Halifax Credit Card Scam

regularsaver1

PROLIANT wrote: »

Here is a soloution to the problem, online activation, Microsoft do it so why not banks? Put in your card number, follow the security screen then there you have it, one activated card.

post interception?, hence the reason for the phone call - security questions

PROLIANT

regularsaver1 wrote: »

post interception?, hence the reason for the phone call - security questions

No, security questions on screen is enough, it is easier to lie to a person than a computer.

regularsaver1

I guess. Y would it be easier lieing to a person tho?

i know telephone banking uses voice recognition (thats no secret) - but obv they can't use it for this.
but not everyone has access to a computer or feel comfy using one.

space_rider

I went into the halifax branch to use their phone to activate mine. I did almost lose my temper with the agent though because he kept trying to sell me insurance. I ended up asking him if he wanted to activate the card or not because if not I was quite happy to cancel it. Managed without a credit card for the last 8 years so could carry on doing so. It`s safely tucked into a drawer for emergencies only!

MothballsWallet

The last CC I received was my bmi Amex (a recommended by Martin job), and it took very little time to activate it once I found the alternate number from saynoto0870.com.

They kept trying to sell me PPI, BT, etc, even mentioned something that sounded like stoozing (a CC company actually mentioning this! :eek: Whatever next?), but I kept saying "no thank you", "I don't need that just now", or "I've already got that". No problem.

eeeeen

stevej cound'nt have put it better myself spot on mate spot on

gowgowuk

well, I'm just off the phone with Halifax to activate my card and I have to admit it took about half an hour despite me saying that i don't want any additional cover. Probably one of the longest activation I ever had.

pigeonshouse

Tori_Bellatrix wrote: »

I disagree ... You have a choice, you either take it or you don't. End of ... That's not to say that their selling techniques can't be persuasive but you can say no

Hi, sorry I know you wrote this some time ago. I had to say no three times this morning, I already have CPP yet the person on the end of the line still tried to sell me it! They ended up going on about ID theft and how they could sell me something that cost £70 odd quid a year to make sure my credit report didn't contain any anomalies even though you can do this yourself for £2 and they didn't even specify which credit reference agency they would be checking with. They said they couldn't give any paper or detailed info about the insurance unless I signed up for the insurance. That in itself I thought was illegal. They say that their computer takes a while and all that nonsense because as soon as I gave a very firm no, my details were on the system.

I know working in a call centre is difficult - I used to work for one! It really is true that no one knows what they are doing - not because they are stupid people - but because they are trained to act 'stupid' - yet professional at the same time!!!! Hence why CC's have a very high turnover of staff. It's almost like a fast food restaurant stereotype in reverse. The management usually have 10% less IQ than the staff (that's how they get promoted - although occasionally you do get a really good manager who supports their staff who is then forced to quit because of the pressure of not being/acting as stupid as their colleagues or their own manager!) The whole concept of a call centre is pathetic. Anyway rant over!

louby_lou

if the call centre people are polite i never get annoyed - i used to sell insurance for the halifax (ooh-er) in my poor student days but left since i disagreed with the methods my team leader told me to sell by. i invariably use a work phone for this kind of thing, but by far the best option (im sorry i just read it but cant remember the OP's name - apologies) is to go into their branch and call - if you have time that is...

i remember activating my card and as i recall it took about 10 mins max - i usually let ppl say their spiel while im on the pc as i know it makes their shift go quicker and its no trouble to me as im usually browsing this...(i mean working...) unfortunately you cant even go to topshop these days without getting the hard sell for the store card/insurance etc. I just say no enough times for them to get the hint about 100 usually does it...

feesh

I think the OP got a bit of a hard time on this thread.

I too phoned to activate a Halifax credit card a few months back. I had my original letter on my lap at the time and I have scribbled down on it everything that was said on the phone call, because I was shocked at the hard sell I got.

I am very financially savvy and pretty thick skinned, but it still took me half an hour to get them to just activate my damn card!

The hard sell was unbelievable - they must be on some serious commission - they were quite threatening about the "dangers" of me saying no, and gave me all sorts of emotional pressure.

The thing which really made my blood boil was that I could imagine they would have been successful with a large percentage of people, people who don't read MSE and aren't as financially savvy as us - we all know a few. They really laid it on thick with the emotional blackmail.

Now I have had a lot of credit cards and had the PPI hard-sell before, but this Halifax script was pretty shocking IMHO (actually I am not convinced the sales person kept to a script - he was so deft at exaggerating that I think he must have been chasing after some pretty tasty sales commission). It was at the time that Martin was raising the profile of PPI mis-selling and I was shocked that companies were still trying it on.

I have a very complex medical history and there is no way I would have been covered anyway, but the salesman didn't seem interested in that.

I was disgusted at the time and meant to come on here and rant about it, but now I've read the harsh responses to the OP I'm glad I didn't!