However, it seems highly likely the charges arose when your mother accidentally pressed a wrong key on her phone and rang a rip-off rogue line instead of Santander.Īs a gesture of goodwill the bank has credited your mother the £105 lost, as well as £50 for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, Santander said it could not verify whether this was the cause of your mother’s charges as the call logs did not go back far enough. However, Santander said it was aware of premium-rate numbers that are very similar to its helpline number and either redirect to its own customer service team or keep an unsuspecting customer on hold while being charged. Although this is slightly inconvenient, both numbers are completely free. It provides an automated message asking customers to phone a new 0800 number. I have confirmed that the 0845 number on the front of your mother’s chequebook is an old customer service line. Go to your bank account (s) and write down the amount (or amounts if you have multiple checking accounts). Check the balance on your bank statement. However, as it turned out, things weren’t quite as they seemed. Your record of check transactions (checkbook register or other method) A calculator (most phones have a calculator function) Step 1. Using a premium-rate phone line for customers who are replacing chequebooks sounded like an outrageous financial assault on the elderly. We complained but it will not reimburse the charges. She spent a further 37 minutes on the phone and finally ordered a new one.Īt the end of April my mum received her phone bill and was horrified to see she had been charged £105 for the six calls made to Santander. So if she wanted a new chequebook there seemed to be little alternative to ringing the telephone number on the front of the old one. My mother has severe mobility problems and has barely left the house since the pandemic began nor does she have a computer. But Santander wouldn’t accept the request from me and insisted that my mum would have to visit the branch herself or order online. I explained the problems she had faced getting through by phone. So I went into the local Santander branch on her behalf to request a new chequebook. On the fourth day she tried again for 10 minutes, alas with no response. Realising that the call might be costly, she hung up and tried again, and then again the next day, and the day after that as well. She was automatically transferred to a premium number and was placed in a long queue. She duly phoned her bank, Santander, on the number on the front of her chequebook to request a new one. My 86-year-old mother recently ran out of cheques. Has a company treated you unfairly? Our Consumer Champion is available to help.
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