Missed out on Santander reward

Capt_easychord

So, I switched current account to Santander in march. Just popped into a branch to see why I haven't received a switch reward to be told that I didn't have enough qualifying direct debits on the account, only one is a "household" direct debit. Is have thought my union membership would count as one!

Frustrating, I'll just switch again I guess. Unless anyone has had a similar situation and managed to get Santander to apply common sense?

la531983

You think a union membership is a "household" direct debit?

Quite clearly this would be something connected to your house (council tax, electric, gas, water, maybe even a Virgin/Sky DD). Not sure why you think a union membership would apply.

Capt_easychord

Point taken, but my mobile phone bill apparently counts as 'household' and it's a MOBILE phone!
I wasn't even aware that they needed to be classed as "household" direct debits. My fault for not checking carefully enough I guess, but I've switched account many times in the past and recieved rewards, and none of those had this requirement. Oh well, won't bother with Santander again.

danny13579

The 2 direct debits have to be on the list.

The good news is that there's nothing stopping you from trying again for the offer.

You'll need to switch in another current account, move your £1,500 across again and ensure both direct debits are from the list. You can use the same Santander account, no need to go opening a new one.

Nothing to do with common sense, those are the conditions of the offer. Not saying it's ideal, the list is a mess and full of companies that are long dissolved or don't have a UK presence. But those are the rules.

flaneurs_lobster

Best to have read the switch bonus rules carefully (or at all). Not only did you need 2 "household" direct debits, the 2 payees have to appear on Santander's approved list.

https://www.santander.co.uk/assets/s3fs-public/AD_documents/Current_account_switch_incentive_Household_Direct_Debits_list_COREMC0876JUN26PUBCDT.pdf

Capt_easychord

Thanks, good to know I can still get the deal, but I don't have another current account to switch from, so I'll need to move banks anyway.

By common sense, I just meant that if they want to keep me as a customer, they could be flexible on what was a genuine mistake. But yes, lesson learned, read the terms and conditions properly.