Alliance and Leicester Not Paying Out On Premier Direct Bank Account Offers

kleek638

having applied on line for the premier account with 100 pound incentive etc, on the 9th march 2009 and doing all the stuff requested, i have just recieved a letter from them saying i dont meet the criteria because it took 12 weeks(for alliance and leicester) to transfer my direct debits. this is not my fault and if it is not resolved i will be voting with my feet. i even had to ring them up to hasten the dd transfer. the cut off is 11 weeks. big thumbs down to alliance and leicester.:money:

MerseyLad

Not impressing me one bit here A&L.

Draw you in with the offer and then find every possible way to squirm out of it.

Im writing my complaint today and if that is unsaisfactory then i'll move it to the ombudsman.

bilbo_2

i got one of these letters then the week after they paid out without me complaining

chill out the letters were sent in error if you have met the simple condition you will get the £100

[Deleted User]

Like many of you here I opened an Alliance and Leicester Premier Current Account in order to get the free £100. I used their switching service to transfer my direct debits and standing orders to this account, as well as getting my salary paid into that account. In other words, I thought that I had met all of their criteria. So I waited for my £100....

In June, after the 11 weeks was up, I still hadn't had the money so I called A&L customer services. I spoke to a very nice man who said that he could see no reason why I wouldn't be entitled to the free £100, but he said A&L had 3 months to credit my account so to call back again in August.

I just phoned today and apparently I haven't got my £100 because although I switched my direct debit (I only had one), I later cancelled it (because I cancelled my gym membership) and therefore I apparently hadn't actually transferred my business to them as per the requirements of the offer. Is this right?!

[Deleted User]

An update on my situation...I noticed that A&L are doing the £100 promotion again so I wrote to them saying that I had in fact met all the requirements of the promotion and there was nothing in the terms and conditions to say that the direct debits had to remain active after switching. Checked my bank account today and A&L have paid a £100 "goodwill payment" into my account. Yippeee!!

MerseyLad

Where did you write? Letter or email?

DaisyMae505

First Post, so apologies if in the wrong place

Just wondering if anyone else has had problems with the A&L switching service. In my case I opened the A & L account at the start of October and requested them to switch from my old account. I received a letter 2 weeks later stating that due to missing the cutoff date for my October Salary, the new account would be 'activated' at the end of November when my salary would be paid in, thus all my DD/SO ect would start coming out of the new account in December...

Kept an eye on the old account and all seemed to be as normal until this week, when all the DDs/SOs etc began coming out of the new a/c and obviously bouncing....

Phoned up the Switching Team at A&L and they confirmed that the DDs etc were not due to come out of the new account until December. Many apologies, an error on their part, etc, etc... meanwhile I now have a list of 15 or so DDs that failed in the first 2 days of this week. Apparently I now have to contact all these companies myself, explain A&L's error and either request them to represent the DD or pay by card over the phone to clear any outstanding amount.

Obviously very unhappy that through no fault of my own, I have to do all the running around, clearing up after A&L.

So to sum up a rather lengthy first post (!), anyone have any advice aside from registering a Customer Complaint at A&L (done) and requesting compensation for the cost of the various phone calls (also done). Seems a little petty I know, but was wondering if there is anything else I can do?

gjreeve

Anyone else had the problem of not being able to open the account on-line. The first page of the form is returned blank with "problem occured" but all the details are blanked, not just highlighting the error.
Not my PC, security or connection. Have tried other PC's even with zero security, same answer.
I think the online account opening system is non existant, all attempts point you to the "over the phone option".
A & L Group Customer Relations Cannot seem to understand that I do not want human intervention in my application.
They have fobbed my official complaint off with an "isolated incident" response and a £5 cheque.

Jennifer_Jane

S2eagleye wrote: »

Well...I will watch out the small print next time more carefully... Not easy to make £100 nowadays.!?

The lady I spoke with @ A&L customer service confirmed "someone" will call me back within "48 hours" :think: after investigate the phone call I made in June as they confirmed during the call (this is after they done all the switch) that I will get the £100 reward within 4 months of account opening.

BTW, the lady also told me "my salary has to be paid into the account in order to get the reward" -another catch?! Anyone know if this is in the small print?!

To be honest, I got the halifax £5 reward current a/c deal, no problem at all with halifax.

Guess, can't expect to get those current a/c deals every time. Teach me for not being so "switched on" about these small catches.:o

This was not a condition:

"£100 will be paid into your new Premier Current Account or new Premier 50 Current Account within 4 months of account opening providing you switch all your direct debits/standing orders to the account and for Premier Current Account have funded at least £500 from a non-Alliance & Leicester account within 11 weeks of opening the account. If you do not have any direct debits to switch you will not receive £100. You must ask to use our Premier Switching Service at application stage."

(PS - thanks Yorkshire Boy for the conditions)

Jen

noh

gjreeve wrote: »

Anyone else had the problem of not being able to open the account on-line. The first page of the form is returned blank with "problem occured" but all the details are blanked, not just highlighting the error.
Not my PC, security or connection. Have tried other PC's even with zero security, same answer.
I think the online account opening system is non existant, all attempts point you to the "over the phone option".
A & L Group Customer Relations Cannot seem to understand that I do not want human intervention in my application.
They have fobbed my official complaint off with an "isolated incident" response and a £5 cheque.

Just tried it and it works as it should.
Also worked when I applied for the account in September.
Never seen any previous complaint about the form not working.