It's been weeks, and every time I call Santander I'm given a different answer and nobody is ever contacting me back. I have been with the bank for years and never had issues, but now, it's like it was substituted by an AI-driven absurdity. The answers I get from CS contradict the previous one.

11 January 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I would like to say a BIG thank you to…

I would like to say a BIG thank you to Alan Di Bella for trouble shooting the conundrunm I had with a business account where I was blocked for some unknow reason. Whilst I wish santander had written to me about this, it was nevertheless sorted easily by Alan. I would also like to thank James Canning online assistant and the lady who fronts the santander branch in Woking for their helpfulness with our business account. A signatory passed away last August and we are still trying to work out how to proceed with payments! Aside from the helpfulness I have received I must say santander pays the best rate on savings account .... hat off and thank you very much.

11 January 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Santander Corporate Bank & KYC

This is about the Corporate division of Santander Bank - not the consumer and not the small business divisions.
Santander were fined £107 million for poor fraud prevention. Their solution? Outsource a hopelessly incomplete Know Your Customer process to an external entity (KPMG) which has the right to block access to your account. Their process has acknowledged IT process errors (admitted by the Bank) and yet they continue to send threatening letters to try to bully us to something we already have complied with. And apparently 40 years isn't enough time to Know Your Customer? Our complaints upheld but the threats continue. Utterly shocking customer management.

5 January 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

So frustrating that the new business…

So frustrating that the new business app does not allow payments to be made from personal accounts linked to it. Nor can you pay anyone you haven't paid before. This is such a backward step from the previous app. Very dissatisfied customer.

23 December 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Useless for phone banking

As a customer of Santander's for over 20 years, I am now being coerced into online banking.
I'm ok with mobile banking but this is where Santander's let themselves down.
Their older system of passwords and numbers, whilst slow at least enabled you to operate your account without having to hang on for ages.
Their new"my voice is my password" never works and now you just have to hang on the line until someone becomes available, usually 10 to 15 minutes of your life wasted.
I expect someone was paid a lot of money to make software that doesn't work for the customer.
I feel they are trying to get everyone to sign up to online banking so they can then close local branches, stating they no longer have the footfall to warrant a premises.
Please Santander's, get a system that works for customers and makes life easier not more frustrating and stressful.

22 December 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolutely the worst business bank app!

Absolutely the worst business bank app. You cannot even perform basic actions like setting up and making payments, which is essential in the digital world, especially when they're closing so many branches. Sort it out Santander, you're new business banking app is pathetic !!!

10 December 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Very dissatisfied with branch

Very dissatisfied with branch, very unhelpful staff. Told no appointments available for the rest of the year. Takes too long to open account in branch and can’t tie staff up for the time needed. Told to go away and open on line or the telephone. Clearly did not want to help at all

17 November 2023
Unprompted review

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