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

Bridlington1

ForumUser7 said:

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update their website with a final switching date for the 'old' offer, then I suppose they could argue it was never withdrawn, and therefore it is the same offer - which seems to be what they are saying.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)

I think the most logical thing for them to have done is to keep the original cut off time in the Ts&Cs as they did when it was still at £50. Regardless I think they could have made the offer Ts&Cs a bit clearer to avoid any misconceptions.

Dustybee

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.

Do you have a screenshot or actual confirmation of this?  I've got a screenshot of the latest referral stating the end date of 28th February.

bristolleedsfan

ForumUser7 said:

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. 

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.

£50 offer did not get withdrawn, it was increased to £125 on 1 November ....

ForumUser7

bristolleedsfan said:

ForumUser7 said:

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. 

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.

£50 offer did not get withdrawn, it was increased to £125 on 1 November ....

Yeah, I meant that as they never updated with a switching offer final date, it wasn’t withdrawn and was increased instead

Ed-1

Ed-1 said:

Hot off the press.

"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."

No idea where this info is.

@Dustybee I posted one in December

pfpf

i am trying to get my head around all the recent info.

in summary is the status on this that if you claimed the "first" £125.00, co-op are claiming that that offer was a continuation of the previous £50.00 offer which means the 2nd £125.00 offer should be independent of previous offers as the first £125.00 "ended"?

Ed-1

pfpf said:

i am trying to get my head around all the recent info.

in summary is the status on this that if you claimed the "first" £125.00, co-op are claiming that that offer was a continuation of the previous £50.00 offer which means the 2nd £125.00 offer should be independent of previous offers as the first £125.00 "ended"?

In a nutshell. The refer a friend offer wasn't withdrawn at any time between November 2020 and 16th December 2022, which is why some who started a switch when the offer was £50 but finished the switch when it had been amended to £125 received the higher amount. The only separate offer has been the February 2023 one, but Coop are still rejecting claims for this one on the basis that it's the same offer. The FOS should overrule this though.

flaneurs_lobster

pfpf said:

i am trying to get my head around all the recent info.

in summary is the status on this that if you claimed the "first" £125.00, co-op are claiming that that offer was a continuation of the previous £50.00 offer which means the 2nd £125.00 offer should be independent of previous offers as the first £125.00 "ended"?

and to continue @pfpf 's points, I claimed (and received) the first £125, shut down the account. Opened, switched and claimed again (all in February) and was declined. 

Does the FOS opinion mean that I should appeal/compain about the refusal since I take the opinion to mean that there were two distinct offers?

There's also a sentence in the opinion "They do not believe you switched your main current account based on your account behaviour (account activity)." which is a whole new crate of snakes.

Dustybee

flaneurs_lobster said:

pfpf said:

i am trying to get my head around all the recent info.

in summary is the status on this that if you claimed the "first" £125.00, co-op are claiming that that offer was a continuation of the previous £50.00 offer which means the 2nd £125.00 offer should be independent of previous offers as the first £125.00 "ended"?

and to continue @pfpf 's points, I claimed (and received) the first £125, shut down the account. Opened, switched and claimed again (all in February) and was declined. 

Does the FOS opinion mean that I should appeal/compain about the refusal since I take the opinion to mean that there were two distinct offers?

There's also a sentence in the opinion "They do not believe you switched your main current account based on your account behaviour (account activity)." which is a whole new crate of snakes.

Yes I noticed that too, but in his findings the FOS says :

"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."

The bank have really made a mess of this.  They have posted 'conditions' on their website at various times which may not have been in the documented terms and conditions that we've all analysed.

Bridlington1

The thing that's baffling me though is that there are people on this thread who claimed the £50 during the original offer period (2021-November 2022), switched out before they increased the payment to £125, then switched back in in November/December to successfully receive £125.

Unless I'm going mad, the FOS ruling would suggest these people would have been ineligible for the £125 so why have Co-op paid them?