First Direct.

The_Green_Hornet

As above.

Account opened under original £130 offer on 26th January 2022
£1000 deposited on 29th January 2022
Switch completed on 11th February 2022
£150 switch bonus paid on 18th February 2022

krish

Thanks for posts confirming £150 switch bonus for accounts opened with £130 offer. £150 bonus just paid to my mum, and expecting my dad's in a few more days (the whole online video ID check was tricky for both of them, dad had to redo it a few times after repeated fails and email requests to redo via a link).

hosay299

Good service as thinking of switching from Halifax 

[Deleted User]

krish said:

Thanks for posts confirming £150 switch bonus for accounts opened with £130 offer. £150 bonus just paid to my mum, and expecting my dad's in a few more days (the whole online video ID check was tricky for both of them, dad had to redo it a few times after repeated fails and email requests to redo via a link).

Weirdly, I was doing this on a computer, they said they'd need to do some ID stuff on the mobile phone, but it said it had failed and they would deal with it later, account switched, bonus paid, not heard any more!

NSX05

Finished depositing £1,000 on Friday (Apr 22). Account was opened on Feb 4. I'll let you know when/if I receive the £150.

NSX05

NSX05 said:

Finished depositing £1,000 on Friday (Apr 22). Account was opened on Feb 4. I'll let you know when/if I receive the £150.

Odd. I don't know what's happening with their system.

When I sent them a message through their online chat, I was told that I met the criteria on April 22.

29 days later, I contact them again and they inform me that because Santander originally denied my request to switch banks (security procedure), that I needed to contact the switching team via phone call to sort it out manually.

I've just gotten off the phone with them and been told that the criteria were actually met on May 13? I am thoroughly confused.

So now I have to wait until June 10, by the looks of things.

It would appear that the usual trick of withdrawing and depositing doesn't work with first direct, if that May 13 date is accurate.

Bigwheels1111

NSX05 said:

NSX05 said:

Finished depositing £1,000 on Friday (Apr 22). Account was opened on Feb 4. I'll let you know when/if I receive the £150.

Odd. I don't know what's happening with their system.

When I sent them a message through their online chat, I was told that I met the criteria on April 22.

29 days later, I contact them again and they inform me that because Santander originally denied my request to switch banks (security procedure), that I needed to contact the switching team via phone call to sort it out manually.

I've just gotten off the phone with them and been told that the criteria were actually met on May 13? I am thoroughly confused.

So now I have to wait until June 10, by the looks of things.

It would appear that the usual trick of withdrawing and depositing doesn't work with first direct, if that May 13 date is accurate.

Do you mean funding account from another account and then sending it back etc.
I do it with 5 banks, FD being one of them.
No issues.

NSX05

Bigwheels1111 said:

NSX05 said:

NSX05 said:

Finished depositing £1,000 on Friday (Apr 22). Account was opened on Feb 4. I'll let you know when/if I receive the £150.

Odd. I don't know what's happening with their system.

When I sent them a message through their online chat, I was told that I met the criteria on April 22.

29 days later, I contact them again and they inform me that because Santander originally denied my request to switch banks (security procedure), that I needed to contact the switching team via phone call to sort it out manually.

I've just gotten off the phone with them and been told that the criteria were actually met on May 13? I am thoroughly confused.

So now I have to wait until June 10, by the looks of things.

It would appear that the usual trick of withdrawing and depositing doesn't work with first direct, if that May 13 date is accurate.

Do you mean funding account from another account and then sending it back etc.
I do it with 5 banks, FD being one of them.
No issues.

Nope, withdrawing the cash and then depositing back into the bank a couple of days later.

It seems like this would be considered identical to what you described, though the only way that they can come to May 13 as the date that I met the criteria, is if this kind of tactic didn't contribute.

Is it worth calling up again in the hope that I speak to someone different?

NSX05

NSX05 said:

NSX05 said:

Finished depositing £1,000 on Friday (Apr 22). Account was opened on Feb 4. I'll let you know when/if I receive the £150.

Odd. I don't know what's happening with their system.

When I sent them a message through their online chat, I was told that I met the criteria on April 22.

29 days later, I contact them again and they inform me that because Santander originally denied my request to switch banks (security procedure), that I needed to contact the switching team via phone call to sort it out manually.

I've just gotten off the phone with them and been told that the criteria were actually met on May 13? I am thoroughly confused.

So now I have to wait until June 10, by the looks of things.

It would appear that the usual trick of withdrawing and depositing doesn't work with first direct, if that May 13 date is accurate.

Another update. I've been on the phone with them again, and this time the lady said something completely different to both the lady I spoke with last week, and the people I've spoken with via live chat.

