Santander Consumer UK plc Reviews 

Extremely rude member of staff hung up on me when I phoned asking for an HPI clearance letter. First of all, she said that it would be in the post, then said it would be by an email which would take 10 minutes. 90 minutes later, still waiting .
Initially it was more than 10 minutes of hanging on the line before a human spoke and she was very abrupt and rude.

Strange how we can’t be “abusive” ( which I wasn’t) to them yet they can be abusive and rude to the customer.

Useless company and complaints service. Made a complaint about a damages car 5 months ago still no closer to a resolution. Awful awful company

Shocking complaints service.
Poorest service I have ever experienced. Logged a complaint on 12th May 26 and this still hadn't been dealt with when I chased on 2nd Jul 26 and 7th July 26. Finally received an email same day as I called to chase, for them to inform me they were still looking into my complaint and it should be another 4 weeks. Obvious mistake as they had already confirmed by phone they hadn't even started investigating my complaint !
2 more emails sent for an update and neither have been answered. Now I can't even get through on the phone !!

Appalling vehicle contract hire finance company, no customer service at all, I tried to extend my contract by one month because my new vehicle is a twelve to fourteen week delivery which meant i could be without a vehicle for up to one month when this vehicle is returned. All i needed was an extra one month added to my contract, all Santander is interested in is getting the vehicle collected and sent to the auction.
If you are looking to contract hire a vehicle do not use Santander as the finance company.

Shocking customer service. In fact no customer service.

Honestly the worst company to exist. I’ve had an ongoing complaint since January 2026. They have even started to ignore my emails now. Had to get the ombudsman involved.
Customer service is TERRIBLE!

Still waiting after 1hr and 45mins on hold.
Pathetic company

Very disappointing experience.

I contacted Santander Consumer Finance immediately after discovering serious issues with the vehicle, believing they would investigate the matter fairly as the finance provider and legal owner of the vehicle.

Despite providing detailed information and supporting evidence, they refused to resolve the matter or offer any meaningful assistance. I was left feeling that my concerns were not properly investigated or taken seriously.

Communication has also been extremely poor. I contacted them multiple times requesting updates and responses, but I either received no reply or no meaningful response to the points I had raised.

As I have been unable to reach a fair resolution through Santander, I am now pursuing legal action to have the matter independently considered.

I expected a much higher standard of customer service and professionalism from a major finance company. Instead, I have experienced delays, poor communication, and a complete lack of support.

Based on my experience, I would advise anyone financing a vehicle to fully understand what support they can realistically expect if a serious dispute arises.

Santander contract hire vehicle. Very very poor service. Communication and a scammer . Parking ticket challenged twice , and emailed them directly and paid the ticket which is supposedly under appeal. Charged admin fee 15£ on top of the said ticket.
They should atleast communicate with me , as their customer they trade their customer for a 15£ admin fee profit , they have no idea and history what us going on. That's how dumb, selfish and useless these Santander car lease. Please be very careful do not use this ever.

Simon from custoner hire was amazing, he needs an award. he asisted me today and put my mind at ease. i have been stressed moving home and he was able to extend my car. he honestly needs employee of year

Very simply trying to stop paper statements for my wife. Not possible online for a second person on a joint account. The chat bot was up for more than half an hour then dropped. Calling the 0330 number resulted in being on hold for ages and ultimately also dropped. Long time customer but seriously considering ditching them.

Absolutely Shocking Customer Service. I have called 6 times now and each time been on hold for over an hour with NO answer.
If you try to send an email you get the same automated response and then nothing after that.
All I am trying to do is return a car that they have financial interest in!!

TERRIBLE COMPANY!!
Extremely disappointed with the service from Santander Consumer Finance. My complaint has now gone beyond the expected timeframe, and communication has been poor throughout. I’ve constantly had to chase for updates, with very little urgency or support shown despite the stress this situation has caused.

Customer service responses feel generic and unhelpful, and nobody seems willing to take ownership of the issue. For a large financial company, I expected far better treatment and professionalism.

