An 84-year-old grandfather was prevented from using his bank account for 10 weeks after it was frozen in error.
James Campbell couldn't even access money to pay his wife's care home feels after a Santander fraud team blocked his account and launched an investigation. He resorted to living off a credit card to get by, landing him with fees and charges.
The hearing and sight impaired retired RAF policeman made multiple trips to his local branch in East Kilbride to try and sort out the problem, but was told staff couldn't help.
James' daughter Ellie explained: "How do you expect somebody to live like this? I think my dad's done really well. I couldn't have gone 10 weeks without any money. What he's been doing since then is living on a small credit card that he's got which is obviously incurring interest charges.
"He's been drawing cash out of it because sometimes he needs cash to pay for his cleaner who comes in once a week and he pays for his clothes to be washed and ironed. So he's got people that he needs to give cash to.
"He also likes to give the grandchildren £10 here and there so he likes to have cash in his wallet.
"So he's been going to the cashline and drawing cash out of this credit card. I've tried explaining that it's going to be incurring charges but he doesn't understand that."
Santander eventually lifted the block and apologised after being contacted by our national sister paper the Daily Record.
But Ellie, 60, says the family still don't know what actually caused the problem in the first place, but she says it could have been caused by James trying to move money online.
She added: "Santander's fraud team has not been communicating with us or not telling us anything. We don't know who committed this fraud or if there's even been fraud, which we don't think there has.
"We think it might actually have been him moving money about that has started this all but because they're not telling us anything, that's only a guess.
"We've been into the local branch multiple times and they've really tried their best to help but because they are working on a different system from the fraud team so there's absolutely nothing they could do.
"This has just been going on and on. Going into the bank, trying to get money, nothing happening. On the odd occasion, he might get some money out but he'll put that on his credit card so that it doesn't run out because it's only a small balance.
"That's how he's been managing to survive. We call them up, they say they'll call us back but they don't. One day my son went up and sat for five hours with my dad waiting for a call back but it never came.
"My dad can't hear what they're saying to him over the phone because he's deaf.
"They're asking security questions like 'what money went into your account last week' but because he can't get access to his account, he can't see what direct debits have gone out or what's come in.
"My dad's got two broken ribs after a fall in the house a few weeks ago and I'm having to drag him up to the bank to try to get money out. He had care home fees to pay which he hasn't paid for ages but he hasn't been able to get access to his money.
"It's an awful way to treat someone."
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