Can't receive phone calls or get missed call messages from Santander UK bank

[Irrumator]

And now for something completely different - telephone systems. It’s a long one, so apologies in advance.

I hope there are some telecom techies out there, because it's getting serious.  Oh, and I I should mention that I use an old iPhone 7, but I don't think that is contributing to the problem.

 

I have lived in Thailand since 2004 and have used the same bank all that time - Santander UK.

I use my son's UK address as my contact address for things like replacement cards or general printed bumf. They also have my email address which they occasionally use to notify me a statement is available to download, although email is never used for real communication.

More importantly, they have my Thai phone number as my only contact number. And that is where the problem lies - it doesn't ring when they call me or even register a missed call or even send an SMS to warn me of a missed call.

 

I was shocked last Friday when my son sent me a photo of a letter saying they had suspended my account. I rely on my various pittances of pensions being transferred every month and that would seriously affect me.

I called them immediately and a fairly snotty clerk said 'well, we've been calling you since Dec 15th last year and you've refused to answer'. After I chewed her out for her remark, (how would she know I 'refused'?) and was transferred to someone with more knowledge, I suddenly remembered that I had the same problem about 3 years or so ago, of which more below.

 

What happens is that someone from the bank calls me from the UK using their system, but I don't get receipt of the call, no ringtone, no missed call message, nothing whatsoever. Eventually I get a snail mail letter to my son's address, despite them having my email address, so there's a downvote from me immediately.

 

Last time a few years ago, I got a great tech support girl in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who let me speak to her big boss and after a lot of testing, they said something was wrong with their system and it was promised they would look into it. Obviously they didn't.

When I received the latest letter via my son last Friday I immediately called them. The more professional support lady listened this time and told me that due to financial regulation changes, I had to re-supply even more information and that was the reason why they made all the non-received calls.

 

She sent me a link where I could upload various data and I did that. Hopefully that will solve the lack of documents they need.

 

BUT there’s another twist to this. If I make an online purchase in Thailand using my UK credit card, sometimes it’s declined.  Later, I’ll be randomly checking my phone and I’ll see a missed call from a long UK number (which I now know is my bank), but have never received a call, no ringtone, no vibrate, as above. I can’t call the missed number back because it’s automated.  But at least I can receive and SMS on the ame number.

 

I have to call the bank’s international number in the UK (at my expense) and after lots of announcements and music, I get someone. I have learned that these are calls from the bank to confirm it was me who was making the online CC purchase so that is sort of OK, BUT I still don’t get a call or SMS ringtone. However, I do at least get a missed call indicator, unlike the calls made by a real person.

 

This is potentially serious, especially as this time they restricted my account. Luckily, I still have the email address of the previous excellent support girl from the previous problem and have emailed her chapter and verse, so I hope she gets back to me on Monday.

 

What I’d like to know is why this is happening. Obviously it was never rectified before when I told them about it 3 years or so ago, despite the manager telling me it looked like it was their system at fault and promising to have it investigated.

 

I asked my Thai phone provider yesterday if there could be some problem with receiving calls from the UK but he said not at all, although he was good enough to reset my number in case.

 

The only thing I can think of is that the bank’s phone system doesn’t allow international calls to some countries but hasn’t told the staff, so when they try to call me, they’ll hear a ringtone instead of a message that says ‘Sorry, calls to this country are restricted’ so they are none the wiser. That might also explain the lack of a missed call indicator too, because the calls are never actually being made.  They just disappear into the ether.

 

The credit card verification calls ARE made because the system is automated but there’s still no ringtone, although it looks like the system is programmed to send an SMS when there’s no answer.

 

What I'd like to explore is that, on this hopefully erudite group, does anyone on here have experience of computerised telephone systems and their quirks?

What might be the reason for not hearing a ringtone, a vibrate or a missed call message when the caller swears they are hearing a ringtone and to their mind, the call is being made?

Are there any experts out there? It could be that their UK phone system is different to a US system, but with luck they are similar enough for a US reader to comment.

I can’t risk having my account restricted again. Sorry for the length but this situation has really bugged me, especially as it’s happened twice now.

 

Oh, and PLEASE don't tell me to use Wise etc, because I've been doing that for over 5 years with no problem, and it isn't feasible to change my UK bank.  I only mention this because I posted the above on Facebook on Saturday and typically, no one read or comprehended the question properly and started to blither on about using Wise (I do), opening a Thai bank account (I have 3) and everything else but not even touching the point of the post which in summary is -

 

1) When my UK bank calls me, I don't get a ringtone, vibrate, or missed call message

2) If the bank calls to query a credit card purchase in Thailand, I don't get a ringtone or vibrate, but I DO get an SMS that they tried to call and asking me to call back on a number they give, but when I try calling that number, it doesn't work.  I hear nothing.

