A word of warning re Santander 123 cashback on small energy suppliers

davidsuffolk

I, like many here, try to find the cheapest and best energy supplier. I also have a Santander 123 account which claims to pay 2% cashback on energy direct debits.

I recently changed to Places for People Energy (and so far they seem pretty good!)

However I have just noticed that Santander haven't paid the promised 2% cashback.
Their main "calculate your cashback page" just says 2% on gas & electricity direct debit so a bit underhand to only do that on some? They say you "have to find the search option further down the page and put your specific supplier in". No doubt true but not what the (much bigger) section above says.

This very probably means that anyone looking at one of the small energy suppliers and who has a 123 account might want to check whether or not their chosen supplier gets the cashback.

In my case that is about £40 a year lost, especially poor as Santander were quite happy to up the annual charge to £60.

hollie.weimeraner

I never considered that when I changed recently and like you just assumed I would get the cash back. Fortunately ZOG and GB Energy are both on the list but useful to know if and when I switch again

Hammer_Time

davidsuffolk wrote: »

I, like many here, try to find the cheapest and best energy supplier. I also have a Santander 123 account which claims to pay 2% cashback on energy direct debits.

I recently changed to Places for People Energy (and so far they seem pretty good!)

However I have just noticed that Santander haven't paid the promised 2% cashback.
Their main "calculate your cashback page" just says 2% on gas & electricity direct debit so a bit underhand to only do that on some? They say you "have to find the search option further down the page and put your specific supplier in". No doubt true but not what the (much bigger) section above says.

This very probably means that anyone looking at one of the small energy suppliers and who has a 123 account might want to check whether or not their chosen supplier gets the cashback.

In my case that is about £40 a year lost, especially poor as Santander were quite happy to up the annual charge to £60.

Your supplier is listed on their website, so you should be getting the 2% cashback. My supplier which is a small one is not listed, however I am getting 2% cashback on it.

davidsuffolk

Hammer_Time wrote: »

Your supplier is listed on their website, so you should be getting the 2% cashback. My supplier which is a small one is not listed, however I am getting 2% cashback on it.

You are quite correct and many thanks. I rang Santander who denied it was a supplier and didn't bother to check on the website.

To follow up, I rang Santander back armed with the website search and this time they were unable to explain either why I was told it wasn't listed or why I had not had any cashback due since January.

Developing!

[Deleted User]

@davidsuffolk

i would raise a complaint at Santander as the website clearly states

"You could earn 2% cashback with Places for People Energy"

when you use the search at http://www.santander-products.co.uk/info/current-accounts/123-current-account-cashback-search

davidsuffolk

gsmlnx wrote: »

@davidsuffolk

i would raise a complaint at Santander as the website clearly states

"You could earn 2% cashback with Places for People Energy"

I have complained. So far they say they do not know why cashback hasn't been paid since January nor why I was told incorrectly this morning that PfP were not listed.

To be fair, I should have checked the website search myself rather than just accepting what I was told.

[Deleted User]

Sometimes things fall between cracks in IT systems.

At least they have acknowledged the error and hopefully will quickly back date all monies that should have been paid.