6 bottles of wine with Smile

Jim02

Terms and conditions state:

"1. Account basics
1.1. To open an account you must:

be a UK resident and over 18

receive a regular payment (e.g. wage, salary, pension, etc) or at least £1000 per month into your account "

Is this just badly worded then? I don't want to change my account, I just want somewhere to store a few hundred quid for six months or so!

Jen_Jen_5

Free Plonk turned up - way hey ;D

amc1

Just to clarify - you do need to make a credit transaction of £1000 in order to receive the wine - I've been arguing with them this week as the £1000 clause is hidden away too much for my liking.

Jim02

That's interesting, I think I'll give them a call and clarify. As you say, it's not stated up front.

On this note, I thought there were new rules in place to prevent these sort of clauses being hidden away in the small print? Can anybody confirm this? I'm sure it was on the Radio 2 news or BBC News website or somewhere like that?

Mr_B_13

Does anyone know what the six bottles of wine are?

Also, was the £1000 question ever addressed? On the wine offer page it does not mention this.

Wine qualification upon first credit transaction or salary mandate transfer by 31st December 2004. This is in accordance with smile terms & conditions (please refer to website - smile current account conditions 1.1).

Refering to 1.1 only mentions:

1.1 As part of this agreement you (in the case of joint accounts, each of you) must register a separate passnumber and secure personal information with us for use when you become a customer.

I can transfer the £1,000 if required but it will be a complete pain (but worth the effort for 6 bottles of wine - now setting up an account for my wife ::)).

Incidentally, I opened a Zurich Bank account a few years ago as they were offering 12 free bottles of wine -we set up accounts for my wife and I - a few months later Zurich decided that the bank was not financially viable and closed it. For our trouble and inconvenience, we were paid off with £200 each 8) if I recall correctly. Best deal ever - £400 paid to us to take 24 bottles of wine off them!

Mr B

amc1

This was exactly my issue with them... There is another section 1.1 further down the page which states...

To open an account you must:

- be a UK resident and over 18
- receive a regular payment (e.g. wage, salary, pension, etc) or at least £1,000 per month into your account

purplepatch

I just opened an account and paid in £20 - got my wine - no other payments, DDs or standing orders - have no intention of using this account for my main banking. Drunk them all now, but looked them up on the net and they were all medal winners. Definitely worth doing.

Jim02

I sent Smile a PM querying, and they replied that I had to pay in my salary or £1000 a month.

Personally I think it's deceitful to advertise a freebie in large letters, then hide away the relevant caveats in the small print, and I told them so. The wine wasn't the reason I opened the account, but in opening the account I thought I was accepting their offer. This offer did not mention the caveats involved.

samuela66

I still havent done this although I want the wine :P, it says we wil change you current account into this one it takes just 14 days, I wouldnt want them to do that, can I opt out of that being done?

Testee

Reckon I must have just struck lucky - I opened a Smile account but haven't as yet put any money in there but even so the wine arrived two days before my bank card. Very nice wine it was too!!