I just moved to Spain not long ago, and I’m already at my wit’s end with Santander’s service! I’d always heard that things can be inefficient in Spain, but I never imagined it could be this ridiculous with a bank. I’m posting this mainly to vent, but also to ask if anyone else has faced similar situations and how you resolved them.
Here’s what happened: last week, I suddenly found my bank card wasn’t working. Online payments failed, and ATMs said the card was invalid. I logged into the mobile banking app and discovered my account was frozen. There was no email, no text message, just completely out of the blue! I was baffled because I haven’t done anything illegal. The account just has my regular living expenses and the money left over after paying rent; my transaction history is perfectly clean. This sudden block has made my life impossible.
Then my long journey of trying to contact customer service began. First, I called their hotline, the 915 123 123 number, and waited for almost half an hour to get through. The operator had a very thick accent, making communication a bit difficult. After looking into it, she just said it was a ‘system risk control’ issue and that I needed to go to my home branch in person to provide my latest residence card and proof of address, just like for these Spanish visa bank statements. Seriously? I just updated these documents last month, why again? I asked her for the specific reason it was triggered, but she just kept repeating it was ‘due to the system,’ like a robot, offering no real solution.
Complaint Process and Timeline
With no other choice, I had to take a day off work to go to the bank the next day. Once there, another long queue. When it was finally my turn, the teller wasn’t particularly friendly, just had a very by-the-book attitude. I gave her all the documents. She photocopied and checked them, then told me they needed to be submitted to a higher department for review and that I should wait for news, which would take an estimated 3-5 business days. I asked her how I was supposed to manage in the meantime and if I could withdraw some cash, but she flatly said no, that no operations could be performed on a frozen account. I was furious at that point, but there was nothing I could do except borrow some money from a friend to get by.
Steps Taken
| Step (Spanish bank statements) | Date | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Discovered account was frozen | Last Wednesday | Unusable | App showed account as frozen, no notification |
| Called customer service | Last Wednesday | Extremely long wait | Told to go to the branch to update documents |
| Visited the branch | Last Thursday | Documents submitted | Told to wait 3-5 business days |
| Current status | This Tuesday | Still frozen | It’s now the 4th business day, still no news |
Now, four business days have passed, and my account is still frozen. I’ve called again to check on the progress, and the customer service reps just give me the same old story: the system shows it’s ‘in process’ and I need to be patient. This level of efficiency and service is just beyond frustrating. I wanted to ask everyone on the forum, are there any reliable channels for filing a complaint? Or besides waiting, is there anything else that can be done in this situation? Is dealing with banks in Spain always this exhausting?
