M&S Bank home insurance customers given vouchers - and then told not to use them - MSE News

Former_MSE_Callum

M&S Bank has apologised after it sent customers who renewed their home insurance £40 worth of vouchers - only to then say they couldn't use them...

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'M&S Bank home insurance customers given vouchers - and then told not to use them'

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HornetSaver

From the company's perspective I do not understand why they wouldn't honour the vouchers. Loyal customers are as a general rule more profitable than serial switchers.

On the other hand this has probably done those customers who are annoyed about it a favour because they'll be more motivated to explore the market to get a better deal.

[Deleted User]

Years ago E.on sent me £20 of shopping vouchers as part of the signup offer.
A month later, they sent £20 more. I emailed support and told them they had sent me the vouchers twice.
Their reply was "Thank you for pointing out our mistake but please keep them and enjoy the extra bonus".
That is how companies should respond to these types of errors.

glentoran99

depends on how many vouchers sent out incorrectly though

csgohan4

Doesn't help the M+S brand does it, basically we don't care about our current customers. I know loyalty doesn't pay, but talk about punishing/teasing them for it

takman

Andrew Jarvis told us: "I renewed in May for about the tenth time. I received the letter with the vouchers couple of weeks ago as 'reward for loyal customer' type of thing and then get that email saying it was a mistake and wasn't even offered a compensatory free cup of coffee. It's not good at all.

"It's very, very unlikely I'll renew again - I would rather they had never offered them in the first place as it is proper kick in the teeth. £40 is not small change."

If Mr Jarvis is so concerned about £40 then he could have saved alot more than this by not renewing ten times with the same company !

glider3560

takman wrote: »

If Mr Jarvis is so concerned about £40 then he could have saved alot more than this by not renewing ten times with the same company !

Maybe with the £40 included, M&S worked out the cheapest deal?


I've renewed my car insurance with the same company for three consecutive years because I cannot beat their renewal quote. I can't even get close.

takman

glider3560 wrote: »

Maybe with the £40 included, M&S worked out the cheapest deal?

I've renewed my car insurance with the same company for three consecutive years because I cannot beat their renewal quote. I can't even get close.

None of the customers were expecting the vouchers and they were sent out after they renewed so they wouldn't have taken them into account.

I would be willing to bet that he didn't bother shopping around and I doubt it would be the cheapest price for 10 years.

Skippy13

takman wrote: »

None of the customers were expecting the vouchers and they were sent out after they renewed so they wouldn't have taken them into account.

I would be willing to bet that he didn't bother shopping around and I doubt it would be the cheapest price for 10 years.

Or maybe he was like me and struggled to get insurance elsewhere. I renewed my home insurance with the same insurer for 7 or 8 years as no other insurer (other than specialist insurers who charged the earth) would touch our house as it was in a flood risk area.

HornetSaver

takman wrote:

If Mr Jarvis is so concerned about £40 then he could have saved alot more than this by not renewing ten times with the same company !

Firstly, I've been with the same car insurance company for four years - auto renewal quote was always hopeless, final negotiated price was cheaper three times out of four, and the other time the difference was around £10 but the cheaper cover was much more limited.

That said I read your subsequent post and you're probably right. I think the name matters a little bit more to some people when it comes to home insurance.

With car insurance the difference in comprehensiveness of cover is relatively low compared to the variation in price, whereas with home insurance the difference in comprehensiveness of cover are enormous whereas the differences in price are somewhat lower. Therefore people's perceptions of how reasonable a company is are far more likely to play a part with home insurance - as a substitute for reading and fully understanding the differences between multiple policy documents.