First Direct £100 switch offer is back

Elmer_BeFuddled

No good to me.
By 5 days

soulsaver

I'm sure what they mean is you must be a new customer to FD;and they'll also exclude you if you have an M&S or HSBC current ac  opened on or after 1st January 2018.
That's not achieved by the 'and/or' statement, and leaving either out also fails to achieve it. 

pbartlett

and/or is not a valid boolean logic statement and has caused untold confusion over the years !

eskbanker

soulsaver said:

I'm sure what they mean is you must be a new customer to FD;and they'll also exclude you if have an M&S or HSBC current ac  opened on or after 1st January 2018.
That's not achieved by the 'and/or' statement, and leaving either out also fails to achieve it. 

How does that differ from just 'and', i.e. "we can only offer this to people who haven’t previously held an account with us, and has not opened a HSBC or M&S Bank current account on or after 1 January 2018"?

Gary1963

I have applied. Didn't get an instant decision. So not hopeful! I have had FD and HSBC and M&S so probably pushing my luck.

soulsaver

I have not opened a HSBC - so I qualify whether I have a M&S of any age. It has to have 'neither- nor' in there.
And 'people - has'?
FGS.

eskbanker

soulsaver said:

I have not opened a HSBC - so I qualify whether I have a M&S of any age. It has to have 'neither- nor' in there.

The discussion thus far has all been about the linkage between the two main conditions and its ambiguous use of 'and/or', but to me the 'or' within the second condition is much less ambiguous, although having said that I'm reading it the opposite way from you, i.e. my interpretation is that either a post-2018 HSBC or a post-2018 M&S is enough to disqualify you, even though, as you say, it would be clearer to say "has opened neither a HSBC nor a M&S Bank current account on or after 1 January 2018".

soulsaver said:

And 'people - has'?
FGS.

Agreed!  I suspect that the wording was composed iteratively by committee....

masonic

If terms are ambiguous, it is considered treating customers fairly to interpret them in the way that is most favourable to the customer (i.e. strike the first 'and'). Perhaps the marketing department needs to consider getting the only available written terms for the offer reviewed by the legal team (or just proof-read by someone more literate) before publishing them on the website.

Notnewnotold

eskbanker said:

soulsaver said:

I have not opened a HSBC - so I qualify whether I have a M&S of any age. It has to have 'neither- nor' in there.

The discussion thus far has all been about the linkage between the two main conditions and its ambiguous use of 'and/or', but to me the 'or' within the second condition is much less ambiguous, although having said that I'm reading it the opposite way from you, i.e. my interpretation is that either a post-2018 HSBC or a post-2018 M&S is enough to disqualify you, even though, as you say, it would be clearer to say "has opened neither a HSBC nor a M&S Bank current account on or after 1 January 2018".

soulsaver said:

And 'people - has'?
FGS.

Agreed!  I suspect that the wording was composed illiteratively by committee....

Fixed that for you 

michellej1980

What I can’t find clarification on is whether ‘any account’ includes a mortgage account or just a ‘bank account’.