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Irrumator

[petermik]

I,m guessing you are using True....I had similar problems...ditched them for AIS and problem solved....Santander called me a couple of months back for a security check...all good.

[Irrumator]

4 minutes ago, petermik said:

I,m guessing you are using True....I had similar problems...ditched them for AIS and problem solved....Santander called me a couple of months back for a security check...all good.

Nope, I've been using Dtac for 19 years without a hitch.  I did call Dtac customer service and asked if there was some reason for non-receipt of calls from the UK and he said no, but did reset my number.

Anyway, I get other calls from the UK from various people and they all receive fine, I get the ringtone and vibrate as normal.

It's GOT to be the bank's phone system and they admitted as much the first time 3 years or so ago, but had no answers.  Despite promising to look into it, obviously they haven't.
At least the first time, they gave me £200 for the inconvenience!  ???? 

[sammieuk1]

You should get a Giffgaff UK PAYG sim sent banks cut off expat accounts when I opend a Metro account I was told any activity of foreign transactions ie card withdraws for 3 months in a row my account would be closed.

 

My next problem was The Virgin PAYG number was cut off without warning with £25 credit still on it so had to have a giffgaff sim sent then when trying to log in to change my number you get a text to your old number.

 

Called the help center many times to help change it but it can't be done only with a visit to a branch the app is still working but if my old mobile goes tits I will be forced to go back to the UK just to change number at the bank.

 

So I feel your pain  but the answer is your sim ???? 

[Irrumator]

24 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

You should get a Giffgaff UK PAYG sim sent banks cut off expat accounts when I opend a Metro account I was told any activity of foreign transactions ie card withdraws for 3 months in a row my account would be closed.

 

My next problem was The Virgin PAYG number was cut off without warning with £25 credit still on it so had to have a giffgaff sim sent then when trying to log in to change my number you get a text to your old number.

 

Called the help center many times to help change it but it can't be done only with a visit to a branch the app is still working but if my old mobile goes tits I will be forced to go back to the UK just to change number at the bank.

 

So I feel your pain  but the answer is your sim ???? 

I know about the sim, but I'm hoping to chat to the very good lady techie from about 3 years ago later today so maybe she can confirm what you say.
But they have known for years that I live in Thailand and never a peep.

Anyway, my mate in the UK says I can give his number to the bank and if they call, he'll just say I'm not available but to leave a name and number and I'll call them back. 

Bloody stupid that they couldn't email me when they couldn't get through though.  That's BAD customer services, everything is done electronically these days.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Irrumator

[The Fugitive]

I too have a Santander UK bank account. I gave them my Thai True Tourist H pre-pay mobile number and received everything for 5 years without any problem.

 

Last year I subscribed to VYKE and now use a virtual UK mobile number. I have supplied this number to all organisations in UK and it works perfectly for both voice calls and SMS. The advantage for the caller in the UK is that they only pay for a UK mobile call. The advantage to me is that I can receive anywhere in the World via WiFi or mobile data connection and never have to change my mobile number. 

 

I would recommend subscribing to VYKE. Costs £12 GBP per ANNUM to rent a UK mobile number. Incoming calls and SMS are free. Outgoing calls to UK cost approx. 1 ppm and SMS 4p each. 

[Irrumator]

9 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

I too have a Santander UK bank account. I gave them my Thai True Tourist H pre-pay mobile number and received everything for 5 years without any problem.

 

Last year I subscribed to VYKE and now use a virtual UK mobile number. I have supplied this number to all organisations in UK and it works perfectly for both voice calls and SMS. The advantage for the caller in the UK is that they only pay for a UK mobile call. The advantage to me is that I can receive anywhere in the World via WiFi or mobile data connection and never have to change my mobile number. 

 

I would recommend subscribing to VYKE. Costs £12 GBP per ANNUM to rent a UK mobile number. Incoming calls and SMS are free. Outgoing calls to UK cost approx. 1 ppm and SMS 4p each. 

That sounds like a damn good idea.  I'll look into that ASAP.

First I want to talk to the very good techie girl from about 3 years ago though, because we need to see what's happening their end too.  

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Irrumator

[Irrumator]

Right, I think I finally got to the bottom of this today.

 

I spent 1.5 hours on the phone to Santander (my UK bank) this afternoon and they have reinstated the suspended accounts. They'd had my email with the scanned documents from Friday and went through them while I waited and all was correct, so now I can access my money again.

 

AND we think we've got to the bottom of the phone problem. It looks like the numptie who had a pop at me about not answering was using a old UK number which I asked them to delete about 5 or 6 years ago! I have made a complaint about her, at Santander's suggestion. Good-o.

