Bri and Katee

So the continuing story. On July23rd we went to our local office and asked to close one branch account many kilometres away and open a new one there. No problem done in an hour except it wasn't.

Since then the old account has gone into the red due to bank charges levied against it, due to the fact the branch refused to close the account! Then Madrid clearing transferred 700€ into the old account even though the transfer agency used the correct new account number. Then they took out all the overdue charges they said we owed- still refusing to close the old account.

Now up to today with many other hassles of transferring direct debits and actually getting them paid along the last few months. We called in at the bank to make sure the money all 700€ was transferred from the old account to the new one- yes they agreed we had paid the charges from the new account, so them taking it from the old account meant we had paid twice and they reimbursed them.

The branch manager was blocked from accessing the old account, he rang that branch to be told that now the account was closed, with our money still in it and they had no way of accessing it either!!!! He rang Madrid and it seems that when he opened our new account they lost the faxed paperwork to confirm it was a non resident account! So now we have a new account we and the branch can't access, we have an old account in Torrevieja that is closed and can't accessed to get our 700€ and Madrid sat on their arses demanding more paperwork be signed and faxed through. ARGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

To be fair the manager is most apologetic and says it will sort itself out given time, but he's said this every two weeks for the last couple of months.

olivefarmer

We had a similar thing when our local Lacaixa bank closed (plenty of free parking) and they moved our account to the next town (limited parking and meter). It actually dragged on for ages as various small bombs went off culminating in a problem with our car insurance non renewal.

Two things struck me throughout. The first was the looks on the smug faces in the bank as they trawled around and made calls and secondly the realisation that as usual this was actually somehow our fault and they were doing you a favour to sort it out.

Things work here quite well until human beings get involved. Then you have the Iberian shrug. Oh and everyone is polite and you don't lose your temper.

Hope you get it sorted. No wonder Spaniards have rolls of black money in their wallets.

amideislas

Hmmm.. sounds familiar.

I'm often left with the impression that if anyone does anything you're paying them to do, it's regarded as a favour to you. In all fairness, they often seem happy to do that "favour", but it's still not something they're actually obliged to do.

Porth

With respect you have not seen the French shrug.

missile

Switch to a.n.other bank and ask them to close both Santander accounts..

Bri and Katee

I am seriously considering this option missile. But while they have in total 1800€ of my cash in two accounts, I want to be able to get it out first. Having 700€ stuck in one account that can't be accessed at the moment is bad enough, having two accounts where I can't get at the money would not be good at all.

missile

If you ask a decent bank to help they should be able to liberate all your funds from Santander. I would recommend Barclays.es.

Unfortunately they will not be able to do anything about erroneous charges made by Santander.

Mitzyboy

Can you not make a denuncia against them for "stealing" your money? That would make them sit up :-)

NadiaN

Barclays.es has been great until now, but they were sold to La Caixa a few months ago. So it will probably not remain a "decent bank" for much longer.

snikpoh

Yep, Barclays have now 'pulled out of' Spain.

missile

That is a shame

amideislas

Here, Barclays has always been the single most expensive bank. Literally, everything orders of magnitude more expensive than a "normal" bank. But I reckon that's the price you pay for a bank that offers "international" banking. For most British expats, I'd expect having such a bank nearby would be rather comforting, since it's quite normal for British banks to regard "international" banking to be a specialised, extra-charge service (or nonexistent) anyway.

Unfortunately (for Barclays) most continental European banks have always routinely provided comprehensive "international" banking at the every level and at normal rates, which might help explain Barclays exit. Can't compete.

missile

Barclays.es is NOT a "British" bank. No idea about Mallorca, but in mainland Spain it currently offers the most competitive service. Free banking and 2% cash back on direct debits. Zero charge to pay in and convert sterling to euro.

snikpoh

Yes but as they no longer exist as an entity in Spain (bought by Caixa), I wonder how long that will last.

Also, many, many branches are now closing in Spain as they consolidate.

missile

As I said, it is a shame they have been taken over. There have been and I expect we shall see more consolidation of branches and staff redundancies at many banks i.e. not only at La Caxia.

This may well change but AFIK Barclays.es still operate independently and offer the most competitive rates for a current account of any Spanish bank.

The quality of the service one receives from a branch of any bank depends largely on the competence of the staff working there. In Ciudad Quesda, the Manager at Barclays.es provides a very good service.