URGENT Free £100 Loophole discussion: MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

crashrescue

What a drama this has turned out to be. O well I've come this far - in for a penny in for a . . . £100 as it turns out.

I was asked to produce ID which didn't surprise me. I'm not on the electoral roll, live mortgage free and have zero other debt. I also have an experion account which tracks my credit rating and helps with potential ID theft etc. My credit rating is very good

Anyhow I trundled along to my local branch yesterday. First impression is "no wonder I don't do my banking here" - the Q is 20 deep and just one cashier point is open. The welcome staff is busy with her hair paying no attention. The manager can been seen adjusting her office furniture. I'm asked to return the following day because they are so busy. Let see - quick head count - one cashier, one manager, and three personal banking agents one of who's desk name matches the bint fussing with her hair. OK so I insist on an appointment to "finalise" my application. After an argument they agree and give me a 9am appo. They then say that a Driving Licence is not sufficient and insist that if the driving licence is one form of evidence it can't then be used as the second. That's right. They confirm that it can be used for proof of ID but then won't accept it as proof of address - very strange.

9am this morning in the Q and the bank door is locked. 9:10 am the manager opens the door and lets us all in. The personal banker that made the appointment is not in yet - please take a seat. I'm sitting watching the cashier line and manager. The line is 15 deep and growing. The same single cashier is in his window. The manager catches me looking at her and then at my watch - she comes out and asks if she can help? Just then the personal banking adviser arrives muttering something about parking then precedes to chat to the manager about last nights TV, takes her coat off and then asks her colleagues if anyone would like a coffee. She disappears behind a security door.

The manager returns 10 minutes later and invites me into her office to "finalise" the account 9:45 am. Passport, driving licence is photocopied. While she does that I can read four different internal emails about other customers and their banking issues - one poor guy has a huge loan, has just lost his job and is suffering stress but someone suggests that this is a decoy and is recommending further action. Come on - confidential information all over the place - plain lazy. Across her desk on the side next to her printer is an email about the £100 offer. It includes a list of things which I can't read at the angle I'm sitting at but I can see that she has used a pink highlighter near the bottom of the page and written a comment.

The computer display fires up and she types in the ID request letter reference number and all of my information appears. The computer says ID&V is all that is required. That's ID information and V for verification with a drop down box for the person making the verification. She notes that my middle initial is missing and decides to add it. She adds the name, passport number and driving licence numbers and prints a new form. I sign the mandate and all is done. Manager hands over "Inside - Everything you need to know about your account" - a welcome pack. The cheque book card will follow - thank you. I ask about the on line stuff and she confirms that it will also be sent but from a different department.

I mention the £100 incentive to sign up and she very badly pretends not to know anything about it.

:money: Wow - Martin is it worth it??? I'm in to mess them about now. There's no way I'd bank at this branch and I doubt that the Senior Management Team have any idea of just how bad their staff are performing with just the basics.

Sorry to ramble but I needed to get this off my chest.

Dan29

crashrescue wrote:

What a drama this has turned out to be.

That's outrageous. I was with Barclays years ago and certainly don't intend staying with them after they've paid the £100!

lisyloo

When did the offer close?
What are the deadlines and what has to have been acheived by those deadlines?

(I have had the email but no forms as yet).

Thanks

Bert_Anderson

I signed up for this through the £100 offer link at Barclays and now they tell me I applied on the 22nd of January which after the deadline....hmmm.

So how could I apply after the deadline if I could click on the £100 link and I did it well before the 22nd of January...sounds like hogwash to me...:(

imsi

I rang the helpline today and was told the deadline was Monday of last week. I confirmed this as the 16th and she agreed. No idea if this is changing the goalposts, incompetence on her part, or a deliberate ploy to try to make me give up on my application.
Unfortunately I hadn't read this thread at the time or I may have queried this more strongly.
Anyone else been told this?

Dan29

lisyloo wrote:

When did the offer close?

Approx 11am on Thursday the 19th - see page 2 of this thread.

crashrescue

imsi wrote:

I rang the helpline today and was told the deadline was Monday of last week. I confirmed this as the 16th and she agreed. No idea if this is changing the goalposts, incompetence on her part, or a deliberate ploy to try to make me give up on my application.
Unfortunately I hadn't read this thread at the time or I may have queried this more strongly.
Anyone else been told this?

This can't be right, can it? The offer was still valid when Marting sent his newsletter on the 18th(?). Barclay's are in a right mess with this. The CS dept is having a difficult time differentiating between fact and fiction. Some one from inside the bank must be able to "let slip" what's going on - after all I'm convinced that the Bank is reading this very forum. You bank sucks BTW!

I applied on the 18th (?), it took ten minutes to do and the site was working fine.

Had it been the case that the offer had ended/closed/suspended/expired/been withdrawn Barclay's would have saved themselves a small fortune and lots of agro in the process.

dguppy

For anybody who can not remember exactly when they applied try searching for the cookie that Barclays would have placed on your computer.
I've just checked and found a cookie called *****@www.barclaysbankaccountapply.co.txt (where ***** is your name) with the date and time listed.
It is unlikely that Braclays would accept it as proof but it might be a bit of extra information in the battle.

P.S. I have received the 10 day email but nothing yet in the post.

I am confident that I entered all the correct Experian questions, so it will be interesting to see if I get asked to bring ID to a branch.

It would be a good idea if Martin could speak with a high ranking member of Barclays to get some clarity on the situation, although knowing Martin he is probably already on the case or is planning his approach.

FTman

Has anybody contacted a tv programme? Watchdog or Working Lunch love this sort of thing.

skiddy2k

i recoeved the latters in the post last week requesting that i go to my nearest barclays bank and show them proof of who i am-account holder etc. Went this afternoon, and the advisor said that the account is now active.

time to transfer £1k into the account....wish me luck!

Skiddy