First Direct not paying incentive

miloSeymour

I went through the MSE link recently to switch to First Direct and never received the £125 promised. I contacted them as to why. Here's their response:

Thank you for your message dated 05-Aug-2014, regarding the £125 MoneySupermarket joining incentive.

The criteria of the campaign that you responded to states that you must have completed the following:
- applied for a 1st Account via the MoneySupermarket website
- had your salary/income (minimum £1000 per month) transferred to first direct within the first three months of the account opened
- used our Easyswitch process to transfer at least two standing orders or Direct Debits to your new account.
This offer is only available for people who haven't previously held any account with first direct and is limited to one payment per joint relationship.

Within 28 days of meeting the criteria the incentive payment of £125 will credit your account.

Please contact us if you have any further queries.

Regards

So several things.... Firstly I didn't go through or mention Money Supermarket to them. Secondly there is no mention of 2 DDs on any literature and the MSE page relating to the switch even mentions that no DDs are required.

Has anybody else had this kind of problem with First Direct? I'm thinking of switching away shortly.

noh

This site belongs to moneysupermarket that is why they say you used the link.
Contact first direct again and point out that the terms of the offer do not require any DDs to be switched and ask them if you satisfied the other criteria.

lee111s

When did you switch? You do realise you have to pay in £1000 for 3 months. Once that and all the other criteria are met, then you'll get your payment within 28 days.

So, if you switched accounts half way through a month (June for arguments sake) and had say £800 in the bank. It would then take July, August and September's salary of >£1k before you would have met the criteria. Then within 28 days of the third lot of £1000 being paid in, you'd recieve the bonus.

grumbler

miloSeymour wrote: »

...
- used our Easyswitch process to transfer at least two standing orders or Direct Debits to your new account. ...

I think they are lying. Their £125 offfere was identical to the usual £100 offer except the amount. The usual offer says nothing about DDs/SOs:

Open a 1st Account, then transfer your banking and salary/income of at least £1,000 per month to your 1st Account using the Current Account Switch Service within three months of your account opening and we'll add £100 to your account. This offer is only available for people who haven't previously held any account with first direct and is limited to one payment per customer or joint relationship. Incentives are paid within 28 days of criteria being met.

Archi_Bald wrote: »

k18dan wrote: »

Do you have to have any direct debits or standing orders on the new account for you to qualify for the cash payout?

no

First Direct £125 to switch!

meer53 wrote: »

You have to open the FD account first before switching. Then call them (or switch online) to switch your ...account. You don't need to have any standing orders or direct debits to switch,

The switching bonus is £100 or £125 if you open the account through Moneysavingexpert. It's not £250.

miloSeymour

Thanks Lee. I've only paid in for two months so far. Perhaps that's the reason. I didn't realise it took 3 months to get the incentive! As for the DDs though, I've responded to them and will see what they say. Thanks noh, I didn't realise the site was owned by Money Supermarket now.

penrhyn

Indeed it is Mr Lewis sold it to them for around £ 87,000,000.00. in 2012.

grumbler

lee111s wrote: »

...You do realise you have to pay in £1000 for 3 months.

What they say is "within 3 months" that isn't the same as "for 3 months".
Like all banks FD are notorious for giving evasive answers to simple straightforward questions: Can I apply for the First Direct account?

noh

You don't have to pay in £1000 a month for 3 months. You are required to pay in £1000 within 3 months of the switch. So if you have satisfied all the other criteria you should get the incentive.

dingdong3000

Yep that is correct. All you need to do is transfer at least £1000 within 3 months and once you complete the switch service you'll get the incentive within 28 days.

miloSeymour

In that case I've satisfied all the criteria but not received the incentive. I'll see what they say.....

dingdong3000

You should give them a quick call and see what they say.. Are you sure you never been with First Direct before? I think it may still apply if you've been with Midland Bank too, but i'm not sure..