Alliance & L Card Verification - is a Marketing Pitch

yorkie1980

For info, the people you call to activate your A&L card are CPP http://www.cpp.co.uk/.
I activated my card last night and she tried to sell me £59.95 a year Protection Plan. I asked her about cancelling my old card - she said I'd need to speak to A&L and explained CPP had been contracted to activate cards.

Had same conversation as everyone else above - told her I had subscription to all three CRA's - to which she answered, "who's the third I've only heard of Equifax and Experian" Unbelievable!!

A little surpised with the 'security' questions to activate my new card - name, 1st line of address and DOB.
Especially as the first two are on the letter the card is attached to, and the third is pretty basic.

optiMISER_3

Thanks for the info yorkie1980, that explains alot.

I have recently phoned up to verify an A&L card after getting their 8.5% interest current account and this digusting tactic is still going on.

Perhaps this issue needs more attention as it is a popular account on here as Martin highlights it.

In addition to the sales pitch, there is an 0844 number instead of an 0800 and the call charge isn't listed (it may be free or not).

PBA, stiffnuts, your replies are baffling and as upsetting as the sales pitch.

"You phoned the bank and therefore should have expected sales" - please.

Whatever "veryunsure" entitled the thread originally, the word scam would be appropriate to describe what A&L and their subcontractors are doing here, even if it might not be as bad as some other scams.

The phonecall you are making is meant to be a security related phone call between you and your bank. You do not and should not expect sales at such times, especially sales that, because of their related subject matter, might sound like they are a necessary part of the security process itself. (I was told that if my card was stolen I would not be covered if I didn't speak about card protection - I believe he was going to sell me card insurance but actually before I saw this forum I was still a little unsure about whether it was really something genuine like visa verisgin).

They also tell you what I am sure is a lie which is, "It will take a few minutes to activate your card, can I speak to you about card protection while we wait?" This is outrageous, no further info was taken after he said this and then when I said I didn't want to talk he just said the card was activated.

Perhaps more important than pressure selling is the point Yorkie picked up on about security details. As part of the application process for this online account you set up loads of security details ("shared secrets"). Not one of those was used in this activation process and I think it was just DOB, telephone, name and address required. (By contrast a HSBC card I activated recently did not require even speaking to an operative, just dialing in the security numbers.)

Pity, because although I admit I had signed up to this account just for the interest offer (well I did need another current acc, but why I chose this one), I was pleased with A&L so far, despite negative comments on this forum. All the stuff arrived within a week and the branch experience to give a deposit was pleasant. We'll have to see how things go.

Retro82

I'd hardly call this a disgusting tactic. I don't know if they've changed policy but when I called they even asked if I wanted to hear about some other services, and I simply said no. Even so, there would be nothing wrong in telling them to stop talking and activate your card! Its no different to someone at Comet trying to sell you insurance on your dishwasher as you try to pay for it!

nzseries1

I called to activate my A+L Visa 3 weeks ago. The guy then tried to get me to sign up to PPI. He was persistant, and I mean persistant. He tried over and over again. And then he tried once more. He would not take no for an answer. I think this is a "disgusting tactic" - to quote an earlier post.

Never mind the fact that my savings cover the small credit limit on my card by more than 40 times, he still seemed to think I need the insurance.

LittleVoice

I had received an A&L debit card and also wanted to contact them about progress of the application. When I tried to extend my call (via a geographical number) to activiate the card, I was advised that the only way to do it was to phone the o845 number on the sticker on the card - but that it would only be a quick call just to do that. (I knew that was not truthful - or that it would be a quick call to activate the card but a long one if they had their way to try to sell me what I didn't want.) I haven't bothered to activate the card yet as I am likely to do all transactions online. I may activate it when it suits me to phone.