Have spent hours, literally hours, over the past two weeks on the phone trying to get an international wire set up and initiated. Ex-Brit living in the US for 20+ years. Had UK Santander account (previously Girobank) for 35+ years. When a small transfer was actioned last week they could not even follow the instructions and converted the requested amount of GBPs incorrectly despite the instructions being VERY clear to convert the amount in GBP to USD and then send. Have been unable to locate anyone who is willing to discuss why they did this in this way. Eventually have written to them to complain. This week trying to do a larger amount and it's been 4 days since my request (which after an hour long call they confirmed I could email to them - first I heard you could do this) and so far, no action on their behalf. And if you think Santander UK are poor, you should try working with Santander International in the IOM - just terrible, everything has to be done in writing (result was 2 months of back and forth just to close an account).