Co-operative Refer a Friend Switching Offer £125 (Nov 2022)

_wishful_thinker

theonenonly said:

I still haven't recieved my bonus, switch was complete on Friday. Do I have to resubmit the form?

My switch was complete yesterday, then I submitted the form and we received payments today. Maybe you submitted the form before the switch was complete, which I believe was fine if you had a switch date. The T&Cs said it could take up to 60 days so i was surprised it was next day, unless of course it's a chaotic process and I've not been impressed with the time it has taken until today. I am sure you can call and they can advise?

Alex9384

On a side note,
I applied for the Coop account on the 1st Feb but it's now showing on my credit reports as opened on the 14th Feb. This bank is unbelievable... Even the super slow HSBC was showing the date of the application as the account opening date, rather than waiting 2 weeks while scratching their heads or whatever, then reporting it to CRAs.

Bridlington1

I've had a response from the FOS. They've sided with Co-op:

Dear Bridlington1

Your complaint about The Co-operative Bank Plc

  

Thank you for your patience whilst I’ve been looking into your complaint.

I am the adjudicator who’ll be reviewing your case against The Co-operative Bank Plc (The Co-op). It’s my role to look into the concerns you’ve raised and let you know what I think is a fair outcome in the circumstances. You can find out more about how we handle complaints on our website. My contact details are below. If you need to contact me, my usual working hours are Monday to Friday 9am-4.30pm.

I’ve now reviewed all of the information available and I’m ready to start. Based on what I’ve seen, I won’t be asking The Co-op to do anything else. And I’ll explain why.

The complaint

You’re unhappy that The Co-op have not paid you the £125 promised with their current account ‘Refer-a- Friend’ switching campaign. You would like The Co-op to pay you the £125 promised, the £1 cost you spent in making the phone call to complain and an apology for the inconvenience caused.

Background

You’ve sent us supporting documents with your complaint and you told us in the complaint form that:

• The Co-op have not paid you the £125 promised with their current account ‘Refer-a- Friend’ switching campaign
• The Co-op have said that you already benefitted from the ‘Refer-a- Friend’ offer and you weren’t a new customer
• you agree that you benefited from the £50 Refer-a- Friend offer but you believe the £125 was an entirely separate offer with separate terms and conditions and you have not benefitted from this offer
• you said that at the time you applied for your second Co-op account you held no other accounts with them and considered yourself a new customer within the terms of the offer.

The Co-op sent us their business file and have told us the following:

• their ‘Refer a Friend Scheme’ was launched by the Bank in November 2020.  At the time existing customers who referred a friend to the Bank were eligible to receive a payment of £50.
• in May 2022 you switched in your account from Lloyds Bank to the Co-op and received a £50 credit as part of the Refer a Friend Scheme which you don’t dispute.
• in July 2022 they amended the terms of the scheme to allow existing customers to refer five eligible customers and receive a total of £250, were as previously customers could only make two referrals and receive £100 in total. 
• in November 2022 they amended the terms of the scheme further and increased the amount to be awarded to £125 for both parties.  In addition, they also amended the definition of the term ‘new customer’ enabling customers who had held an account since June 2021 (but did not currently hold an account with the Bank) to be eligible.
• on 4 November 2022 they received a bank switch request from the Royal Bank of Scotland and your account was switched out on 11 November 2022, and the account closed on 14 November 2022.
• on 15 November 2022 they received a new application for a current account from yourself and this account was opened on 16 November 2022 and on 17 November 2022 they started the process to switch in your account from Lloyds Bank.
• even though you didn’t hold a current account with the Bank at the time you made your latest application, you were still not eligible for the incentive payment as section 3.6 of the scheme terms and conditions clearly state that ‘The Recommended Friend is entitled to only one payment even if they switch more than one account to us or if more than one Recommender refers them’.
• one of the qualify points of the scheme advertisement states that, to be eligible for the offer the person you are referring must; ‘Complete a full switch from their main current account to their new Co-operative Bank account using the Current Account Switch Service.’ They do not believe you switched your main current account based on your account behaviour (account activity).
• as you previously received a payment under the scheme, you aren’t eligible to make a further claim as you can only claim for one payment irrespective of the number of accounts you switch into the Bank.
• their £125 offer was not a new scheme and you therefore weren’t entitled to a new pay-out
• the ‘Refer a Friend Scheme’ was launched in November 2020. They amended the existing scheme but did not withdraw the scheme until 16 December 2022. There was no notice on their website announcing an end to the scheme before December 2022

 

My findings

My role is to consider what both sides have said, along with any evidence provided – to decide if The Co-op have acted fairly. In doing this, I’ve thought about things such as the law and regulation in place at the time, as well as good industry practice. And whether their actions were fair and reasonable.

After reviewing the case file, I have considered all evidence received from yourself and The Co-op including listening to the call recordings you had with The Co-op.

I’ve not been able to find that the 'Refer a Friend' Scheme which launched in November 2020 ended at any point (or was relaunched) before December 2022.

The web information I’ve seen shows that there weren’t two separate offers but only a single one which had been ongoing for quite a length of time.  The offer amount was enhanced and the scheme terms & conditions were updated during the lifetime of the scheme. I’ve found that The Co-op only ended the scheme for the first time in December 2022.

