£100 for joining Alliance + Leicester

insurgente

I believe to get the 100 quid freebie you have to put 500 quid into your account every month for 3 months

You have to include a bank statement from your old current account, this MUST BE IN CREDIT FOR 2 DAYS of the month.

ah damn ...no chance then, haha. I got given a 300 quid overdraft and told to try to extend it, send some stuff to their switching department....like a whole month's statement from my other bank.

ok so to qualify for paying in 500 quid a month...does anyone know if I could just take my 300 quid overdraft out in cash outside the branch, add another 200 quid and pay it in? then take it out like a day later? a bit cheeky?

i'd set up a couple of standing orders to bounce my money around...but I have this weird paranoid thought that if they see all the money is coming and going from someone with the same name, they won't give me it.

BlueMeany

purplestar133 wrote: »

Thank you! But how do you know how much they'll allow you as an overdraft? The terms and conditions say something like they'll decide how much...I suppose I'd have to ask them to match my current overdraft - it sounds as if, from looking at this thread, some people have had difficulty when doing that though.

I think their basic Overdraft Facility on switching is £250. That is what I got, I didn't ask them to match any overdraft... just asked for an overdraft facility when I applied online.

My credit rating is poor, so can't see you getting less than a £250 O/D

Prosaic

BlueMeany wrote: »

I think their basic Overdraft Facility on switching is £250. That is what I got, I didn't ask them to match any overdraft... just asked for an overdraft facility when I applied online.

My credit rating is poor, so can't see you getting less than a £250 O/D

I applied a week ago, got my paperwork yesterday & they've given me a £1000 OD, and I don't even have an OD at the moment with Lloyds, so nothing to even match

I'd call them up and ask if they'll extend it - nothing ventured & all that...

roddydogs

If you have to provide a bank statement for your old C/A, wont the people who just set up a few d/ds to qualify for the £100?, be found out, will they still pay up?
Also has anyone actually recieved £50, from a cashback site, and the £100?

insurgente

If you have to provide a bank statement for your old C/A, wont the people who just set up a few d/ds to qualify for the £100?, be found out, will they still pay up?

that's my concern...yea.

gutted I only got a £300 overdraft. Don't think there are any problems with my credit history. Maybe it's just because I'm a skint student who has overdrawn bank accounts elsewhere

[Deleted User]

Just a couple of quick questions:

1. Once I have applied and been accepted, after I receive the £100 can I close the account?

2. If I'm accepted but for some reason (possible lack of DD/SO'S - I can't remember!) I don't get the £100 - will I be notified that I am not going to receive it? And if I'm not to receive £100, then can I close the account at any time?

3. Also, regardless of if I get the £100 - does an open account mean I qualify for cashback? So I at least get the cashback out of this?

Thanks.

JimmyTheWig

I would have thought the cashback was independent of the £100.

Also, remember you get an interest free overdraft for a year with this account.
If you can cope with the £500/month funding (can take it out as soon as it goes in there) you may as well put the overdraft into a high interest account / cash ISA for the year and get some money from it...

ragz_2

Three_Dancing_Dragons wrote: »

I have given up on my nightmarish attempt to open the Alliance & Leicester premier current account and obtain the £100 bonus and 0% matched overdraft for a year.

First catch was that they added extra conditions before they would match my Natwest overdraft as promised - besides depositing £500 a month, there have to be THREE deposits in the account each month AND your previous account has to have been in credit at least three days in the most recent month (funny that neither of those conditions are mentioned in the online information you get when applying). In fact they also asked for a letter from my previous bank to confirm that I had never exceeded the agreed limit. My first statement didn't cover the three days in credit so I took an entire morning out to go to the bank and get a letter from my manager together with a new statement for the calendar month. To make sure it went through ASAP I hand delivered it to my local A&L branch so they could fax it through to the switching department and then post on the hard copy. It then took me a fortnight of calling at least two departments every other day to discover that neither fax nor letter ever arrived (somewhere between the customer service desk and branch managers office my documents seem to have evaporated) and I'm now expected to go back to my bank for a new letter & statement and do all the running around because of Alliance & Leicester incompetence.

On top of this I waited for over three weeks for their "Premier Switching Service" to actually switch my direct debits and was twice told "Oh your own bank hasn't acknowledged our query so can you bring in a list of your direct debits yourself?". I politely pointed out that this was THEIR job and told them to try again. Third time lucky apparently and the list of direct debits was generated today.

In total I've probably spent upwards of six hours on the phone to call centres and the better part of a month trying to get Alliance & Leicester to honour their online offers. The phone service is inefficient and there seems to be no-one to actually advise in branch - there are even phones to put you through to the enquiries call centre ON THE WALL IN THE BRANCH! Actually collaring a member of staff doesn't seem to be the A&L way - guess it is supposed to save money.

Today I reached the limit of my patience and cancelled the switching service entirely. My direct debits and pay will be redirected back to my Natwest account where I've always had quick and helpful service from real people. I will not receive the £100 bonus, nor will I get the 0% interest free overdraft matched to my previous limit but it does mean I can close the account and never have to deal with this lazy and incompetent organisation ever again.

One to avoid at all costs. :mad:

They (A&L) told me that my Natwest account had to have been in credit for 15 for them to match my overdraft. They then added other conditions too, I am NOT happy.

Also, so much for a "premier switching service", they lost half my DDs, made me lose my broadband because they cancelled the payments from my old account but didn't set them up again, messed up my paypal payments so I got in trouble with ebay. I don't expect to ever receive my £100 bonus as they keep adding extra conditions, but the only reason I joined really was to get a better overdraft fee and now they are trying to get out of matching my £3000 limit I have with Natwest.

NOT HAPPY at all.

Petlamb

Well I applied for the prem-21 account last night as i really need a better current account and wont be eligible for a student acc till uni next year....

It doesnt qualify for the £100 bonus so i went through quidco instead so at least i'll get £50.

Bit nervous now after all these comments... hoping my experience is better! :S

System

UNDERGROUND wrote: »

Well A&L have made the 1st screw up... and I've had the account open less than two months.

They are currently in the process of switching my direct debits over from my old bank as they insist on doing so in order to qualify for the incentive cash. On the 26th of this month they refused to pay a direct debit for my Halifax credit card despite there being plenty of funds available. I can't get a straight answer as to why they refused the payment from A&L's call centre - some say that Halifax didn't even try and claim it, some say it was claimed 'too early' (?)

Anyway, what's concerning me now is that I have technically missed a payment on my credit card and can now be charged, and worse still have a missed payment recorded with the CRAs.

A complaint letter is going in the post tomorrow so hopefully I can get it investigated and sorted out soon. Any more screw ups like this and I'll be taking my £100 and running straight back to Smile!!

Regards
UNDERGROUND

They have now refused to pay a second Direct Debit - luckily this time it was just for my RMT subscription.

I've heard nothing from them about my letter of complaint I sent nearly 3 weeks ago about the first DD they bounced for no good reason (i.e. plenty of funds available).

Premier switching service my @rse!!

I don't think I shall be sticking with this lot!

UNDERGROUND