Now I was told that I haven't put in £1,000 within three months. I was also asked whether I had any direct debits set up. I do have one, but this isn't supposed to be one of the requirements. Why is everyone saying different things?

I was forwarded to the complaints department and have asked my situation to be investigated. I'm glad I spoke about this through the chat service now — evidence that they can see. I'm supposed to receive a confirmation email, and then should hear back from them within the next two weeks.

First impressions of this bank are not looking too good, honestly... Nobody seems to be reading the same requirements or telling me the same thing.

Just as I was typing this up, 40 minutes after the original phone call, the lady investigating my situation called me again to let me know that she had done everything she needed to do in order to respond to my complaint. She totalled the deposits and concluded that yes I have deposited more than £1,000 since February 21, which is when the switch was complete (delays thanks to Santander).

The 28-day period starts from the date that you complete all criteria, which for me means I should receive the switching bonus by June 10. Although she said I shouldn't have any issues receiving it, she did say that she would put a note on my account to let future communication with customer services know that I am indeed eligible, and also said that I should call back if I don't receive anything by June 10.

She was very polite throughout and super helpful, so massive kudos to her for helping me with this. I don't know if I can namedrop here so I won't mention her name, but she deserves recognition.

Every person I've spoken to has been polite, even if the information they were giving me wasn't always accurate or even correct, so I don't want to throw anyone under the bus. I suspect this is more a problem with the bank than the individuals.

So ... once again, I'll let you know if/when I receive the switching incentive.

NSX05

NSX05 said:

NSX05 said:

NSX05 said:

Finished depositing £1,000 on Friday (Apr 22). Account was opened on Feb 4. I'll let you know when/if I receive the £150.

Odd. I don't know what's happening with their system.

When I sent them a message through their online chat, I was told that I met the criteria on April 22.

29 days later, I contact them again and they inform me that because Santander originally denied my request to switch banks (security procedure), that I needed to contact the switching team via phone call to sort it out manually.

I've just gotten off the phone with them and been told that the criteria were actually met on May 13? I am thoroughly confused.

So now I have to wait until June 10, by the looks of things.

It would appear that the usual trick of withdrawing and depositing doesn't work with first direct, if that May 13 date is accurate.

Another update. I've been on the phone with them again, and this time the lady said something completely different to both the lady I spoke with last week, and the people I've spoken with via live chat.

Now I was told that I haven't put in £1,000 within three months. I was also asked whether I had any direct debits set up. I do have one, but this isn't supposed to be one of the requirements. Why is everyone saying different things?

I was forwarded to the complaints department and have asked my situation to be investigated. I'm glad I spoke about this through the chat service now — evidence that they can see. I'm supposed to receive a confirmation email, and then should hear back from them within the next two weeks.

First impressions of this bank are not looking too good, honestly... Nobody seems to be reading the same requirements or telling me the same thing.

Just as I was typing this up, 40 minutes after the original phone call, the lady investigating my situation called me again to let me know that she had done everything she needed to do in order to respond to my complaint. She totalled the deposits and concluded that yes I have deposited more than £1,000 since February 21, which is when the switch was complete (delays thanks to Santander).

The 28-day period starts from the date that you complete all criteria, which for me means I should receive the switching bonus by June 10. Although she said I shouldn't have any issues receiving it, she did say that she would put a note on my account to let future communication with customer services know that I am indeed eligible, and also said that I should call back if I don't receive anything by June 10.

She was very polite throughout and super helpful, so massive kudos to her for helping me with this. I don't know if I can namedrop here so I won't mention her name, but she deserves recognition.

Every person I've spoken to has been polite, even if the information they were giving me wasn't always accurate or even correct, so I don't want to throw anyone under the bus. I suspect this is more a problem with the bank than the individuals.

So ... once again, I'll let you know if/when I receive the switching incentive.

Okay, this will be the final time I discuss this saga (unless someone has a question).

I didn't receive the incentive by June 10, and called them up. Initially, they wanted me to wait another two weeks, but I politely refused and explained that I had been in contact with the complaints department and that a note had been left on my account. They saw this, and offered to pay the incentive there and then, but kept me on hold while they sorted it out.

An error on their end meant that I had been paid twice (hey, they can continue doing that if they wish ), and they explained that they needed to get half of it back. They sorted that out, and now we're both happy.

It's been quite an experience, but after half an hour on the phone I finally got the incentive. I would say I've had more than a fair share of experience with first direct's customer service, given that I've only been with them since February, but every time it was positive. I was treated with respect.

I know customer service is kind of like car insurance in that you hope you never have to deal with them, but just in the event that you do, it's nice to know that they are as pleasant to communicate with as first direct's was.