Misleading switch bonus claim?

mrkds

Hi all. I have an issue regarding a switching bonus I was expecting to receive for switching to a HSBC Advance current account (a time long ago when such things were a thing! )

I opened the account in branch in January 2019 and was advised by the representative of the switching incentive of £150, paid 30 days after the switch and an additional £50,  a year later if i keep the account active and meet the conditions (minimum monthly pay-in of £1750, keeping two SO/DDs active - which I did). I received the £150 about a month after switching as expected, but the following January (this year) I had not received the additional £50. I enquired about this at the time. They checked my account and confirmed that I was eligible to received the second bonus and that I should wait another month and come back if still nothing. Then lockdown hit and and there were suddenly bigger issues to deal with.

Today I went back to enquire again, and was told that the £50 incentive was not an 'active' offer at the time I opened the account and that I should not have been told that I would receive it (contradicting what I was told on my last visit).  If this is the case, then I am a slightly annoyed that I have been given misleading information when I opened the account. Surely this type of behaviour is against FCA rules? I have checked over the welcome pack I received  and there is no written documentation of any switching bonuses, so I only have my word against theirs with regards to what I was told. I was wondering if there is any one has advice on where to take this next? Has anyone experienced anything similar? Any action that I should / can take? or should I just settle and be happy with the £150 they have already given me?

Any advice will be very much appreciated.

Thanks

eskbanker

Without wishing to denigrate the customer-facing staff of banks up and down the country, it's rarely sensible to regard what they tell you as gospel!  Always consult the actual published Ts & Cs, which, if they're not published for all to see on their websites, will be made available to you as a customer.

In this case, HSBC had a £150+£50 switching offer applicable to accounts opened up to November 2018, and then replaced this with a £150 (no extra £50) offer for accounts opened from January 2019 so you're not entitled to the higher offer, regardless of what you were told....

mrkds

Thanks for the links to the T+Cs.  Looks like I will have to make do without. I'm just surprised this can happen with a major high-street bank. Its the sort of thing I would expect more from a dodgy letting agent.

gsmh

mrkds said:

Thanks for the links to the T+Cs.  Looks like I will have to make do without. I'm just surprised this can happen with a major high-street bank. Its the sort of thing I would expect more from a dodgy letting agent.

So what did the bank do that you feel makes them look dodgy?

t1redmonkey

mrkds said:

Thanks for the links to the T+Cs.  Looks like I will have to make do without. I'm just surprised this can happen with a major high-street bank. Its the sort of thing I would expect more from a dodgy letting agent.

Keep in mind you are within your rights to make a complaint to HSBC, and they may then compensate you if they deem they offered poor customer service in the circumstances (regardless of what the T&Cs say).  When making your complaint, you'd just have to go down the 'poor customer service' route rather than try and claim they didn't pay you something you were entitled to.

masonic

If, as you say, they "checked my account and confirmed that I was eligible to received the second bonus and that I should wait another month and come back if still nothing", then I'm surprised they didn't offer you a little something by way of apology for the misinformation.

mrkds

gsmh said:

So what did the bank do that you feel makes them look dodgy?

Well, they offered me a switching incentive which was actually not available (and had not been available for some 2 months prior). It could have been an innocent mistake the part of the advisor I spoke to, but I think it can also be reasonably interpreted as a dodgy sales tactic. Especially since (I imagine) the advisor would get some kind of commission for bagging a new customer.

mrkds

Thanks @masonic and @t1redmonkey for the advice.  I guess I could try logging a complaint regarding poor / misleading / contradictory information received from their advisors and see if that goes anywhere.

SpreadableToast

mrkds said:

Thanks @masonic and @t1redmonkey for the advice.  I guess I could try logging a complaint regarding poor / misleading / contradictory information received from their advisors and see if that goes anywhere.

Or accept that you got it wrong and not waste their time.

mrkds

SpreadableToast said:

Or accept that you got it wrong and not waste their time.

I 'got it wrong' because of the incorrect information I was given by the bank. I may have been naive in accepting a verbal assurance without anything in writing it back it up, but I'm not 100% at fault here.

gsmh

mrkds said:

I 'got it wrong' because of the incorrect information I was given by the bank. I may have been naive in accepting a verbal assurance without anything in writing it back it up, but I'm not 100% at fault here.

Yes, you were naive in accepting a verbal assurance. Salespeople are not known for their depth of knowledge of a company's product portfolio - they are often just poorly-paid call centre employees. ALWAYS verify the T&Cs. If a sales person tells you something which is to your advantage ask them to confirm in writing what they have told you, or at the very least get a name and make a note of the conversation and the time. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't feel aggrieved, but on this occasion put it down to experience and make sure it doesn't happen again.