Trustcard Plus points: Lloyds lie about redeeming
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All I got on my statement (yesterday) was to "Call 0845 603 7132 to redeem your points". That would cost me £6501.60 (for all points) which is more than twice the credit limit on this ancient card, so couldn't be done even if I wanted.
I recall they threatened to void old points if they hadn't been redeemed by a certain date. This encouragement clearly didn't work because the voiding never happened. I expect nobody did any redeeming becuase the scheme was downgraded to being virtually useless, but equally I expect Lloyds didn't care to carry out their voiding of tens-of-millions of points because their future/potential value of millions of pounds would appear as though written-off in their accounts, and that would raise questions - effectively they would be unilaterally writing off their own debt to someone else and that is a business practice open to challenge.
Anyway, it's effectively a useless scheme. Lloyds would be better advised to provide a real incentive to get this millstone off their backs - if they cannot bring themselves to provide a direct benefit to their customers, they could at least offer to give the implied customer value (1000 points being worth £100) to charity. Or even send me the value of the rewards in the form of cases of wine.0 -
+However: Many thanks for picking this up.
The statement I quoted in the OP was on the first page of my TC statement, on the left below the address under "Your credit card statement...". Does yours the say the same as mine?
I've looked back through the four years or so of TC of statements on file and can't find an earlier occurrence than on the Feb one and I'm pretty sure I'd have picked up on it had it done.
In my case the accrued TC+ points would cost me £7050 to 'redeem', which like you is somewhat over my credit limit.
Yes, I to remember them saying they'd void old points some years back but as you say they didn't carry it out.
Yes, the scheme is useless as it now stands. It's only the >7k points on the card and the possibility that Lloyds might at some point in the future do the decent thing to that's stopped me cancelling it.
One way Lloyds could do this would be to transfer any TC+ points over to their equivalent Choice Reward scheme points, which are redeemable for vouchers or cashback. With CR points accruing at 20 per £10 spend vs. 1 per £10 for TC+ this would be 20 for 1.
Since my last post I've gone back to Lloyds about the second occurrence of the 'can exchange for vouchers' statement.
The first response was "We are not going to exchange your points for vouchers", followed by them saying that I'd already raised a complaint about this and had it settled. True, but the misleading statement has now been repeated so it's a new complaint.
Went round this loop a few times until eventually they gave in and, after several 'I'm just talking to..." and a considerable time on hold, it was escalated it to Complaints Central.
Their line was that my earlier feedback would have been passed on but no one else had raised this matter and they wouldn't change something based on only one complaint (yes, that was what was said). "Even if it's obviously wrong?" I asked and got no answer.
It was left that I would be called back within 48 hours to check the facts before it is raised at a meeting.
I suggested that I'd be happy if they honoured their statement to exchange my points for vouchers, which was taken on as "a possibility".
If you've read this far, if you or anyone else's recent statement has the same wording as mine on the LH of the first page I'd suggest you call the number given and ask for your points to be exchanged for vouchers as stated, raising this to a complaint if refused. The more people who do this the more chance Lloyds may do the decent thing.0 -
FCA regulations effective 26 October 2015 have banned the use of 084, 087 or 09 numbers for contact by existing customers.All I got on my statement (yesterday) was to "Call 0845 603 7132 to redeem your points".
The number has in fact changed to 0345 603 7132 and there is a message on the old premium rate 0845 number telling callers to hang up and re-dial the new number.
Looks like the document template for the statement needs updating.0 -
+Ian011 Well spotted - I'll point that out to them when or more likely if they call me back as promised.
[Edit] My Lloyds TC card, valid from Feb 2016, has an 0845 customer services number on it too.0 -
Got the promised call just before midday.
The wording wasn't wrong or misleading on the basis that anyone using the scheme would know how it worked, so my complaint was not upheld.
Suggested they show the wording to someone unaware of how the scheme worked and ask how they took it to mean the scheme worked, as I have done.
No, they couldn't possibly do that.
Suggested that they could have unwittingly changed the terms of the scheme, particularly after insisting the wording was correct.
Suggested winding up the scheme and transferring points to Choice Rewards at 20:1 for redemption only.
Unlikely to happen.
Pointed out the 084... number still being given on CC statements. Yes, this had just been noticed and would be changed.
Any comments?0 -
You stated further back that "You can only use them by buying vouchers at a 10% discount. A £50 voucher would cost you £45 and 50 points" and you've asserted that this "is not the same as exchanging them for vouchers", but they could (and presumably do) argue that it is exchanging them for vouchers (50 points equating to £5 worth), even though money has to change hands as well, in much the same way that redeeming Avios for flights also entails making cash payments.wrongplanet wrote: »Any comments?
Either way, it seems to me that you're making a huge issue out of a very narrow semantic point and are doggedly insistent that, just because you choose to read their wording in a different way from them, that means that they're lying, an unnecessarily extreme and dogmatic overreaction!
But the bottom line is that, short of making impassioned speeches to the European Court of Human Rights or the United Nations, I'm not sure where you think you can go with this?0 -
Well said that man.0
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No. It must be tailored 'info-puff'. I only use mine occasionally to keep it active (a) to have access to the credit if ever needs be (b) in the vain hope the Rewards might become useful. I got a message about the card's interest rate rising because of the BoE rate rise.wrongplanet wrote: »+However: Many thanks for picking this up.
The statement I quoted in the OP was on the first page of my TC statement, on the left below the address under "Your credit card statement...". Does yours the say the same as mine?
I've essentially written off any benefit from the Rewards scheme. Much the same thing happened with Air Miles - when they changed to Avios, the Air Miles paper vouchers I had (an award from work) became valueless. Then Avios became less useful. And now they're being junked in favour of BA Executive Club - and that scheme, according to a friend, is becoming degraded. Sainbury's has a new pilot for Nectar Cards which seems the dumbest idea for many a moon and will surely result in a big "cannot be bothered" reaction from most sensible people. Nationwide gives the silliest of 'tailored' Simply Rewards - the latest is a single 10% off at The Idle Man - I don't even know what that is or what they do, so I must be doing something right when the big-data harvesters believe they've harvested good data. Subversive or what, eh?
The days of promotional giveaways have effectively been over for years - best to ignore them all, and instead have a pint at Wetherspoons and put the £2 thus saved into a piggy bank!0 -
January 2019.......the statement still has the incorrect phone number!0
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So they are.Elizabeth9 wrote: »January 2019.......the statement still has the incorrect phone number!
FWIW they've not repeated the misleading text on my statements.0
This discussion has been closed.
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