Possible £100 Halifax switch offer starting 4/8/20

Herbalus

masonic said:

colsten said:

masonic said:

colsten said:

crumpet_man said:

I had to phone Santander to switch into an existing account.  If I opened a new account online then the switch could be done online.

masonic said:

colsten said:

masonic said:

It just happens that Halifax accepts switching instructions online, while other banks I hold a current account I want to keep require a phonecall.

Which banks required a phonecall for switching? I can't recall a single one that did. Not even Santander, during the £50 Amazon voucher switch bonanza last year.

I had to phone Santander during the switching bonanza. First Direct require a call, as do HSBC (M&S do not but require a week's notice to start the switching process), and Co-op do also. No longer a TSB customer, but they would have been my other option as ISTR they accepted online switches, but don't want to create new donor accounts to be rid of old ones (unless there's an incentive on offer).

That's weird. I switched over a dozen accounts into Santander during their Amazon bonanza, all online, not a single phone call needed. It's eons since I switched to First Direct, and I can't remember whether I had to call, but if I had to, it wasn't an issue. I didn't qualify for the HSBC switch offer but I did for the Coop one and definitely did not need to call the Coop over it. I am not sure now whether I ever switched to TSB but I am sure I had lots of cashback from them for several new accounts which didn't even require a switch.

I am not sure why you would need to create new donor accounts to be rid of old ones - can you elaborate, please, @masonic? 

I no longer have current accounts with every bank, so to use some bank's switching service would require me to open a new account. Of the current accounts I do hold, the ones I mentioned do not offer an online switching facility - trust me, I looked for it and was directed to phone. Halifax do and I already hold an account, so that is the path of least resistance for me, and the path I chose. I was lucky in that respect because I originally envisaged switching out all three BoS accounts in parallel to different banks, which would have left me short for this offer.

In my view, it is inefficient to do such things by phone. I can type something much faster than I can spell it out, and I can read and check something much faster than someone can read it back to me, and loading a webpage is faster than reaching a call handler. And I can do it with loud music on in the background. But that's just me. I'm not keen on applying for new accounts by phone either, and won't if there is an online option available to me

Without going into detail, I reckon you are making this switching-for-a-bonus-cash-grab wayyyyyyyy too difficult for yourself.

Really? All I did was spotted this thread, then opened a new Reward account, then switched an existing BoS account to Halifax that I'd originally intended to switch to a different Halifax account slightly later this month. Incentive paid, switch due to complete tomorrow, one less account to deal with later. I haven't done any upgrading or downgrading, and I intend to keep my new Reward account for the monthly fiver. But I'm always happy to learn... what could I have done to make things easier on myself?

I really didn't think my decision to use Halifax to dispose of some old unwanted accounts would be so controversial.

I think there’s some comments directed at certain aspects of posts that are interpreted at being directed at other parts. I think it was the “opening new donors to switch old donors in” part which seemed odd but you’re coming at it from the point of your current banks require telephone to switch (which I would also avoid) but i agree it makes no sense to open say a TSB donor just in order to switch all your other donors in (on the basis TSB can do online switching).
The only question I have, and you may not know the answer, is whether you can switch 2 accounts into a single account concurrently? Your method appears sequential - is there a reason for switching them into Halifax one at a time? It just means I’m waiting longer to hear whether you get more than one incentive! 

DJSINGH

Does anyone know of any other ways of activating the online account? We arent receiving post frequently so I have no idea when the activation code in the post will come...!!

Yorkshire_Pud

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Switch has now completed today.  However the £100 bonus still not paid. I understood this would be paid within 7 working days from when switch was instigated. Is anyone else still waiting that applied on the 4 August. 

The £100 should be paid about two days before the switch day if other reports on here are reliable. My switch day tomorrow and no £100 received yet.
Phone them up?

blindman

Yorkshire_Pud said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Switch has now completed today.  However the £100 bonus still not paid. I understood this would be paid within 7 working days from when switch was instigated. Is anyone else still waiting that applied on the 4 August. 

The £100 should be paid about two days before the switch day if other reports on here are reliable. My switch day tomorrow and no £100 received yet.
Phone them up?

I suppose the early birds may get a quicker service, as when the flood gates started to open on say the 5th August the switch bonus mechanism likely got swamped.

