First Direct query

webmasterpolo

I'd given up and today I got a letter replying to my last 4 letters complaining about not being offered the £100 to close the account and they have finally agreed to pay it. You have to be determined to get what they owe you. Still 4 letters for £100 is a good deal.

@ interbear, you won't get the first £100 until after you have 3 x £1500 credited to your account.

-Web

jonnybravo147

I finally got my 2nd £100. The first call got them checking to see if I qualified for it and the second to chase up the payment itself.

BTW you can save money on stamps and phone calls by using the website's contact form and asking for a callback, give your number and say what hours they should call you. I think it's best to be friendly when they call, cos it's not that person's fault and then they'll be more helpful.

Cloudane

I've had 3 salary payments of £1215 now and tried the trick of transferring £300 out and back in every month to put it over the required £1500, and no £100 incentive has arrived. So I think they know if it's from an employer or not, or at the very least don't count money that is blatantly transferred in that manner

Shame as it would've been helpful about now, but hey ho. I was working with the assumption that it wouldn't be paid anyway.

No sense in phoning them to ask for it. They'd be like "let's see... you've got £1215 here from your employer, then a faster payment to Mr Cloudane for £300 on the same day, then a faster payment back from Mr Cloudane for £300 on the same day again. Are you taking the p155?" :rotfl:

mrmajika

Cloudane wrote: »

No sense in phoning them to ask for it. They'd be like "let's see... you've got £1215 here from your employer, then a faster payment to Mr Cloudane for £300 on the same day, then a faster payment back from Mr Cloudane for £300 on the same day again. Are you taking the p155?" :rotfl:

Send them a secure message via internet banking - it can't do any harm.

I had to chase them via this method when I HAD met the criteria, but hadn't received the £100.

Cloudane

I guess not - it's not like they're going to close my account for being a bit cheeky and trying to get the incentive on a slightly lower income. I hope!

Sent them a message and generally acting dumb. Will see what happens... I have a feeling they'll see straight through my attempt at bending £1500 rule and return with a resounding NO (they probably get it a lot and know every trick in the book), but it's worth a shot

Cloudane

Had confirmation that it's due to be credited within 14 days - fingers crossed!

Cloudane

And the conclusion is - they paid it! I got the impression they were going to pay it automatically anyway, but maybe the nudge helped

So to confirm, no they don't require the full £1500/month income to be a BACS payment from an employer, at least they didn't with me. I transferred the £300 shortfall out to another of my (non FD) accounts and back in and got away with it fine.

It's POSSIBLE however that doing it this way doesn't trigger the joining bonus on an automatic basis. From the way the guy phrased it, that it was 'due' to be paid, I think it did, but can't say for certain. In which case it could be down to the discretion and jobsworthiness of the advisor, who will either see through your fraud minor deception and point out that it needs to be actual income, or turn a blind eye because you were nice and polite, and trigger the payment for you

snowcat53

I have also found considerable difficulty getting First Direct to honour their closure offer of £100 although to be fair they paid the opening bonus without argument (after prompting). I sent a secure message through the website after 8m of account being open( met all criteria of funding 1500 pcm etc), asking to close and transfer the acccount to a named Smile account, and requesting the £100. I had to sned 2 messages requestingt this do that twice. The next thing i knew I was locked out of internet banking - they had closed it but hadnt notified me.

Ringing the helpline i eventually got passed to customer service person who tried to say I wasnt eliigible because I 'hadnt stated i was unhappy' and they 'would have to investigate the reasons I was unhappy' and that 'this had never happened before'(!)

I was grilled about what the problem was and why I didnt like them. Finally she said she would 'pass it on' & i might get it by cheque. I strongly suspect I'll have to chase and fight for it and they are clearly trying to slide out of their promise. Interested to hear of others' experience

onlypaddy

oh, i feel sorry for the people only using first direct as a cash cow. I'd stay with them for the service above taking £100 to go to a different bank any day

snowcat53

I have no compunction about taking money from any bank if it's on offer- they've taken enough from us. In any case I find Smile much better in terms of ease of use than FD.