Banco Santander, Albox

[tomcalesas]

I work abroad a lot, and Santander charges me 3.5% comission every time my wages get paid, PLUS the stupidly ridiculous exchange rates they have.  then you can not take money out of any machine, except a Santander one, or they charge comissions ( other banks allow you as long as you stay withing "the group".


the other day I needed to take money out fast, and their machine was out of order.  went in, enough people queueing for 4 tellers, with only one there, ( obviously coffee time) and I dod not have the time to wait to take out 500 euros.  they then charged me 30 euros comission for using a Non Santander machine.

maybe I should have filled out a complaint sheet as well.

they are a pack of pathetic imbeciles.

anyway, would like to open an account with other bank, but do not know who to go to....

[Duffs]

I have had an account with Santander in Menorca for 25 years and another account in Albox for 7 years. Never had any problems with either. I have always found the staff in Albox friendly and helpful. Nothing more to add really - satisfied customer.

[Coogan]

Hello Karen, I wrote this  topic in May this year in answer to someone else's complaint about this bank/branch:

"I too had nothing but problems with Santander in Albox.  Charges kept going up for a credit card although I was promised it would stay the same.  When I cancelled the card and asked for my money back I was asked to ring the credit card number myself to arrange it.  I was told by the credit card number that the Bank Manager could have done this for me.  I eventually got my money back (60 euros) and lo and behold the following month I was charged for my debit card (58 euros).  It was almost done in spite.  I have now completely closed the account but was charged commission on a daily basis whilst the account was being closed."

Just to add, we have been with Unicaja for about a year now and no problems at all.  We saw we were going to get nothing but dismay with Santander and gradually changed all our direct debits so they would not notice.  We felt they would have come up with other charges if they saw what we were doing.  When we decided to close the account it was all "come and see us and we talk" as was said every previous time we had a problem.  This time there was no talking.  I could not stand seeing the man again (the manager) because he did nothing but lie to us.  I actually closed the account from the branch in Huercal Overa, hoping to highlight how bad things were in Albox.

[Blurr]

Hi Karen, yes we have had nothing but problems with Santander, took out house insurance in March and as yet haven't received the policy, its supposed to be free banking if you have a certain amount invested with them but everytime we pay in a sterling cheque we get charged 15euros, we once paid in a cheque for 422.00 sterling and was credited with 422.00 euros, plus numerous other problems, too long to list.

I went to see the manager with all our complaints (took a list written in spanish) and was assurred it would all be corrected, some has but most haven't so we are going to close the account. Worst move was to open the account in first place. All the staff are incompetent, how they got to be the third largest in the world is beyond me.

We were with Cam Bank the very best bank of all, but when the y were taken over by Sabadell and moved to Vera we had to change banks. Hopefully in December when the name changes to Sabadell they might open a branch in Albox. We have visited the Vera Branch and it is still as helpfull and efficient as they were as Cam Bank.

How do you contact the ombudsman, we don't speak spanish.

Anyone else had problems with Santander?
Blurr

[Sharron T]

Alfie,   The problem is it is not always that simple to close the account especially if like us you have your mortgage with them, and before it gets mentioned we know you can move a mortgage but there is a large charge for doing so.

Sharron

[Louise]

Hojas de reclamacion......I have used them for other banks....so far not for Santander (but YES for LA CAIXA and CAJAMURCIA)
My Spanish is good enough to complain (99% written, 80% spoken)
I once had the Guardia over because the director/Manager refused to sign our complaint sheet! They are not keen on this...
So Karen4, I know about aggression, economically handling the truth, intimidation,.....Andalucian speaking a****les
Onece the men in Green arrived , I have never seen someone drink so rapidly his coffee and sign......

Karen4, if it is of any interest for EU citizens, residents, maybe not from the UK (so, no, we don´t have no sterling account....), yes , please email me
Always eager to know how banks work and what they do. Myself and many others want to learn from it - even by giving warnings....

But only please believe me that you had a bad experience with a certain bank and that this happens all the time....
Just lucky that we did not have this experience you had, but we´re in another town/village...so far we only had decent service, by a UK lady who lives here >20 years - i don´t need to say more.....

