Stung by halifax web saver reward scam. Advice?

helifox

Hello,
We have been stung badly by the Halifax Web Saver Reward application... that was discontinued by Halifax in 2012, after quite a few people had been duped by their misleading web application form.
See previous posts on this site by greigster (02-2012).
While doing Halifax online banking we were hooked by a banner ad which persuaded us to take advantage of the 2.8% Web Saver Reward... ( At the time our fairly large savings were attracting 2.3% with another Halifax savings account.) When we clicked to apply, we were misled. We clicked a button to accept a card which dropped the interest rate to .25%, instead of the 2.8% which the banner ad. had offered.
We complained to the Halifax when we discovered, a year later, how low the annually paid interest was, instead of the 2.8% + .2% bonus we had expected. They said 'tough'. Although we had not used the card nor withdrawn any money throughout the year, unlike greigster's happy ending, Halifax refused to re-imburse us. We escalated the complaint to no avail, and asked to be sent a copy of the banner ad. They did not send it, but did finally send us a print-out of the on-screen application, which showed where we had been misled. There was no tooltip to point out the change in interest if you clicked yes for a card, and no description of the change in the interest, but in the small print at the top it was stated that if you were applying for a Web Saver reward, you should ensure you clicked the no card option.
We next escalated the complaint to the financial ombudsman, who ruled that as the application form contained that small print - Halifax had made no error, although the ombudsman stated that they did not consider what Halifax had done to be good banking practice. We requested that they ask Halifax for a copy of the banner ad. As far as we know, they didn't. We rejected the ombudsman's decision that was in favour of the Halifax sharp practice, although we appreciate that in one sense it was correct; Halifax did not appear to have made an error, rather they seemed to have deliberately misled and tricked us, by promoting one rate in a big banner ad, and then catching us out in the small print. What they had done was shapr, but not illegal. However we are of the opinion that the banner ad. is misleading, and that therefore the ad. breaches financial advertising standards. Be that as it may, we cannot persuade Halifax, despite frequent requests, to give us a copy of the offending banner ad. - and do not know how to compel them. We are considering taking them to court, and would be very interested in any advice, or assistance in our possible options, and also to hear from anyone else similarly caught out by the Web Saver Reward trick. Many thanks for reading this post.

oldfella

this summarizes all that is wrong with British banking, provide an offer then the application provides a means to allow them to provide a much worse deal through confusion.

at one end this is bad web design, at the other its deliberate deception.

if you have tried all the formal complaint mechanisms with Halifax then I reckon you should forget it and move on.

one last attempt I would suggest is to write again to restate your disgust, and to let them know you will forward to the press, and ensure all your friends and relations know the story. Tell them that given the scope for possible error they should have confirmed which product you were on and the interest rate.

I would forget the legal option. I suspect you will need to prove deliberate intent.

racing_blue

You got a rough deal and I can see why you want recompense. But the ombudsman considered and not upheld your complaint. Put it down to experience and in a years time you probably won't even think of it any more.

On the other hand if you go through the courts you are looking at a drawn out expensive headache & worst case might end up having to pay the considerable legal costs of a large financial institution.

Really this is time to draw a line under the episode and move on.

rb10

This is probably the advert you saw:



Clicking on the banner took you through to this page.

You'll see that straight above the 'Apply Now' button, in large bold text, it states:

IMPORTANT: Please ensure that you select the no card option within the application form. Choosing a cash card will open a Variable Rate Web Saver with a rate of 0.25% AER variable.

In essence, whilst I agree that they should really have separate application forms for each product, they did make it as clear as they could. Unfortunately, the dated back-end systems that banks run on don't integrate well with the internet, so it is a lengthy and complex process to update online application forms.

This will be why the Ombudsman has rejected your complaint - Halifax made it clear that you have to click 'no card' when making the application.

Just make sure you always read what you are signing up for in future!

talexuser

I had the same account and it was pretty clear not to select the card option. That is probably why the ombudsman went against you. I would also advise move on.

If going to court I would start a small claims procedure online for around £35 and under no circumstances spend any more on it. May take months, agree to mediation, and think about your worry, time and travel if it gets to court. The judge may well not take kindly to using court time after the ombudsman decision, so your only hope is to hassle them into making an offer.

blinko

Have to wonder why such a odd term in the conditions, if you have a card on the account the rates drops to 0.25%??

opinions4u

blinko wrote: »

Have to wonder why such a odd term in the conditions, if you have a card on the account the rates drops to 0.25%??

That was the standard rate for "Web Saver With Card".

If you wanted the higher rate, you wouldn't get the card.

Glen_Clark

blinko wrote: »

Have to wonder why such a odd term in the conditions, if you have a card on the account the rates drops to 0.25%??

Not really - if someone has a card they are likely to withdraw more frequently and the bank has to pay for cash withdrawals from another banks machine.
I am no fan of banks but in this case I think helifox should forget it and move on.

Gaffy

I had the same account and it was quite clear to me to not select the card. I think the problem here is that you did not take the time to read the webpage thoroughly. Sometimes it's good to have OCD when filling in application forms.

Glen_Clark

helifox wrote: »

in the small print at the top it was stated that if you were applying for a Web Saver reward, you should ensure you clicked the no card option.

Its not small print at the top, its bold print in the middle.
I find your post is more misleading than the Halifax Application form.
Stop wasting everyone's time and move on.

blinko

Glen_Clark wrote: »

Not really - if someone has a card they are likely to withdraw more frequently and the bank has to pay for cash withdrawals from another banks machine.
I am no fan of banks but in this case I think helifox should forget it and move on.

I had the account and I didn't select the card option. 2.8% for me

Hhmm not sure on your comment re withdrawing cash.....