Halifax selling credit cards by asking me to call back about my account

Pound

This morning I got a letter through the post.

"Dear xxx

Your account: xxx

We've tried to contact you recently about your account but unfortunatly haven't been able to reach you.

We'd be grateful if you could call back when it's convenient on xxx and ask for xxx"


A letter worded like that makes me think there is some kind of issue with my account, especially as I'm given the name of a person to contact directly who might be personally handling my account rather than a call centre. Perhaps some possible fraud, exceeding my overdraft limit, etc. So I called the number on the letter and asked to speak to the person on the letter.

I was told the reason for the letter was because they'd picked up that I had a credit card with another company and they wanted to see if they could offer me a better interest rate or a balance transfer, I politely said I wasn't interested. It seems a bit underhand if Halifax are capturing customer's attention like this then trying to flog them credit cards.

dixon-bainbridge

Yes it does seem a bit sneaky. I'm a Halifax customer with a credit card from another company so I wonder if they will try it on with me too - thanks for the heads up!

Are banks actually allowed to analysis what accounts you have with other banks just to try and gain your custom? I can understand them checking your credit file if you are applying for something with them but just this seems like a big misuse to me.

Pound

They said they'd picked it up as I had two direct debits setup for credit cards

dixon-bainbridge

Oh of course. I think you were very good for being polite. I think I may have had a bit of a moan myself, especially when the letter asks you to call about your account when they clearly don't want to talk to you about your account and just want to sell you stuff.

nzseries1

Lloyds used to do it as well, I had several letters like this. Luckily I've learned to spot them now and can just ignore them. Don't like their tactics at all - they get the chance to try and sell you stuff and you've had to pay for the call.

opinions4u

Ask them to remove you from their telephone and postal marketing list.

nzseries1

opinions4u wrote: »

Ask them to remove you from their telephone and postal marketing list.

Oh if ONLY it were that simple.

I've tried, trust me. After countless phone calls and hearing "sorry, we promise to do it this time", I posted a formal written complaint about the marketing I was receiving. This stopped the marketing for about 8 months. Now, it has started again.

It's clearly just too lucrative a thing for them to stop, so I simply don't see them doing it.

jalexa

nzseries1 wrote: »

It's clearly just too lucrative a thing for them to stop, so I simply don't see them doing it.

They may not be happy but its a straightforward request to implement. If you can avoid the pressure of face to face marketing (or ambushing at the counter) wait until you are next in branch. BTW you can also opt-out of face to face marketing.

This is just a guess but could the restart be a result of you applying for a new "product" and overlooking the opt-out?

Pound

dixon-bainbridge wrote: »

Oh of course. I think you were very good for being polite. I think I may have had a bit of a moan myself, especially when the letter asks you to call about your account when they clearly don't want to talk to you about your account and just want to sell you stuff.

In hindsight I wish I had, I was just taken aback by it and I'm not really the type to kick up a fuss. I think I might put in a letter of complaint though.

My biggest gripe is that this sort of letter suggests that there is an issue that needs my urgent attention. If Halifax uses this kind of marketing technique if they really do need to contact me about something, I'll just think they're trying to sell something.

seriousDFW

HSBC used to do this to me ALL the time but with phone calls instead, leaving voicemails for me to call them, then just trying to sell me their upgraded account when I rang. I was always panicked that I'd gone massively overdrawn, even though I never went over my limit. I got so fed up I instructed them to stop all marketing calls, and since then I have never had ANY marketing contact from them.

pinkdalek

jalexa wrote: »

They may not be happy but its a straightforward request to implement. If you can avoid the pressure of face to face marketing (or ambushing at the counter) wait until you are next in branch. BTW you can also opt-out of face to face marketing.

This is just a guess but could the restart be a result of you applying for a new "product" and overlooking the opt-out?

When all is said and done a simple "No thanks" is all you require whether you are asked face to face, via telephone or via a letter. You can opt out of marketing via mail,text,phone & internet.

How would you feel if nobody informed you of any products or services? Not everyone out there keeps themselves up to date with finance matters and rely on their banks to tell them. How would you feel if the bank were concerned about possible fraud on your account and did nothing about it? The reason why the letter has gone out is because the bank has either not got your correct phone number, or has tried to contact you on numerous occasions but not been able to do so.