My bank is Santander and I checked how much APR a loan of 7k would be for a new car with them - was quoted 7.5% preliminary. Went through the eligibility checker, and was then quoted 9.9%...higher, but still better than all other lenders. I did a complete application and received an email 10 mins later quoting a APR of 16.9%!! I have a perfect credit score and have banked with them for 8 years. Called to ask about this and was told to look out for a letter within the next week to confirm the APR. Letter received 2 days later with no info about APR whatsoever, just an activation code for this loan. Called again today and was told to wait up to 2 weeks for another letter which will tell me the correct APR percentage, but that I could accept the loan in the meantime, and they will honor the 9.9% I was originally quoted. Obviously I am not going to sign the contract and 'accept' a loan with an APR of 16.9% in the hopes that they will honor the lower amount. So I now either need to wait 2 weeks and hope for the best, or go with another lender and get another hard search on my file. Totally misleading and unethical as a bank. The repercussions of customers doing multiple credit checks seems to mean nothing to them. AVOID.
Reviewed on: 24th January 2024
