Sharp Santander Edge Account Practices.

sammieking

Sharp Santander Edge Account Practices.

Around late 2024 I was getting bomb-barded by spam from Santander to switch my existing bog standard current account to an Edge account and collect £150.

So I followed their link like the dummy I was and switched paid my £3 fee PM paid in £1000's and more than 2 direct debits to qualify for the £150 PAYOUT only to now find-out I never actually switched, they called it an upgrade internally instead!

So if I was so easily duped I am assuming there must be many more existing Santander  other customers that was as well.

Now when you take a closer look at both offers the language used for both offers is almost identical yet when they talk about switching internally they fail to mention the switch has to be from an external bank account to qualify for the £150 within 90 days of opening an edge account.

Yet the terms and conditions are exactly the same, I am sorry but this is very confusing and in my humble OAP mindset sharp practice and a bit of a con.

The point being charged a fee for doing the exact same banking can not be called an upgrade if the customer gets zero benefits from the said brilliant Santander internal offer.

Been with Santander since 2012 and until now has been a fantastic experience, but I feel I may have been age related targeted and fell for it hook line and sinker lol

Others may read this and think yeah they got me as well :-(.

I will be lodging both a banking ombudsman and Advertising Standards complaints and publishing this thread on all my own high traffic consumer blogs.

 

soulsaver

Santander £150 switch offer Nov 2024:

"You won’t qualify for the switcher offer if:

- you’re not a UK resident

- you switch from an account you hold with Santander, cahoot or Cater Allen

- you’re switching to any other Santander account that isn’t named above

- anyone named on the Santander account has previously received an incentive payment to switch to a Santander current account since September 2021."

eskbanker

sammieking said:

Around late 2024 I was getting bomb-barded by spam from Santander to switch my existing bog standard current account to an Edge account and collect £150.

Do you still have copies of these messages?

It's pretty much standard practice that switching bonuses are offered only to those enacted via the Current Account Switching Service, which does indeed only apply when changing banks, which is obviously the behaviour that they're looking to incentivise - the Ts & Cs of the £150 offer will be clear on that point.

However, are you suggesting that they supplied a link that was clearly labelled as delivering a switching incentive but actually directed you to the internal 'upgrade' process?

flaneurs_lobster

sammieking said:

Been with Santander since 2012 and until now has been a fantastic experience, but I feel I may have been age related targeted and fell for it hook line and sinker lol

Others may read this and think yeah they got me as well :-(.

You've been "age related targeted"? How is such material identified? Writing only in bold?

Don't think anyone who has actually read the conditions of the many bank switch offers that have been around for years and have been discussed on this forum in threads stretching for hundreds of pages has actually thought as you.

To get cash you need to swap your account from another bank.

Good luck with the Ombudsman, the ASA and the readers of your "many blogs".

Eyeful

1.  Switching incentives of the type you mention are there to attract new customers from other banks.
2. Why do you expect any bank to give you  a £150 switching incentive if you have not switched, but already bank with them? 

grumpy_codger

sammieking said:

Around late 2024 I was getting bomb-barded by spam from Santander to switch my existing bog standard current account to an Edge account and collect £150.
 

Late 2024 isn't long ago. You probably still have this 'spam' and can quote it here, in your complaints and other places.
If you deleted the 'spam', how are you going to complain?

EarthBoy

You say: 

"The point being charged a fee for doing the exact same banking can not be called an upgrade if the customer gets zero benefits from the said brilliant Santander internal offer." 

It's incorrect to say that you're getting zero benefits, because you get cashback for paying your bills by direct debit. You didn't get any cashback on your "bog standard current account", so you're still better off, unless the cashback is less than the monthly fee. 

grumpy_codger

EarthBoy said:

You say: 

"The point being charged a fee for doing the exact same banking can not be called an upgrade if the customer gets zero benefits from the said brilliant Santander internal offer." 

It's incorrect to say that you're getting zero benefits, because you get cashback for paying your bills by direct debit. You didn't get any cashback on your "bog standard current account", so you're still better off, unless the cashback is less than the monthly fee. 

Also 6% Edge Saver (is it still available?)
And recently I found out that BACS CHAPS transfers are free from Edge.

eskbanker

grumpy_codger said:

And recently I found out that BACS transfers are free from Edge.

Do you mean CHAPS, which is normally a chargeable service, rather than BACS, which isn't (and isn't generally available for use from personal current accounts anyway)?

grumpy_codger

Yes, CHAPS, sorry.

Corrected now

sammieking

Thanks guys, the point I am trying to make is when they said SWITCH from my old account to the EDGE one unless one is fully aware they are talking about switching from an external bank account to Santander there was nothing on the actual link page they gave me that actually stated those facts, all the page said was if you do this and do what we want to qualify, you get these included edge account benefits.

At this monument its a break even sicario as my wife is the main breadwinner there was no point me switching up to what is now termed as an upgrade of sorts lol

I fully understand the real terms and conditions now but at the time the links they provided was as clear as mud to me and now others as well as really misleading from an internal Santander offer point of view..