Most of the time, advertisement would mislead us to think that we are getting the best out of it but in actual life, they come with unstated terms and conditions that drive us crazy.
Take for an example of ABBEY BANK which has this promotional thingy and really lead us to believe that we could get money out of it such as the one below:
After asking further when we decided to open the account only did we know that there's an unstated rule of "CHECKING OUR BANK RECORD HISTORY BEFORE DETERMINING WHETHER WE ARE ENTITILED TO THE £100 CASHBACK" which is not anywhere stated in the terms and condition.
And this is their terms and condition:
1. £100 cashback offer
2. Get £100 when you open and switch to a new Preferred Overdraft Rate Bank Account.(See note below.)
3. To qualify for the £100, simply:o switch using the Account Transfer Service;o transfer all direct debits from your previous account; ando pay at least £1,000 into your new bank account within 11 weeks of opening it.
4. We will then pay the £100 into your new bank account within three months of the account being opened.
5. You must be over 18.
6. This offer isn’t available if you already hold one of our bank accounts or an Alliance & Leicester, Cahoot or Cater Allen current account, or have held one in the last three months.
7. This offer is limited and only open to you if we have accepted you for a Preferred Overdraft Rate Account
I mean, like WHAT THE FUCK!? right?? I do think its really unfair to us when you are advertising this promotion and when we are really interested to apply, you give us this shit about CHECKING OUR BANKING HISTORY before deciding to give out the £100.
If that's the case, PLEASE STATE THE REAL DEAL in your advertisement before publishing it so that we, poor consumers won't feel like we got cheated.
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And the other advertisement that makes me pissed off is the one below with the advertised bit as listed:
1. Interest-free overdraft - of up to £2,000
2. £50 cash - credited to the account after it has been opened for one month
3. Essentials - includes a Visa debit or Electron card for easy, secure withdrawals and purchases
4. Earn - while you learn with 2% AER (5% for Santander University Account) (see note 1) interest on the money in your account on balances up to £500.
5. Easy access - through Abbey’s 700+ branches and cash machine network.
6. Online banking - for 24-hour access to your bank account
7. Prize Draw- once you have opened your account you will be eligible to enter the prize draw for the Celebrity Master Class. For more information please go to http://www.celebritymasterclass.co.uk/
8. Money for nothing – In September we’re giving away £50, EVERY HOUR, EVERY DAY, FOR 30 DAYS! For more information please go to www.facebook.com/abbeystudents
Nothing did the advertisement state that ONLY APPLICABLE TO UK AND EU STUDENT. (for your information, I copy and pasted the text above without editing it). Only when we ask did we get this stupid answer that we, as international students are not entitled to this £50 cash.
I mean, come on, this is total racial descrimination (which of course, they wouldn't admit). How could you even choose out who gets to get the £50 and for bloody's sake, we are poor, penniless student who hope to get more money from any sources.
Like super cheating. Fuming with anger now and we hate to say this:
ABBEY BANK, YOU ARE SO FULL OF LIES AND IF YOU REALLY WANNA MAKE YOUR COMPANY GROW, JUST BE HONEST AND WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING IN YOUR ADVERTISEMENT BEFORE PUBLISHING IT SO THAT YOU WOULD NOT WASTE OUR TIME TRYING TO APPLY FOR YOUR BANK ACCOUNT!!!