Nationwide moving the goalposts on introductory cashback rate

Canny_mal

Hi all

Has any other money savers fallen fowl of Nationwide's broken promise that anyone who applied for their cash reward card before the end of Feb would recieve 1% cashback for the first 6 months?

I applied online on the 28th Feb and on that day the 1% for 6 months was still being advertised on their website. My card arrived yesterday and when I rang to activate it I just thought I'd confirm that I'd be getting the 1%. No I was told, I would only be getting 0.5% for 6 months then it would drop to 0.25% after that. This is the terms that were offered to anyone who applied from 1st March. When I argued that I'd applied online on 28th Feb I was told the date they were using to decide who got it and who didn't was the date I'd put on the credit agreement they sent out for me to sign and return.

I was really annoyed. Surely if this was the case the website should have said the deal was for people who sign their credit agreement before the end of Feb and not people who 'apply' before the end of Feb. Also they should not have still been advertising the deal on their website right up till the last day of the month knowing that anyone who applied in the latter part of Feb were not going to get their agreement to sign until into March thus making them ineligible.

Sorry for the long rant but is anyone else out there in the same boat as me?

Rafter

Had a similar issue with applying online for a Sainsburys bank offer and despite several conversations and secured messages I got nowhere.

I'd just close the account and wait for the next 1% cashback offer to come along unless you are prepared to go into battle. I think their stance sounds really unfair though. Their 'offer' on the day you applied was not honoured. It would be like ordering something through mail order at one price and then paying a higher price on deliver, which would be totally against advertising standards regulations. NW may be covered by the small print in the application though, leaving you with very little bargaining power.


R.

Midas

You are right rafter this seems rather unfair - Nationwide know that it takes a bit of time for them to send out (and for you to return) the credit agreement so they should have either said this, or built it into their 'apply by the end of feb' calculation.

Ring up, insist to speak to the complaints department and see what they'll offer you in the way of compensation.

Canny_mal

Thanks for the replies.

I'm just kicking myself for not printing out the webpage on the day I applied because if I had done I don't think they would have had a leg to stand on.

I've been on the phone to them and someone is supposed to be looking into it and is going to call me back tonight

Will let you know what they say

MarkyMarkD

Apply means apply, not sign and return the credit agreement. They are wrong. Sort them out!

Canny_mal

Got a call back last night from a Nationwideboy. He had spoken to the webteam and they confirmed I did indeed apply on the 28th Feb. So you'd think that would be an end to the problem, but no such luck!

He told me the official line staff have been told to follow is to give the 1% cashback rate to anyone who signed and dated their credit agreement on any of the first 4 days of March but anything after that and it's still tough luck! I pointed out that this hardly gave enough time for those who applied in the last week of Feb to receive their aggreement and send it back.

However, just as I was gearing up for a full scale arguement he said he'd taken a look at my application and noticed it had taken a lot longer to be processed than it should have.

In light of this he had passed my case up to head office with a recommendation that I get the 1%. I can now expect a call from them within the next 7 days with a definative answer.

I know some of you might think it's a lot of hassle for what amounts to an extra 0.5% cashback for 6 months but I think it's the principle of the thing.

Anyway i'll post again when head office get back to me.

westernpromise

Canny_mal wrote:

I know some of you might think it's a lot of hassle for what amounts to an extra 0.5% cashback for 6 months but I think it's the principle of the thing.

You're exactly right, it is the principle. Stick to your guns.

Midas

Absolutely right keep hassling them to honour their original pledge. If they keep mucking you around like this you should maybe ask for an extra sweetener for all the time you've had to spend putting them right.

Canny_mal

Just a quick update on my cashback fight (see my first post for full details) for those who care......

Despite being told on Thursday 31st March that my complaint had been passed to head office and I could expect a repsonse within 7 working days by Monday evening of this week I'd still not heard from them so I rang up the call centre and asked to speak to the supervisor I'd been dealing with. Surprise, surprise he wasn't available so instead I got put though to another supervisor.

After outlining my gripe yet again I was told that their were a 'number' of other new customers who had raised the same matter and head office were taking longer to resond due to the weight of cases to be looked at.

I really can't believe Nationwide have put themselves in this position by trying to back out of an advertised offer. The goodwill they are loosing with new customers must be huge.

Just out of interest is anyone else in here falling fowl of Nationwide's attempt to back track on their cashback offer?

Rafter

I'm guessing that head office are in a bit of a quandry now.

They are probably sitting on 100 or so complaints from people who are financially savvy and spotted the change.

They also know that these people are likely to make maximum use of the cashback offer and the zero % offer and are unlikely to never borrow on their card.


What would you do? Accept the applications from customers you know are going to be loss making or take the customer service/ public relations hit?

Moneysavers are having the same issue with MBNA and Capital 1 who are far more prepared than Nationwide to upset loss making customers by not renewing offers, repricing introductory deals or non waiving fees.

R.