Halifax Ultimate Reward Account - Help!

cedarpeach

Hello

I recently changed from Lloyds to Halifax for my current account. I went in to my local branch to do this and my 'adviser' suggested that I take out an ultimate reward account to earn maximum interest. I let her know quite clearly that I simply want a basic account with no overdraft or hidden extras. She reiterated that The Ultimate Reward would be perfect for me as I always make sure I have money in my account so would be eligible for high interest each month.

I agreed to this in good faith and have today received through my 'welcome pack' which gives first mention of the fee that will be taken from my wages each month for the Ultimate Reward account (£12.50 per month). I am really quite angry as I feel that I have been misled and mis-sold this account.

Has anyone experienced the same thing? Any advice? I feel very stupid at the moment, and regret ever changing account. I obviously want to take this further and at the very least have my account downgraded but I feel that I am likely to get nowhere.

Please help!

Many thanks : )

omelette451

Did the sales person tell you that there would be a fee associated with the account? If not, I think you have a right to claim that you were mis-sold. In any case as it's a new account they should let you close or switch it with no penalty; I believe most banks allow this within 14 days but you could check to make sure. Speak to someone at the bank: I'm sure they'll be sympathetic.

cedarpeach

I was completely unaware that there were any charges associated until I received my welcome pack today.

Thank you very much for your help - it is much appreciated!

omelette451

cedarpeach wrote: »

I was completely unaware that there were any charges associated until I received my welcome pack today.

Thank you very much for your help - it is much appreciated!

You're welcome. In that case I think you need to contact the bank asap and tell them you weren't aware of the fee, aren't happy about paying it, and want to cancel the account opening. If you've already told your employer or people who take direct debits that you've moved you'd best tell them too. Then point out to the bank that you believe you were misled (don't be rude - it may have been a genuine mistake) so they can investigate and perhaps prevent it happening to other people.

opinions4u

cedarpeach wrote: »

I recently changed from Lloyds to Halifax for my current account. I went in to my local branch to do this and my 'adviser' suggested that I take out an ultimate reward account to earn maximum interest.

The Reward account would almost certainly be better than the Ultimate Reward, if you pay in £1,000 a month or more.

I let her know quite clearly that I simply want a basic account with no overdraft or hidden extras. She reiterated that The Ultimate Reward would be perfect for me as I always make sure I have money in my account so would be eligible for high interest each month.

Guess which account earns her most bonus!

I agreed to this in good faith and have today received through my 'welcome pack' which gives first mention of the fee that will be taken from my wages each month for the Ultimate Reward account (£12.50 per month). I am really quite angry as I feel that I have been misled and mis-sold this account.

Based on what you have stated here, you clearly have.

Has anyone experienced the same thing? Any advice? I feel very stupid at the moment, and regret ever changing account. I obviously want to take this further and at the very least have my account downgraded but I feel that I am likely to get nowhere.

This sort of mis-selling will not be tolerated by the organisation. The individual needs retraining or sacking. The latter if this is part of a trend.

You should complain. Personally I would do it via their centralised complaints team. This ensures the details of the complaint are properly recorded.

I think I would ask for:
(1) Changing the account to the most appropriate alternative.
(2) A sum of compensation of between £25 and £50 to cover your time complaining and to restore your faith in the bank.

Please pursue it.

cedarpeach

Excellent.

I will certainly be contacting them shortly, and will be sure to raise the points you have mentioned.

Again, thank you.

