Stung by halifax web saver reward scam. Advice?

helifox

BlindLeadingTheBlind wrote: »

OP you say the account showed on your accounts page as Reward Saver. Do you have a screen print of this? The application Halifax has sent you as being supposedly the one you completed was for the variable account. You say you didn't get any confirmation in writing & yet the guy in the article did. And when he saw it was the variable he closed the ac. Should you have received some form of confirmation do you know?

Not sure about confirmation. I'll check - if I can persuade them to speak to me. ...As for the title of the account: after I discovered the interest rate discrepancy, I moved the money into a better rate savings account ( obviously) but left the other account open, because I was complaining. To help me differentiate it, and to vent my spleen, I renamed it to the Xtra Rip off Account, but vaguely remember it being called Reward Saver before that. This was confirmed for me by Halifax the other day by phone. I'll try and get it on paper somehow...

blinko

helifox wrote: »

Not sure about confirmation. I'll check - if I can persuade them to speak to me. ...As for the title of the account: after I discovered the interest rate discrepancy, I moved the money into a better rate savings account ( obviously) but left the other account open, because I was complaining. To help me differentiate it, and to vent my spleen, I renamed it to the Xtra Rip off Account, but vaguely remember it being called Reward Saver before that. This was confirmed for me by Halifax the other day by phone. I'll try and get it on paper somehow...

good luck if you do decide to go down the legal route, would love to hear the outcome and hopefully this should be a lesson to banks who create ridiculous conditions attached to savings accounts!!

opinions4u

blinko wrote: »

good luck if you do decide to go down the legal route, would love to hear the outcome and hopefully this should be a lesson to banks who create ridiculous conditions attached to savings accounts!!

It wasn't a ridiculous condition.

Web Saver had two variations at that point in time.

Reward - no ATM card - 2.80%.
Non-reward - ATM card - 0.25%.

Which is why it is unclear why we got an account titled 'Reward Saver'.

Baffling indeed. As the Reward Saver account didn't exist until September 2011 and was never on sale at the same time as the Web Saver accounts.

helifox

opinions4u wrote: »

It wasn't a ridiculous condition.

Web Saver had two variations at that point in time.

Reward - no ATM card - 2.80%.
Non-reward - ATM card - 0.25%.

Do you feel that a rate of .25% for a savings account with an atm card was consonant at that time with 'Always giving a little extra'?

Baffling indeed. As the Reward Saver account didn't exist until September 2011 and was never on sale at the same time as the Web Saver accounts.

I think your info. has got to the bottom of that particular mystery. When in March 2012 I discovered the miniscule interest rate, I moved the savings into the Reward Saver I suppose. When I spoke to Halifax they told me that that was the name of the original account. Just one more thing they got wrong... I guess. I'll call them now - and, if they agree to speak to me, discover what it was originally called before I re-named it as the Xtra Rip off account.

dunstonh

Do you feel that a rate of .25% for a savings account with an atm card was consonant at that time with 'Always giving a little extra'?

Yes. The provision of current account style services costs money. A card account is very popular with younger people and those that do not need a debit card or cheque book. So, there is a market out there for it. These types of account do tend to have lower values and are low profit and given the higher costs of running them, the interest rate would be lower.

Whatever you think about the rate though, it was published and if you dont like it, then you dont buy it.

Hominu

If you visit Halifax's "previous rates" page you'll notice that "Reward saver" is 2.50% for the period between 12th September 2011 & 15th October 2012.

and the new "Web Saver Reward" doesn't exist on Halifax's "Previous interest rates" page, but the press is still available here: http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media/pdfs/halifax/2011/010411new_variable_Web_Saver.pdf offering 2.80%

However, note the conditions:

Open and manage online

if the above conditions are not met, the account becomes the
Halifax Web Saver variable option

helifox

dunstonh wrote: »

Whatever you think about the rate though, it was published and if you dont like it, then you dont buy it.

I didn't think I was. And it wasn't published either on the ad. or the application form. 2.8% was.

helifox

From the Flavia Palacios press release

After 12 months, or if the above conditions are not met, the account becomes the Halifax Web Saver
variable option (without ATM card).

...More confusion. It was because we applied for an ATM card, that we didn't meet the conditions. And we have one - with Web Saver on it.

opinions4u

helifox wrote: »

Do you feel that a rate of .25% for a savings account with an atm card was consonant at that time with 'Always giving a little extra'?

On the basis of how it compared to other savings accounts on the market, the historical position of the BofE base rate and the overall economic conditions, it would be something that could be proved as beneficial.

Regardless, it doesn't matter what I feel, they could always argue that the card was the "extra".

helifox

It is marvellous to see that the product was launched on April Fools day!