Patience is the key

veryintrigued

Can anyone, who has successfully switched to an Ultimate Reward AND then subsequently received the £100, tell me which type of Bank Accounts they have the option to downgrade to online please.

TIA

CRISPIANNE3

Yorkshire_Pud said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Switch has now completed today.  However the £100 bonus still not paid. I understood this would be paid within 7 working days from when switch was instigated. Is anyone else still waiting that applied on the 4 August. 

The £100 should be paid about two days before the switch day if other reports on here are reliable. My switch day tomorrow and no £100 received yet.
Phone them up?

I spoke to a very unhelpful woman in the switching dept who advised the bonus will not be paid until they are officially advised the old account has been closed. I explained my old account has now been closed but she advised it would be just frozen. They apparently are waiting from my former bank to confirm account is closed. She said they have up to mid night today.

The advisor was abrupt and I got the impression from your attitude she even resented me phoning up about it. Not putting up with bad customer service so I am now going to complain. 

blindman

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Switch has now completed today.  However the £100 bonus still not paid. I understood this would be paid within 7 working days from when switch was instigated. Is anyone else still waiting that applied on the 4 August. 

The £100 should be paid about two days before the switch day if other reports on here are reliable. My switch day tomorrow and no £100 received yet.
Phone them up?

I spoke to a very unhelpful woman in the switching dept who advised the bonus will not be paid until they are officially advised the old account has been closed. I explained my old account has now been closed but she advised it would be just frozen. They apparently are waiting from my former bank to confirm account is closed. She said they have up to mid night today.

The advisor was abrupt and I got the impression from your attitude she even resented me phoning up about it. Not putting up with bad customer service so I am now going to complain. 

She's probably head 100's of such calls and is getting a bit fed up.

CRISPIANNE3

blindman said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Switch has now completed today.  However the £100 bonus still not paid. I understood this would be paid within 7 working days from when switch was instigated. Is anyone else still waiting that applied on the 4 August. 

The £100 should be paid about two days before the switch day if other reports on here are reliable. My switch day tomorrow and no £100 received yet.
Phone them up?

I spoke to a very unhelpful woman in the switching dept who advised the bonus will not be paid until they are officially advised the old account has been closed. I explained my old account has now been closed but she advised it would be just frozen. They apparently are waiting from my former bank to confirm account is closed. She said they have up to mid night today.

The advisor was abrupt and I got the impression from your attitude she even resented me phoning up about it. Not putting up with bad customer service so I am now going to complain. 

She's probably head 100's of such calls and is getting a bit fed up.

If Halifax had kept to what they had said about when the switch bonus  would be paid the advisors would not get so many call about the switching bonus. 

blindman

CRISPIANNE3 said:

blindman said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Switch has now completed today.  However the £100 bonus still not paid. I understood this would be paid within 7 working days from when switch was instigated. Is anyone else still waiting that applied on the 4 August. 

The £100 should be paid about two days before the switch day if other reports on here are reliable. My switch day tomorrow and no £100 received yet.
Phone them up?

I spoke to a very unhelpful woman in the switching dept who advised the bonus will not be paid until they are officially advised the old account has been closed. I explained my old account has now been closed but she advised it would be just frozen. They apparently are waiting from my former bank to confirm account is closed. She said they have up to mid night today.

The advisor was abrupt and I got the impression from your attitude she even resented me phoning up about it. Not putting up with bad customer service so I am now going to complain. 

She's probably head 100's of such calls and is getting a bit fed up.

If Halifax had kept to what they had said about when the switch bonus  would be paid the advisors would not get so many call about the switching bonus. 

Just relax and-if you must-check again tomorrow.

ischris85

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Switch has now completed today.  However the £100 bonus still not paid. I understood this would be paid within 7 working days from when switch was instigated. Is anyone else still waiting that applied on the 4 August. 

The £100 should be paid about two days before the switch day if other reports on here are reliable. My switch day tomorrow and no £100 received yet.
Phone them up?

I spoke to a very unhelpful woman in the switching dept who advised the bonus will not be paid until they are officially advised the old account has been closed. I explained my old account has now been closed but she advised it would be just frozen. They apparently are waiting from my former bank to confirm account is closed. She said they have up to mid night today.

The advisor was abrupt and I got the impression from your attitude she even resented me phoning up about it. Not putting up with bad customer service so I am now going to complain. 

That must be rubbish because some people have reported getting the switch incentive several days before the actual switch.