Looking at the updated £125 terms & conditions document I think you would have been considered a new customer as I don’t think the requirement to switch your main current account was clear.

However, looking at the terms & conditions of the £50 and updated £125 document, I think it’s clear that the bank intended to pay out only once to each new consumer switching into their bank who had never benefited from the scheme before.

I therefore don’t think you were eligible for a second payment under the same Refer a Friend scheme because I can’t find that you met the full terms and conditions attached to the scheme as it was still the same campaign.

While I acknowledge that you made a mistake in believing you were eligible to benefit from what you thought was a brand-new offer, I’m not able to hold The Co-op responsible for this mistake. You had already benefitted before.

I appreciate you may be disappointed and that this is not the outcome you were expecting, but I think The Co-op have acted within their terms to withhold the payment, so I won’t be asking them to do anything more.

Next steps

I think this is a fair outcome in the circumstances, for the reasons I’ve explained. If you accept my view, please let me know as soon as possible and we'll close your complaint.

But if you decide that you don't accept what I’ve said – and want an Ombudsman to make a final decision on your complaint – you must provide any further evidence or representations by 6 April 2023. Requests for more time must also be made by that date. If I don’t hear from you by 6 April 2023 we might not be able to look at your complaint again.

ForumUser7

They replied quickly at least, but its frustrating they didn't side with you.

Have you got any evidence to show that the Refer a Friend Scheme which launched in November 2020 ended at any point (or was relaunched) before December 2022? If so, I'd go for an Ombudsman review. If not, it would be difficult to convince them.

Bridlington1

ForumUser7 said:

They replied quickly at least, but its frustrating they didn't side with you.

Have you got any evidence to show that the Refer a Friend Scheme which launched in November 2020 ended at any point (or was relaunched) before December 2022? If so, I'd go for an Ombudsman review. If not, it would be difficult to convince them.

All I've got is that the Ts&Cs were different when I switched my first account to them to when I switched my second to them. If the FOS are saying that the increasing of the offer amount to £125 did not signify the beginning of a new offer then it's certainly not looking promising for me. 

Ed-1

ForumUser7 said:

They replied quickly at least, but its frustrating they didn't side with you.

Have you got any evidence to show that the Refer a Friend Scheme which launched in November 2020 ended at any point (or was relaunched) before December 2022? If so, I'd go for an Ombudsman review. If not, it would be difficult to convince them.

Hope for those who did both £125 offers then as the first clearly was ended on 16th December 2022.

Bridlington1

Ed-1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

They replied quickly at least, but its frustrating they didn't side with you.

Have you got any evidence to show that the Refer a Friend Scheme which launched in November 2020 ended at any point (or was relaunched) before December 2022? If so, I'd go for an Ombudsman review. If not, it would be difficult to convince them.

Hope for those who did both £125 offers then as the first clearly was ended on 16th December 2022.

At least that's something I suppose. The issue for me is that I didn't do the second £125 offer because I was waiting for the FOS to respond regarding the first £125 offer.

[Deleted User]

How long ago did you complain to the Ombudsman? I have a separate complaint that I’ve been waiting a very long time for…

ForumUser7

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

They replied quickly at least, but its frustrating they didn't side with you.

Have you got any evidence to show that the Refer a Friend Scheme which launched in November 2020 ended at any point (or was relaunched) before December 2022? If so, I'd go for an Ombudsman review. If not, it would be difficult to convince them.

All I've got is that the Ts&Cs were different when I switched my first account to them to when I switched my second to them. If the FOS are saying that the increasing of the offer amount to £125 did not signify the beginning of a new offer then it's certainly not looking promising for me. 

I think the problematic clause is 4.1 'We can withdraw this offer at any time and should we choose to do so, we will update our website with the final switching date on which we will honour any payments.'

If they didn't update their website with a final switching date for the 'old' offer, then I suppose they could argue it was never withdrawn, and therefore it is the same offer - which seems to be what they are saying. The terms have changed, but there isn't a date in the new ts and cs that it says the offer is effective from. It is still referred to as the 'refer a friend' promotion.

I guess there is no harm in getting an ombudsman decision - but I wouldn't have high hopes.

I think for clarity the CO-OP should've specified that customers would not be eligible for the £125, if they had received any refer a friend payment before.

For example something along the lines of amending clause 3.8 to: We reserve the right to withhold any payment (or to reverse any payment already made) where we have reasonable grounds for suspecting you have sought to materially abuse or profiteer from the offer, or that you have already received a payment from any of our 'refer a friend' promotions. For example this may arise if we have grounds for believing that you have sought to engage in a marketing campaign to solicit applications from individuals who are not from within your family or immediate circle of friends, or if the bank finds evidence of a payment made to you under this version, or any previous versions of our 'refer a friend' promotion.

~ https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/assets/pdf/bank/currentaccounts/refer-a-friend-terms-and-conditions.pdf (this is the version of the ts and cs I've referenced in my post)

Bridlington1

[Deleted User] said:

How long ago did you complain to the Ombudsman? I have a separate complaint that I’ve been waiting a very long time for…

29th December.