Problems with Santander Debit cards

[jagracer]

I'm having problems with Santander debit cards, second card in two months. The first one was rejected by a couple of retailers in April and I was told it was a problem with the chip. After a lot of faffing around on their part trying to deliver a new card to me I finally received it a few weeks later. This one has only worked about for three or four weeks and has been rejected by three or four retailers, this despite one trying to key the details manually. Santander insisted there wasn't a problem until I raised an official complaint and they agreed to send a new card. In the meantime they told me I could withdraw cash on the old card at ATMs as they read the magnetic strip rather than the chip. Forward to yesterday and the card was retained by the machine when I tried to get some cash. I've never had any problems with other banks cards and I even have a Mastercard that is broken down the middle, partly across the chip, that still works.

Has anyone else had issues with Santander and their cards or am I just the unlucky bd? BTW account is in good funds with more than enough to cover what I was trying to purchase.