i have been with the same bank for over 20 years
first giro bank then A&L now Santander (takeovers/buyouts)

right now to the saga

my and the wife's debit card/s run out (expire) today
normally i would receive new cards about a month before expiry

end of november no cards so the first week of december phone Santander
they say cards have been posted

wait a further week no cards so phone again
am assured that cards have been posted and will arrive shortly

xmas comes and goes so wait until the 29/12 and phone again
cards have most certainly been sent and will arrive shortly

31/12, 4 weekly wages plus 60 hours overtime paid into bank but i cant access the account as my card has expired
can not also pay any online bills or do any shopping as it will not except my card as it has expired

phoned Santander this morning after an hour on the phone cards will most certainly be posted TODAY
as there is no record of any kind on the system that the cards had been posted

i hope and wish that Santander have a fcuking lousy new year and every year thereafter
will be opening a new natwest account very shortly (have a branch locally) ...

Good. Be sure to send them some feedback as to why you're moving too. I hate [*] banks

[*] insert appropriate swear word

Could you not use a chequebook to get to your dough?
Or ask to get the cards delivered to the branch and collect in person?

Sounds crap though.

Why not join your local Credit Union?

It'd keep your cash away from the sharks.

Similar situation here. I wrote to Santander in June, July, September, Oktober, November and December requesting them to update my address and resend my online banking info. They finally reacted in December! Saying I hadn't provided enough information...

I've sent off the change of address form they sent, so now waiting for the confirmation... I've been without access to my account for over 6 months! Good job I don't need it on a regular basis!

have a cheque book but no supermarket excepts cheques
could pay bills by them as well but most payments would be late

the postal service is not a service that i would rely on ...

i do require online banking services and for that i require a bank that is able to do this
its just one of these facts of life that have happened ...

Take a look at the Co-operative Bank.

I am seriously considering switching to them over the big names. Ethical banking seems a much better idea than bigger bonuses for people just doing their jobs.

i am glad to hear that their service/s are as crap in Europe as it is here in the UK ...

i will have a look and see what is on offer ...

to say that i am fuming at the moment would be a very, very low understatement ...

There are three or four levels of account they offer. They also offer a service where you can sign up for an account online, and they'll handle transferring everything from your old bank - including direct debits, standing orders and so on - and close your old account.

There aren't many proper branches, but you can do most stuff online. Paying in can be done at post offices. Cash machines are any Link machine.

the post office here is right next door to the natwest bank
i will make enquiries of their services ...

I requested a new card in person earlier this year, and because of the postal service in a remote area decided to pick it up from the branch a week later. When I checked back there was no card for me and surprise surprise no record of the request. The staff were very fortunate that I still had a working card, be it intermittently, and that I was not doing the round trip of 36km solely for the prurpose of collecting a new card, and that I would be doing the same trip on a regular basis for several weeks.

Similar thing happened to me with the Halifax last year.

I was ringing them a month before the cards expired, and they still didn't send them out on time. They eventually issued two "emergency" cards with a 6 month expiry date, but decided to issue new pin codes, which had not yet arrived. So we had new cards that we couldnt use.

A few days later, still no pin codes - me goes mental on the phone. They say they're sending out another set of codes, which arrive two days later - but they somehow managed to cancel our new cards, so they were swallowed by the cash machine on the first attempt.

In the meantime the original replacement cards arrived, but were also cancelled.

Finally, after five weeks of pissing about, we received some working cards, a written apology and some (small) compensation.