Kavanne

You should go into the branch and ask to speak to the manager. Preferably naming the member of staff that you spoke to. If no one complains she/he will never be caught and until then they will keep on misselling to get their bonus!!

skyjumper

cedarpeach,
i hope u get it resolved as asap. go to the same branch and speak to a senior staff.

similar thing happened when i went to open a reward account. told "due to my account going to be always in credit- she recommended the ultimate reward account" without any mentioning of the fee. as I had already read about the fees, I politely refused and requested to open the reward account.
talk about banking code and all that BS they try telling you before they proceed with the application

I wish u all the best

Moore71

I am experiencing terrible difficulty with the Halifax at the moment. we have an overdraft on our Ultimate Reward Account (which we too pay £12.50 a month to use) and as part of the account have a free overdraft up to £300.00. We also have an overdraft of £3,000 or should I say that we did have an overdraft, that was until when it ws up for its annual review it was reviewed (not expired) and was withdrawn with no notice to us. We then discovered whilst we were actually in the overdraft £2,800.78 that Halifax Head Office put a stop on our account. With our back against the wall, and a young family to think about they lifted the block on the account and forced us to agree a monthly repayment plan of £300.00 per month which I explained to the Retail Banking Team and they were not interested in reducing the payments, they sent us terrible letters threatening action if we default on the payments and chastised us for continuing to use the account. I am absolutely petrified, I just dont know what to do. They have put the overdraft back on to allow it to be reduced each month by the said amount and forced us to agree to pay £150.00 immediatley otherwise they would not enter into the agreement. What we dont understand is why this has happened to us, we have banked with the Halifax for approx 12 years and have run the account reasonably well. Yea, on occasion we have gone over the overdraft, but have paid heavy charges, not to mention the interest charged for using the overdraft. Between the interst charges and monthly charges we pay circa £600 a year to use this account.They have told us that if we cant pay the £300 a month they cannot help us and we need to speak to a Debt Management Counsellor. We have all our wages and CTC and Child Benefit go into our account each month.We are in despair and dont know what to do. We have opened another account and will move our salaries in an effort to protect our income - can anyone help us ..........please...........:-(

noni_morrison

Hi I have just got off the phone to halifax, asking why i was being charged 12.50 a month. After a while of thinking it was for a magazine, that i had unsubscribed to. After checking with the mag and realizing they were not charging me, i rang up to find that, without being told at the start, that i have been paying this fee since the beginning. I now see that i have been charged like this for about 3 years and have been paying them hundreds of pounds I'm so upset. I am a student and do not have this money to give to a bank, i did not even know that i had these so called benefits, all of which i have no use for. I am most angry of course because i did not realize this myself earlier but i just believed the woman i spoke to in the beginning, is there anything i can do to get this money back???
PLEASE HELP
Thank you very much
Noni

opinions4u

noni_morrison wrote: »

Hi I have just got off the phone to halifax, asking why i was being charged 12.50 a month. After a while of thinking it was for a magazine, that i had unsubscribed to. After checking with the mag and realizing they were not charging me, i rang up to find that, without being told at the start, that i have been paying this fee since the beginning. I now see that i have been charged like this for about 3 years and have been paying them hundreds of pounds I'm so upset.

I don't like mis-selling. But sometimes the buyers of financial products have to be a little bit more aware.

- what type of account does it say you have on your card?
- what charges does it say you will pay in your terms and conditions?
- what does every monthly statement you've ever had clearly indicate?
- did the pack outlining the account 'benefits' not arouse your suspicion?
- did the statement that clearly said "your fee is rising from £10 to £12.50" a year or so ago not make you wonder anything?

Come on - the item "Monthly Fee" on statements and online banking must have made you realise it was for your account. If it didn't you have been seriously negligent in looking after your financial affairs.

I am a student and do not have this money to give to a bank

Well you have managed it for the last 3 years.

i did not even know that i had these so called benefits, all of which i have no use for.

Ask them to change your account over to either the Reward account or the Student account then.

I am most angry of course because i did not realize this myself earlier but i just believed the woman i spoke to in the beginning, is there anything i can do to get this money back???

You can ask nicely.

To be honest, I really don't think you have a leg to stand on. They have issued numerous revised terms and conditions since launching this account and you have patently not bothered to read things.

You can stop future costs. Make that your priority.

In future make sure you read everything that you get when buying a financial product.

The poster who started this thread earlier in the year made a key point when they said "I was completely unaware that there were any charges associated until I received my welcome pack today". You had that same pack. What stopped you taking action then?