[alfie]

So, basically, only 3 complaints from all the users of this forum. I would expect that any other bank would have the same [if not more] number of problems.
I have been with Abbey/Santander for 30 years and have never had any reason to compiain.
However, the issue, as always, is at branch level - if you are unhappy with the service you are getting locally, close your account and make sure you let the bank HO know your reasons for for your action. That will have much more immediate action than any long-drawn out complaint [however valid] with the ombudsman.

[felipe]

Cannot agree the manager is a complete imbecile. He is arrogant, rude and will only do what he believes is right. A right numpty and sexist.  He has screwed up our accounts and our daughters accounts yet takes no responsibility.  And that is speaking to him in fluent Spanish!!  How he got the job is beyond us. He messed up before he got promoted.

[The Sheriff ILLIA.]

Having Banked with Albox Santander for over 4 years - and we still do  -  I can say it is the best we have ever been with in Albox.

All the staff pleasant and courteous every time we go in - and the Manager and his assistant can never do enough for you.

Considering the number of people on this forum who think I am a moaning old Ba....d  this must count as high praise indeed.

[Karen4]

Thanks temasek....and thanks to the Ombudsman's decision in our favour we certainly ARE getting sorted with them! I would just caution everyone with an account there to check your statements very, very carefully. We have come across a number of anomalies which would make your hair stand on end, as would the response we got from the (current, for now,) manager. If anyone wants any more information about how tenacity and refusal to be intimidated can win against incompetance, aggression, covering up and, shall we say, being economical with the truth then please get in touch!

[Louise]

so far the only bank (4 in 6 years) that has not given trouble. It´s without charge/cost and the only "bad" thing I can say about Santander, is that they insist on sending bank extracts to my home address. No way we can stop it.
The online banking, speed of transactions and the costless banking (resident account) is worth a lot.
Must say I only visit the office once every 2 months....and never put too much money on it...the rest stays at its origin or/and is spent with a (foreign) credit card.

[temasek]

I kicked them into touch after having to deal with a witch of a teller in the Albox Branch..... in front of a packed Banking Hall. She refused to take a sterling cheque into my non residente account, which was not supposed to take Spanish currency. I got the Manager to sort the miserable old trout out and then went back to the coast to close my acount and found the staff there had all changed. The woman spoke about me  to the other tellers as though I was stupid and did not speak Spanish and then charged me for closing the account. Unfortunately, the manager that we had known for over 14 years was unavailable that day so I paid the money and was glad to be rid of them. All this after I had once worked for what  used to be the same Bank in UK.By the way, she got a tongue lashing from me before I left the building.
Hope you get sorted with them Karen.

[Optomist]

Can't say I'm surprised. The whole outfit are a complete bunch of incompetents.

I had a (UK) account with them for three years. One hassle after another. Finally, I closed the account. In person. In the branch.  They kept phoning me up asking me to stay. Each time I clearly said "NO". The account is closed. Go away.

Nothing for 12 months.

Then I get a bill for £785! This was made up of allowing a direct debit I had cancelled to go though on a closed account with no overdraft... to the tidy sum of 53p! Then charge, after charge, after charge, for 9 months with no attempt to even contact me... I had to get the UK ombudsman involved to finally cancel the whole mess. Idiots.

After all that... they then contact me to try to get me to open an account in Spain  :lol: :lol:

Well were not Phycic or do you expect us to guess , DID YOU  OPEN ONE OR NOT :whistle:

[ramblarider]

Can't say I'm surprised. The whole outfit are a complete bunch of incompetents.

I had a (UK) account with them for three years. One hassle after another. Finally, I closed the account. In person. In the branch.  They kept phoning me up asking me to stay. Each time I clearly said "NO". The account is closed. Go away.

Nothing for 12 months.

Then I get a bill for £785! This was made up of allowing a direct debit I had cancelled to go though on a closed account with no overdraft... to the tidy sum of 53p! Then charge, after charge, after charge, for 9 months with no attempt to even contact me... I had to get the UK ombudsman involved to finally cancel the whole mess. Idiots.

After all that... they then contact me to try to get me to open an account in Spain  :lol: :lol:

[Karen4]

We have had a number of problems with accounts at Banco Santander, Albox, and wonder if anyone else has experienced anything similar? We have been supported by the Ombudsman's office, and would like to share information and experiences with others who might have concerns. Please contact me by PM.