Halifax Ultimate Rewards Mobile Phone Insurance Scam!!

Jonk_2

Just registered as I want to share some terrible service I have recieved today from Halifax. My wife and I have been banking with them for the last 8 years and a couple of years ago we were in there and advised to open up an 'Ultimate Rewards' current account in addition to our 2 savings and other current acount.
We pay £15 per month for the benefit of travel, breakdown and mobile phone cover as well as a few other things. The main selling point was the mobile phone cover as we were each paying £8.50 a month with our networks for cover.
We have never had to use any of the covers until about 4 weeks ago when I dropped my phone whilst crossing the road and it was run over. However that is when the problems started.

We were originally told the claims take 7 days which is more than acceptable, however from logging my telephone call it took 3 weeks to even get a claims form to me, I then immediatly sent my broken phone (wrapped in bubble wrap and in a padded envelope) to the repair company via special delivery and the claims form to a separate company via recorded delivery as well as my card details for the £100 excess. After a week I had heard nothing so rang them and was told my claim was successful but they had yet to inform the repair centre. They said they would inform them that day, which they did and 3 days later I received a replacement "reconditioned/2nd hand" phone which was not even bubblewrapped or in a protective envelope, just a plastic courier bag (strange that a broken phone is sent with better protection than a new one).
We were originally told in our Halifax branch that a brand new phone or cash replacement equivalent would be given if a phone couldn't be repaired, however we have learned that you should never trust anything a salesman is saying without reading small print.

I was still o.k with the reconditioned/2nd hand phone as it was better than no phone. However after about 12 hours it stopped working so I contacted Orange who after numerous tests advised me that this was a stolen blacklisted phone and they had shut it off.

I was gutted so contacted LSG (Lifestyle Services Group) who were the repair agents who didn't even apologise and just told me to send the phone back and they would send a replacement. However when I viewed my concerns that a replacement could also end up the same way they said I could either send it or be stuck with it. I then asked to be put back to halifax where I was also told there was nothing they could do.

I am absolutly gutted, I have just paid £100 for a stolen (non working) phone from a major high street bank and they are not even prepared to do anything other than refer me back to the repair centre.

Can anyone advise on where I can take this further??

Regards

jambosans

You could make a formal complaint*, details linked below:-
http://www.halifax.co.uk/contactus/howtocomplain.asp

I had a pretty awful experience with Lifestyle Services Group myself, and unfortunately there is little Halifax can do, as they administer the policy. If you read the T&C's, it's pretty airtight, so you can't expect anything unreasonable like a new for old phone.
http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/pdf/ultimate-reward-current-account-guide.pdf

That said (which a formal complaint should highlight), supplying a stolen mobile phone and the time it has taken to process your claim are things you can complain to Halifax about (as they have chosen this provider to administer their packaged account mobile phone insurance).

*I've linked you to Halifax's complaints procedure, but according to the T&C's you should write to the policy administrator, STAMS Ltd. As quoted below:

URCA_T&C's wrote:

We will always be fair and reasonable when handling your policy or claim. Should there ever be an occasion when you feel that we have not provided you with a satisfactory level of service, we would like You to inform us so that we can do our best to solve the problem. We will do everything possible to ensure that your query is dealt with promptly. The easiest way to contact us is to call our Customer Relations team on 08451 24 14 00. Alternatively, you can write to us at the following address, quoting your policy reference number in all correspondence:
Customer Services, STAMS ltd, Po Box 98, Blyth, NE24 9Dl

Personally, I'd send a letter to both, highlighting to STAM Ltd that you have forwarded details of your complaint on to Halifax.

missile

IMHO these premier bank accounts are a rip off. Far better to pay for services you actually need from a provider you trust, rather than prepacked bundle from the bank who will accept zero responsibility for the quality of service provided by their sub-contractor.

Peter999_2

Not only the £100. If you've been paying £15 a month for two years then that is £360.

So you pay £460 for the replacement phone, and then have to go through all the hassle trying to get it replaced. I agree with the other poster, these accounts are a rip off.

I personally self insure for anything I buy, I have hardly had to replace anything over the last 15 years since I started doing this and have saved a lot of money.

If anything breaks then I just replace it. I remember when we bought a sofa after we'd just got married. It was £250 and they wanted £180 to insure it and apply the "special protector" to it. She looked at me like I was mad when I said no. She asked me what I would do in three years when the sofa was done for and was incredulous when I just told her I'd buy another one. The sofa lasted 5 years in the end and we only got rid of it because we decorated the room.