 

The other CS girls were fantastic, amazingly patient, very understanding and the first one today went through every number they had on file and mentioned one ending 7666, which I didn't recognise until it later dawned on me that it was one of those 30 day sims for £20 ($25-ish?) which I had used on a trip back to see my late mother and my children years ago and had obviously expired.

 

They had never deleted it and I'll bet my balls she was using that, as the nice girl said it was the first number on the list.

Then Nice Girl even called my spare phone and it rang, so we know they can call Thailand - except the department which was making all the fruitless calls can't call abroad. So that was it. The Thai number wouldn't work so the CS clerk just went for the first UK number she saw - the expired one which wasn't deleted.  Dim or what?

 

It was all about the non-receipt of phone calls but that looks to be resolved now the ancient number that should have been deleted was actually deleted.

 

EDIT - just while writing this someone from Santander called to say everything was sorted and they were very sorry, so were crediting my account with £50 (about $75) for my trouble! Valentine's meal tomorrow - yay! 

 

Thanks to all who tried to help but I didn't 'need' so-called 'advice' about Wise or a different phone provider or sim card - all off-topic red herrings.

Who'd have thought it was all down to an obsolete number they hadn't deleted? Just call me Sherlock!  

[riclag]

Compliments to your son for understanding  how important it is to watching out for mail addressed to you !

I have two grown adult children who I have trusted to do this and its hit or miss at times during their busy life  ????

[Irrumator]

7 minutes ago, riclag said:

Compliments to your son for understanding  how important it is to watching out for mail addressed to you !

I have two grown adult children who I have trusted to do this and its hit or miss at times during their busy life  ????

Same here.  I have ADHD, as does my son (who manages magnificently) and my grandson is severely autistic as well.  The problem is the that grandson hates untidiness, so if he sees post lying on the floor, he just bins it.  
Also his wife is a bitch extraordinaire and hates me and has in the past deliberately thrown away post meant for me. I'm not too keen on her either ...!  ????

Edited February 13, 2023 by Irrumator

[The Fugitive]

12 hours ago, Irrumator said:

Right, I think I finally got to the bottom of this today.

 

I spent 1.5 hours on the phone to Santander (my UK bank) this afternoon and they have reinstated the suspended accounts. They'd had my email with the scanned documents from Friday and went through them while I waited and all was correct, so now I can access my money again.

 

AND we think we've got to the bottom of the phone problem. It looks like the numptie who had a pop at me about not answering was using a old UK number which I asked them to delete about 5 or 6 years ago! I have made a complaint about her, at Santander's suggestion. Good-o.

 

The other CS girls were fantastic, amazingly patient, very understanding and the first one today went through every number they had on file and mentioned one ending 7666, which I didn't recognise until it later dawned on me that it was one of those 30 day sims for £20 ($25-ish?) which I had used on a trip back to see my late mother and my children years ago and had obviously expired.

 

They had never deleted it and I'll bet my balls she was using that, as the nice girl said it was the first number on the list.

Then Nice Girl even called my spare phone and it rang, so we know they can call Thailand - except the department which was making all the fruitless calls can't call abroad. So that was it. The Thai number wouldn't work so the CS clerk just went for the first UK number she saw - the expired one which wasn't deleted.  Dim or what?

 

It was all about the non-receipt of phone calls but that looks to be resolved now the ancient number that should have been deleted was actually deleted.

 

EDIT - just while writing this someone from Santander called to say everything was sorted and they were very sorry, so were crediting my account with £50 (about $75) for my trouble! Valentine's meal tomorrow - yay! 

 

Thanks to all who tried to help but I didn't 'need' so-called 'advice' about Wise or a different phone provider or sim card - all off-topic red herrings.

Who'd have thought it was all down to an obsolete number they hadn't deleted? Just call me Sherlock!  

Many thanks for your time and effort in reporting. It will help others. Wish I could get £250 out of Santander. Well done! 

 

I too had assumed that when I supply a new telephone number the old one would be deleted or, at least, marked ‘historical – do not use’.

 

They rang my VYKE UK virtual number 3 times with no reply (don’t know why I didn’t answer). Then they sent a text to it saying ‘We’ve tried to contact you to discuss your accounts. Please contact us within 28 days or we may need to block your accounts. Please call us on 0800 032 7055’.

 

When I telephoned (after firstly ‘phoning their regular Customer Services number to check the number supplied was genuine) they explained they are simply ensuring their records are up-to-date. 

 

The lady told me she held a ‘foreign mobile number’. That is my current and only Thai number I’d given them 6 years ago. I told her that I reside in UK but, as now retired, spend time in Thailand which is why I gave that number. She then updated my occupation status from working to retired!

 

As sammieuk1 advised, expat bank accounts can and do get closed down. However, Santander UK are OK about it at the moment. I don’t believe there is anything we can do should that change. Repeated use of our cards abroad and transfers to Wise give the game away!