Banca March GdS branch is relocating

Perikles · Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:20

Quote from: Nova on Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:19
You can withdraw up to €3,000 in cash at any time by cashing one of your own cheques at any Santander cash desk.

Didn't know that, but I don't have 1) 3000 euros 2) cheque book

Janet · Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:22

They're closing the GdS branch and calling it a relocation but it isn't because the branch in LG was always there. GdS was nice and helpful, though the manageress we knew there in 2004 left in 2006 or so because she couldn't bear the increasing charges Banca March was imposing.

The simple fact is that there aren't enough customers in GdS and those that are there are non-residents, who banks think can fuck off ... at least compared with resident clients such as they have in Las Galletas and (to a considerable extent) in Los Cristianos.

Nova · Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:32

Quote from: Perikles on Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:20
Didn't know that, but I don't have 1) 3000 euros 2) cheque book

Well now you have a mission. Order a cheque book from Openbank, then go into the branch of Santander with the most miserable cashier you can find, and write yourself a cheque "al portador" for €10 more than you can withdraw from the cash machine. Present said cashier with the cheque and all your ID documents and grin broadly

NAH · Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:33

@Nova is there a charge per transaction with Santander? i.e. using your debit card in a shop or ATM. Or maybe that approx. €24 per 6 months is based on a normal amount of this type of transaction?

@Perikles if you PM me your bank details, account number, IBAN, SWIFT, full name, mothers maiden name and a notarised copy of your passport I will deposit some funds into your account for you. Oh and if you include your username and password for your online login that will make it easier for me to ensure the funds have been recieved by you

@Janet Strange when the charges they impose on non-res accounts are higher i.e. more profitable for the bank.

We have been told that BM charged higher fees than most other banks but until we were mortgage free (and given a shove) we thought it worth the slight additional cost when weighed against the hassle of trying to change banks.

Janet · Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:35

whatever you do now, however, just don't go to BBVA or Bankia ...

Perikles · Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:38

Quote from: NAH on Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:33@Perikles if you PM me your bank details, account number, IBAN, SWIFT, full name, mothers maiden name and a notarised copy of your passport I will deposit some funds into your account for you. Oh and if you include your username and password for your online login that will make it easier for me to ensure the funds have been recieved by you

No problem, but it's all useless without my inside leg measurement, and that is classified.

Nova · Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:43

Quote from: NAH on Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:33
@Nova is there a charge per transaction with Santander? i.e. using your debit card in a shop or ATM. Or maybe that approx. €24 per 6 months is based on a normal amount of this type of transaction?

As long as that's the account you get, no, you will not be charged any more regardless of the number of transactions and use of the debit card is free in Santander ATMs and any purchases in euros (there is a surcharge for card transactions in other currencies with all Santander and Openbank accounts). There are other accounts, however, where maintenance is charged per transaction. Just today I had a customer who had been charged €180 in maintenance fees for a 6 month period. 60c per transaction....

At least with the €24/6 month deal you know what you're paying.

NAH · Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:51

Quote from: Nova on Thu 28 Jan 2016, 20:43
.......charged €180 in maintenance fees for a 6 month period. 60c per transaction....

300 transactions in 6 months, they deserve to be charged that much for making the bank work so hard. Personally I cannot see how any individual can make so many transactions

Nova · Thu 28 Jan 2016, 21:04

I've just counted that I've made 40 transactions in the last month (across my two accounts because my wage goes into the same account as my card spends on, but my direct debits go out of a different account. Most people use one account for everything). Over 6 months that's 240 transactions. Not far off. If, for example, I were in the habit of playing Candy Crush on Facebook and used my card to buy bonuses I could easily top 300 transactions in 6 months. I have no idea what transactions that particular customer had though. I sent them to a colleague as soon as I realised their query was going to be complicated

NAH · Sun 20 Mar 2016, 16:42

Just reporting back after our visit to Las Galletas branch of BM last week.

Clerk on desk, Abrupt, unhelpful both verbally and in actions. Interrupted us when we were speaking but talked over us if we tried to interupt her to correct her...until NAHOH told her to 'listen' as she'd had enough of being 'over talked'
Manageress (had 'popped out' when we first arrived) On her return we had a 45 minute sit at her desk waiting for her to locate some documentation during which her only words to us were 'I will look' .... she made at least 5-6 telephone calls and if the operative on the desk had looked properly in the first instance the documentation would have been located about an hour earlier.
The 12 year old (well she looked it) Spoke a little English and came over when called by the manageress to explain to us that a mistake had been made with our transaction and it would be rectified either today or tomorrow...to be fair they did credit our account with the €106.95 they owed us on the same day.

The staff from GdS have been moved as follows:
Nadine: Las Galletas
Anna: Los Cristianos
Pedro: Las Americas

I'm sure there was a fourth whose name and destination unfortunately currently escapes me.

Unfortunately we will need to make another visit to the branch on our next visit to collect ATM cards as ours will have expired by then...really looking forward to that