URGENT Free £100 Loophole discussion: MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

squeakycheeks

Hello

This is my first post on this site and I would really like some help. I applied for the Barclays bank account online and got the account and deposited the money - as per below. However I contacted Barclays to ask where the £100 was yesterday and today they phoned back and told me that I should have deposited the money like so - £1000 in February and £1000 in March to qualify. Is this correct?????

stuartm wrote:

I've just been in to Barclays and found out more information, which might help people using this offer,

1. You can complete the application process in branch (as it actually does state on the acceptance letter), when you take in your selected proof of id (I did not want to post my passport or anything else!). The assistant confirmed that this would not affect eligibility for the free £100. She did ring someone to check this out, so I'm fairly convinced it is correct.

2. The two deposits (not 12!) have to be made as follows. Deposit 1 between the date the account is opened and 1 month from that date. Deposit 2 must be made one month later still. This means my deposits are between 23/1/06-23/2/06 and 24/2/06-24/03/06. This isn't the same as one deposit per calendar month.

3. They have another offer in-branch where you can earn £50 by recommending someone else to open a new account. The other person needs to make 2 deposits, according to the same conditions as the original offer. To use this, the person in the branch has to complete the box on the reverse of the leaflets they have for this offer, which includes the proposer's sort code and account number. There are no limits (so they say) on how many times you can propose someone new and get another £50.

I don't know how long the £50 offer will remain open, but if two people did this and split the money, they get £75 each!

Hope this is usesful to someone!

Dan29

squeakycheeks wrote:

Hello

This is my first post on this site and I would really like some help. I applied for the Barclays bank account online and got the account and deposited the money - as per below. However I contacted Barclays to ask where the £100 was yesterday and today they phoned back and told me that I should have deposited the money like so - £1000 in February and £1000 in March to qualify. Is this correct?????

No it's not correct. What were the dates when you opened the account and made the two payments?

squeakycheeks

Hi Dan29

The account was opened on the 13 February, paid in £600 17 Feb & £500 2 March & £1000 28 March.

Dan29

There's nothing wrong with having done it like that, it must have been someone clueless who called you; keep complaining until they pay up!

Bad_mother

...just checked and have a £100 credit (reference "WITH OUR APOLOGIES - RTB CUST)
Have immediately transferred it all out so NER to Barclays

theloft

twhitehead wrote:

Got mine yesterday. I used the 0800 number three times (open account, option 3)

Would you mind giving me this 0800 number as I could not find it. thanks.

Frugal_Foxy

and all it cost me is about £3 in petrol... and hours on the phone to the 0500 customer service number to keep complaining. (3 officially registered complaints on the go, which i believe helped prove my point and get me my money). good job i documented everything along the way!

really... it only took since Jan!! I tried to open my a/c at my branch in Feb - they messed it up for weeks on end. i still have my original a/c opening form, the one with all the security info that they post to you - and not once did they ever have a specimen signature! what an absolute shower Barclays are. i wouldn't do business with them if they were the last bank in the world. everything, from their branches to their online services are rubbish, like something out of the ark that desparately needs bringing into the modern, efficient world. their online site is pitifull, even more so when you compare it to the likes of Intelligent Finance and Egg (yes, got the Egg 'best money back' card, thanks!).

their only saving grace is a lady called J**** on the 0500 number (i kept asking for the same person to save repeating everything) - she was fab, every time! but only as fab as the rest of the system/branch! would allow. i believe even she was embarrassed by the series of incompetencies, which really took my breath away.

still, i persevered and the minute i had my £100 i was gone, faster than a really fast thing!

i've been doing the money saving thing for years, even before i found this site. i now don't feel such a tight wad as i can see everyone else is up to the same thing.

ps: just saved £120 on my car insurance )))

thanks martin and all you guys xx :T

Frugal_Foxy

0500 007 234 and press Option 4. This is customer service for new accounts. Ensure you have all your dates/events so you can prove what you've done and where/when things have fallen down. be polite and they will help you. lines open mon-fri 8am-9pm, Sat 9am-5pm and Sun 10am-4pm

good luck
:beer:

elvislives77

Had to go down to local branch to open the account.

Made the 2 £1000 deposits and waited.....

No £100, so just telephoned the normal customer services number. Was pleasant to Customer Service Rep but told him I was cheesed off with Barclays apparently going back on offer. Put through to Complaints Dept and received £100 within days.

All money except paltry 6p interest now withdrawn. They can keep that.

Was it worth it?

I think it probably was!

essaym

Hey,

Was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience to myself. I am sorry to post if this has already been answered however I have tried to trawl through the entire post before asking my question!

Basically I applied online for this offer (before it was canceled) and had to go in branch and provide some identity documents. I then added the £1000 a few days after opening my account, and then in the second month I added the second £1000, in the meantime I used the money to pay bills and my account with barclays is back down to a few pounds now. Im my eyes I have satisfied all the criteria.

I havent received my £100 yet and I shoudl have done ages ago, so I phoned up my local branch today for a chat with the manager, they told me that I had to have been paying a wage in for it to count. I told them that I had read the T+C and it didnt specify that the money had to be in the form of wages. They are now "looking into it" for me, but I'm not holding my breath.

Has anyone else been told this at all, and is there any truth in it?

Im not impressed with barclays and having read others stories I will not be keeping the account on, can you close accounts online or by phone, because I dont want to have to go into branch to do it as I feel they would be able to talk me into keeping the account open.

Ah also they said that I should have filled a form in and sent it off to Leicester to claim this free £100, I wasnt prompted to fill a form in and send it off at any point during my opening of the account, so I have formed a complaint regarding this, did anyone else physically fill in a form and send it off to Leicester? I.e. fill one in in-branch, or print one out to send off?


Anyhelp woudl be appreciated