First Direct £100 switch offer is back

EarthBoy

https://www1.firstdirect.com/content/fsdt/en_gb/banking/switching-bank-accounts/
"To get the £100 cash offer you need to open a 1st Account, switch your everyday banking to us using the Current Account Switch Service and pay in at least £1,000 within three months of opening the account.

This offer is limited to one payment per customer or joint account, and you'll get the money within 28 days of all the criteria being met.  Sorry, we can only offer this to people who haven’t previously held an account with us, and/or has not opened a HSBC or M&S Bank current account on or after 1 January 2018.  You may hold a HSBC and/or M&S Bank current account and still qualify for the offer, as long as the current account was opened before 1 January 2018.  We reserve the right to refuse your application and withdraw this offer at anytime.  Credit is subject to status and an assessment of your financial circumstances."

There's no requirement to transfer any direct debits, but as before it's brand new first-time customers only.

Notnewnotold

Well no it's not brand new customers, because of the "and/or" statement above. I have had FD, M&S and HSBC accounts in the past, all now closed and all opened prior to 2018. Reading that, I would argue that I'm eligible, no? 

Might give this one a go...

Costabit

Notnewnotold said:

Well no it's not brand new customers, because of the "and/or" statement above. I have had FD, M&S and HSBC accounts in the past, all now closed and all opened prior to 2018. Reading that, I would argue that I'm eligible, no? 

Might give this one a go...

Um, not sure about this.
I’m in exactly the same position as you regarding having had all those accounts prior to 2018 and all closed now BUT.
The bit about “ Sorry we can only offer this to people who previously haven’t held an account with us “ might preclude us.
Its slightly ambiguous to me though in the way that it is followed by “ and / or” 
Who knows?
If I apply , will keep you informed re. Any progress
Not overly confident though

VXman

I was just about to do the HSBC switch which has similar conditions. 

Does anyone know - I do have an HSBC account but in Hong Kong. Do you think they will recognise/be aware of/take note of  this?

EarthBoy

Notnewnotold said:

Well no it's not brand new customers, because of the "and/or" statement above. I have had FD, M&S and HSBC accounts in the past, all now closed and all opened prior to 2018. Reading that, I would argue that I'm eligible, no? 

Might give this one a go...

The "and/or" does make it sound ambiguous, but I wouldn't rate your chances of getting the bonus as very high.  In the past, First Direct have always ruled out any previous customers, -although one or two people may have slipped through the net.    
Let us know how you get on.  

Ed-1

EarthBoy said:

Notnewnotold said:

Well no it's not brand new customers, because of the "and/or" statement above. I have had FD, M&S and HSBC accounts in the past, all now closed and all opened prior to 2018. Reading that, I would argue that I'm eligible, no? 

Might give this one a go...

The "and/or" does make it sound ambiguous, but I wouldn't rate your chances of getting the bonus as very high.  In the past, First Direct have always ruled out any previous customers, -although one or two people may have slipped through the net.    
Let us know how you get on.  

Why the need for the "or" - why not just "and"?

EarthBoy

Ed-1 said:

EarthBoy said:

Notnewnotold said:

Well no it's not brand new customers, because of the "and/or" statement above. I have had FD, M&S and HSBC accounts in the past, all now closed and all opened prior to 2018. Reading that, I would argue that I'm eligible, no? 

Might give this one a go...

The "and/or" does make it sound ambiguous, but I wouldn't rate your chances of getting the bonus as very high.  In the past, First Direct have always ruled out any previous customers, -although one or two people may have slipped through the net.    
Let us know how you get on.  

Why the need for the "or" - why not just "and"?

Why not just "or"?  If it only said "and" you'd only be excluded from the bonus if you met both of the conditions given.  

Ed-1

EarthBoy said:

Ed-1 said:

EarthBoy said:

Notnewnotold said:

Well no it's not brand new customers, because of the "and/or" statement above. I have had FD, M&S and HSBC accounts in the past, all now closed and all opened prior to 2018. Reading that, I would argue that I'm eligible, no? 

Might give this one a go...

The "and/or" does make it sound ambiguous, but I wouldn't rate your chances of getting the bonus as very high.  In the past, First Direct have always ruled out any previous customers, -although one or two people may have slipped through the net.    
Let us know how you get on.  

Why the need for the "or" - why not just "and"?

Why not just "or"?  If it only said "and" you'd only be excluded from the bonus if you met both of the conditions given.  

And that's what they intend surely?

Sorry, we can only offer this to people who haven’t previously held an account with us, and have not opened a HSBC or M&S Bank current account on or after 1 January 2018.

EarthBoy

Ed-1 said:

EarthBoy said:

Ed-1 said:

EarthBoy said:

Notnewnotold said:

Well no it's not brand new customers, because of the "and/or" statement above. I have had FD, M&S and HSBC accounts in the past, all now closed and all opened prior to 2018. Reading that, I would argue that I'm eligible, no? 

Might give this one a go...

The "and/or" does make it sound ambiguous, but I wouldn't rate your chances of getting the bonus as very high.  In the past, First Direct have always ruled out any previous customers, -although one or two people may have slipped through the net.    
Let us know how you get on.  

Why the need for the "or" - why not just "and"?

Why not just "or"?  If it only said "and" you'd only be excluded from the bonus if you met both of the conditions given.  

And that's what they intend surely?

It probably is, but by including "or" they've confused the meaning.

pphillips

I don't think "and/or" is ambiguous, they're simply creating a catch-all exclusion.

eskbanker

pphillips said:

I don't think "and/or" is ambiguous, they're simply creating a catch-all exclusion.

Not really - whatever they wanted to say could be said more concisely and less ambiguously by simply using either 'and' or 'or', so using both is unnecessary and doesn't actually add anything, under standard Boolean logic.

If both conditions must be satisfied then they mean "and", so "or" doesn't apply and shouldn't be included.

If either condition can be satisfied then they mean "or", so "and" is already covered and shouldn't be included.