Would not recommend based on my experience.

On hold for an hour and nobody answered, they stopped a payment to a garage that had delivered a car to my house. Luckily they trusted me to make the payment the next day and left the car with me. I am wondering if I'm with the wrong bank!

E-sign - it's appalling !!!! the image is 90 degrees wrong on the mobile phone (landscape phone to take a portrait picture ???) . When images are crystal clear for drivers licence and selfie it rejects them. The zoom on the process is so large that a selfie is impossible - it needs someone holding the phone about 2 metres away! Forget it, they won't be getting any money from my credit application !

Santander Consumer Finance made several errors when I returned my lease car. Basic errors. Customer services appear to be untrained.
I lost £300 because I couldn't risk my credit score being affected.
3 weeks to respond to email.
1 hour wait on the phone

My experience with the Customer Service of Santander Consumer Finance (SCF) is completely unprofessional, incompetent, treating customers with utter disrespect and without empathy. I would not recommend dealing with this company for personal hire if you are expecting a reasonable and fair treatment.
My wife who owned the lease contract passed unexpectedly recently. The company’s credit agreement and policy clearly have a gap in how bereavement would be handled. As a result, the process they follow is totally at the discretion of Customer Service.
Instead of allowing the contract to continue to run to end of term as I requested, and treating their customers with respect, sensitivity and fairness, they demanded the immediate return of the car and intended to charge 50% of the outstanding lease payment of over £4k (with about half-way through a 4 year contract). They repeatedly quote section 10.1.5 as the basis of charging this amount as their loss due to early contract termination and refused to acknowledge it is them who has trigger the termination the contract and not us, the customer who in fact, has elected the complete opposite. To add insult to injury, the collection of the lease payment will now be contracted out to a third-party debt-collecting agent.
The way they go about bereavement says a lot about this organisation’s ethics and culture. Would you still want to deal with a company who treats their customer like this? Not only did they deprive us of the use of the car, they are claiming the entitlement of 50% of the unearned outstanding lease payment which is totally greedy, iniquitous and exploitative.
Numerous email exchanges with SCF (Customer Services) and every time their response come from a different person in that department. They allegedly had passed this case to their Complaints Department. Their response failed to articulate any explanation on what investigation had been carried out or what facts and legal angle had been considered before concluding my complaint was not upheld. Instead of addressing the questions raised, their response repeatedly stating exactly the same by quoting section 10.1.5 without acknowledging that the termination of the contract was wholly triggered by them and therefore they do not have legal right to claim any damages.

Bought a Tesla in June 2025 using `Santander's PCP. Numerous problems at Santander's end which resulted in me having to complete something like 6 different finance applications despite being told my application had been agreed and I was allowed to collect the car!

This was eventually resolved but Santander changed the agreement date from June 25 to September, meaning the 10,000 annual mileage limit ran from the end of September 25 instead of June when I collected the car.

I have raised a complaint with Santander as if I hand back the car at the end of the PCP and they claim I have exceeded the mileage (due to them working from September and the mileage being prorated from the wrong date) they will bill me.

I've made several complaints about this, most of which are ignored by Santander. I keep chasing them and they occasionally tell me it has been handed to the complaint handler. The complaint handler is clearly ignoring my complaint which is now over 4 months old with no resolution.

Avoid this company like the plague, they are entirely incompetant! Although I love my Tesla, I would doubt buying another in future if I had to deal with Santander again!

I really wouldn’t recommend using this company for personal contract hire.

I was charged an extortionate rate for exceeding the contracted mileage. Prior to collection I had the tyres checked and I had it valeted. I was then charged £50 for a basic valet and £116 for a new tyre due to a “cut”.

Well and truly fleeced. Never again.

Poor poor service- despite 5 phone calls still no resolution. If I could give zero I would They say the problem will be resolved and it isn't Culminated in getting a default notice because of their horrendous internal communication - or none!!!
I will never use this lease company again