Barclaycard £20 offer is basically a scam

Sinistercr0c

Hi all,

Created a forum account just to post this and give people the information I've found by going through the whole debacle.

I succesfully applied for the Barclaycard promotion for a 25 month interest free purchase card (as advertised and applied for via the cards section of this website, see pic below)

Great news I thought as I had a purchase for over £250 and a £20 reduction in the cost is not to be sniffed at in todays tight financial climate.  So, based on meeting all the criteria in Barclaycards T&C's I went ahead with the purchase with the full expectation that, as stated in said T&C's, I would see a £20 credit on my account within 5 days.

Having waited patiently for over a week, nothing had appeared on my account so I used the Barclaycard app. chat facility to query the whereabout of the credit.  The chat respondant was an offshore employee (don't ask how I know, suffice to say I work in an industry which uses a lot of offshore resource) who basically reguritated the T&C's but could not help, so I ended up contacting Barclaycards customer complaint line.

The lady on the other end could have not been more helpful, chasing the 'account team' with a view to resolving my issue as efficiently as possible.  She called me back within the hour and basically stated the following (this is the gist of her overall comments to me):

Barclaycard were unable to explain to her in a way that she understood (and she expressed to them that as a colleague, if she could not understand their logic then how was a customer expected to) that even though I had explicity applied for the 25 month 0% purchase card with the £20 offer, they had put me onto the same card deal but WITHOUT the £20 offer attached, in essence arbitrarily changing my application to one which would NEVER receive the £20 credit.

She has opened a formal complaint on my behalf and given me a £20 'goodwill gesture credit' (the only way she was able to cover the £20).

Basically the Barclaycard offer is a scam.  It is intended to drum up business with the expectation that many customers will not follow up on the £20 account credit.  It surely cannot be legal to advertise one product and then not put customers eligble for that product onto another version of it which does not include the perk which got them to apply for it in the first place.

This is only my experience of Barclaycard but I'd bet a pund to a pinch of s%&t that they are doing it to many applicants.

Hope this rant gives people some warning/heads up of Barclaycards underhand tactics, and once I've used the 25 month interest free period, both the card and Barclaycard will be consigned to the bin.

Peace.

cymruchris

I wouldn't say it's a scam - but you've experienced a technical glitch. These kinds of offers rely on tracking cookies, and with so many operating systems, phones, laptops, iPads etc. it has been known that tracking doesn't always work perfectly. Did you click on the link from the MSE page and then go straight into application? If for example you'd applied directly through the Barclaycard website without clicking through from MSE you wouldn't have gotten the offer.

If you'd clicked through and then came back the day after to complete the application, that might have also caused an issue. In general tracking offers do work if you follow the right steps, but there are times when they don't and the only way to resolve it is to make a complaint as you have, and thankfully you've got your £20. (As stated though - not a scam - just limitations to technology and/or people clicking wrong links and/or applying in the wrong place - lots of potential variables).

DullGreyGuy

Did you ever get the technical explanation that the agent didn't understand?

Did you do the normal recommended activities when signing up for "cashback" etc such as clearing cookies, using the browser in private mode etc. 

These sorts of issues are normally tied to advertisers commissions and if you click through from A first then their deal sticks even if you subsequently click through and buy/signup from B


PS, should have applied via Quidco who'd have given you £19 from their commission plus the £20 statement credit from Barclays.

Sinistercr0c

I understand the concept of tracking cookies and you are correct up to a point (Santander used the same arguement when failing to provide a similar offer some time ago but their credit card but that was for spending rewards). I applied through this website, however you can apply directly on the Barclaycard website, and nowhere does it state any information relating to any offer requires the explicit acknowledgement/agreement/use of cookies....neither does their website cookie policy state that, so I'd have to respectfully disagree.

For ref. here is what Barclaycard use cookies for:

It won't let me post links so here's a screenshot of the URL

Sinistercr0c

I understand the concept of tracking cookies and you are correct up to a point (Santander used the same arguement when failing to provide a similar offer some time ago for their credit card but that was for spending rewards). I applied through this website, however you can apply directly on the Barclaycard website, and nowhere does it state any information relating to any offer requires the explicit acknowledgement/agreement/use of cookies....neither does their website cookie policy state that, so I'd have to respectfully disagree.

For re. here is what Barclaycard use cookies for:

martinbainbridge1975

Would not exactly describe as a scam, I took a Barclaycard promotion for 24 months 0 per cent purchase a few months ago, and got a £20 credit on my account by spending £250 in the first 90 days of having the card.  Done what it says on your screenshot above by the looks of it.

Not an avid fan of Barclays but the deals they offer are pretty competitive in terms of all round card promotions

Sinistercr0c

apologies, for some reason its double posted my reply.

DullGreyGuy

You are applying from a paid link on MSE (hence the * next to the apply link) and so more likely it's a cookie from TradeDoubler, or whichever affiliate marketing scheme that's being used, than Barclays. The middleman in theory gives the advertiser confidence in the tracking/payout rate etc when websites decide who's products they want to promote.

So did you go through the normal clearing cookies etc routine before clicking through? Guessing not.

cymruchris

Sinistercr0c said:

apologies, for some reason its double posted my reply.

You can delete the duplicate post using the little wheel on the right hand side of the green bar - but as you're a new member with a low post count - it might not be visible yet. I think you have to have been here a few days and made a certain number of posts for it to appear. (Not sure how many/how long).

I still wouldn't say it's a SCAM though - more a tracking error. The technology is good, but it isn't perfect. As has been mentioned - before applying for anything that includes a bonus of some kind that relies on tracking, it's good practice to clear your cookies before doing so, that way you minimise the risk of what's happened to you. 

A phone call usually sorts it out (As it has for you) and yes it's a pain in the neck - but until we get 100% accurate tracking it'll never be perfect. 

Sinistercr0c

I'm not here to argue, but I'm sorry 'clearing cookies' or any varient of that argument just doesn't wash.  Its not stated anywhere on any documentation or webpage on the Barclaycard website (or moneysavingexpert for that matter) that there is any requirement to do so and the general public may not even know what cookies are or how to clear them.

You're guessing what might have happened.  I'm stating what has....barclaycard were not going to pay the £20 credit on a product they said they would as long the relevant T&C's were complied with.  so what would you call that?

cymruchris

Sinistercr0c said:

You're guessing what might have happened.  I'm stating what has....barclaycard were not going to pay the £20 credit on a product they said they would as long the relevant T&C's were complied with.  so what would you call that?

An error that was resolved with a phone call.