12 Free Bottles of Wine loophole with Smile

MSE_Martin · 14 November 2005 at 8:14PM

Quick loophole for 12 free bottles of wine

Open a Smile* current account before 10 Dec and it'll give you a dozen bottles of wine (you pay £5 delivery charge). The loophole is that qualifying only means crediting the account with £1,500 before 10 Jan 2006. The money doesn't have to stay there so it can then be withdrawn immediately (and it pays 3.3% interest in the meantime)

Should I use the account?

I'm not a huge fan of this account, though there are much worse on the market and it often does well on customer service feedback. Still it doesn't compare to the rates offered by Alliance and Leicester (see Best Current Account Article) which also has a £100 loophole, hence why its a loophole to do it.

The one place it does score highly is for those looking for an ethical account, in which case its the market's outstanding player, so if that's what you're looking for - i suggest this is a worthy account to open (though you need to be earning over £16,500 to get the top rates)

It's a lot of cash - is it worth the risk

This isn't really a risk, its a bank (Smile is backed by the Co-Op bank). The worse case scenario is the very unlikely event it wiggles out of giving you the wine. You won't lose your money.

However of course you need to be able to handle the cash flow of £1,500 leaving your account for a short period. I would caution against doing this if it means you need to borrow the money.

Will it hit my credit score opening a second account?

There will be a small impact, but for most people this is negligible. For more details read Credit Card Freebies article, where the issues are similar

Martin

Links:

*This link is an affiliated link that helps MoneySavingExpert.com remain ad-free and free to use. It in no way changes the editoiral (what I write) and does not impact in any way the product you receive or the cost. Click here for more details on this site's non-profit driven ethical stance

urbanlegend11 · 14 November 2005 at 9:50PM

thanks martin just applied :beer: . cant see anywhere to click to thank you but it looks like youve got plenty of thanks!

Cook_County · 14 November 2005 at 9:57PM

They don't sound free to me; any way of getting around the compulsory delivery charge at all?

chalkybear · 15 November 2005 at 12:52AM

Just read Martin's comments properly. Not actually that complimentary about Smile! It is, however, ethical, and opening other accounts with them, an ISA for example, does increase the interest you can earn.
Smile turns away businesses worth millions of pounds to them every year because of involvement in environmentally unfriendly activities, animal testing, weapons sales etc. So you can get drunk with a mate for free and save the world at the same time.

chalkybear · 15 November 2005 at 12:59AM

My previous previous post didn't appear!

12 bottles of wine each if an existing account holder recommends a mate who opens an account.

I had an email to forward with a special code to enter.

Could do it with someone in your own household perhaps.

FL · 15 November 2005 at 7:54PM

Is the wine worth £5. What quality is it? I have applied but might close if the wine is not very good.

grreenfingers · 15 November 2005 at 7:58PM

This is an ethical bank, with a cause to improve the world you live in.

I have opened plenty of accounts/credit cards with companies who have no ethical stance. However, doesn't this mention in the newsletter seem a bit off to anyone else but me?

Quick!! Cash in on an organisation that is all about not cashing in....

Condoning people to open an account and stiff Smile for 12 bottles of wine just doesnt seem appropriate considering what they stand for. Is this what this site is about? Isnt there more of a moral question here Martin rather than just the usual freebies/savings?

Yes of course they are a business and factor in X amount of people who will open and immediately close an account - but I'm not sure that promoting a "loophole for 12 free bottles of wine" is right in this context.

benhill · 15 November 2005 at 8:12PM

Very annoyed.

I went through the method once in Firefox and it kept on putting me back onto the page where I input "About You" details. Finally accepted that it was an issue with Firefox, not something I was doing (after triple checking myself) so launched IE.

Went through it again until I found out what the problem was...

Students cannot apply for Current Accounts. Well thank you smilefor being so darned upfront about the fact, and not leading me down a blind alley. Yeah, definitely made me smile...

So, in conclusion, students need not apply. And we're the ones that really *need* the bottles of wine... heh..

MSE_Martin · 15 November 2005 at 9:09PM

This is an ethical bank, with a cause to improve the world you live in.

I have opened plenty of accounts/credit cards with companies who have no ethical stance. However, doesn't this mention in the newsletter seem a bit off to anyone else but me?

Quick!! Cash in on an organisation that is all about not cashing in....

Condoning people to open an account and stiff Smile for 12 bottles of wine just doesnt seem appropriate considering what they stand for. Is this what this site is about? Isnt there more of a moral question here Martin rather than just the usual freebies/savings?

Yes of course they are a business and factor in X amount of people who will open and immediately close an account - but I'm not sure that promoting a "loophole for 12 free bottles of wine" is right in this context.

The reason there is a loophole is because Smile deliberately use marketing techniques that work in exactly the same way as other companies.

The bottles of wine are a bribe to get people to join an account which whilst ethically good, has much worse rates than the best on the market. It is happy to target people short-term instincts. It's credit cards have some high rates, its products are not particularly good.

In short it operates like other organisations on the market. Yes it uses ethical criteria, both as an absolute good but also as a USP to build market share. There are many issues with Co-op/Smile products, which make them no better (or worse than anyone else out there)

Is taking on any company which targets consumer apathy/ignorance/inertia/short-termism what this site is about. Absolballylutely. And while building societies or co-ops continue to market and act like the banks they purport to be better than, often offering less good services than i've no problem loophole exploiting. If it makes you feel any better i gave the key note speech at the Building Society conference last year and said just that.

Martin

grreenfingers · 15 November 2005 at 10:30PM

Thanks for that Martin.

I understand the marketing techinques Smile are using and their reliance on customer inertia. They are no less underhand/blatant than any other bank and therefore expose themselves to the same risks (ie the eagle loophole eye of MSE!).

There is a pay off with Smile products. This is not a bank for those more concerned with money than the knock-on effect of ethical investment and ethcial trade. I would have thought a warning against joining would have been enough in your tips email.

But inviting people to take advantage of this company still doesnt feel right. Does the company's ethical standing have no effect on you when you think about who you are actually "taking on".

In know, this is a money saving not a moral saving website.....

ffacoffipawb · 15 November 2005 at 11:00PM

grreenfingers wrote:

Does the company's ethical standing have no effect on you when you think about who you are actually "taking on".

Is it ethical to be bribing people with free drink in the first place?

Drink ...........

DRINK!! DRINK!! DRINK!!

12 Free Bottles of Wine loophole with Smile

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