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Email this5:14 pm
December 1, 2016
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I opened an account with Tangerine 6 months ago and one of the incentives to get new customers was that if you set up an ASP for $100 or more per month for 6 continuous months, they would reward you with $25 bonus.
I got onto the online chat and spoke with an agent just to confirm if I will be receiving my $25 Bonus and surprisingly I was told I would not. Disappointed, I asked why that was and I was told that you need to have 6 consecutive months of ASP and I was told I started it last month (January).
I immediately I felt the need to correct her and say that I had started the ASP shortly after opening my TFSA 6 months ago and had the contributions go in the TFSA every two weeks totalling $150 per month (I also opened a Savings account as well).
After further chatting, I realized what they meant from what I had done. In December of last year, I was planning on investing into a mutual fund TFSA (with Tangerine or elsewhere), so I withdrew my funds from the TFSA Savings account (as is common among many investors) and transferred it into my regular savings account, until I'm ready to start the investment this new year. However, what I also did was stop the ASP that was already going into the TFSA and started it (continued is really the correct word) for the same amount but now into the savings account. So, they said because I had stopped it before the 6 continuous months, that disqualifies me from getting the $25 bonus.
I insisted that the terms and conditions says "†† To earn the second $25 Bonus, the ASP amount must total $100 or more per month, for 6 continuous months." in my interpretation of this, in plain English, is if you keep the ASP going for 6 months you'll get the $25 bonus. I believe I have met that requirement, because it does not say in the T&C that the ASP has to be in the "same account".
Now, its only $25, so I'm not going to lose sleep over this, but really? I mean, I understand if I had stopped the ASP from the TFSA and waited a few months and then started it on the savings account, but the same day I stopped it on the TFSA I also started it on the savings account and so I feel the 6 months WAS continuous regardless of which account(s) its on.
Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, or maybe they are. I feel its just semantics now. I am just saying if that is the policy, at the very least Tangerine should have re-wrote that T&C to say, "†† To earn the second $25 Bonus, the ASP amount must total $100 or more per month, for 6 continuous months, ON THE SAME ACCOUNT".
How hard is that?
I have escalated this for further review to have a supervisor call me in 2 days time, but if I don't get the bonus, I don't really care, but I feel thats just petty on their part.
I don't really know how to feel about this, am I wrong? Do I have a leg to stand on here? Don't get me wrong, my issue is not that there is a policy like this, I'm just saying they should be more transparent and clear. To me, its written in plain English, 6 consecutive months, it doesn't say, 6 months in the same account. PERIOD.
Rant over. and please any feedback, for or against, can we please keep it cordial?
7:28 pm
September 11, 2013
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Based on what you say sounds like the bonus was for an ASP and in your case you have two separate ASPs. I know you see the 2nd one as a continuation of the 1st one but as different accounts were involved I guess technically these are separate ASPs and they say neither one meets the criteria. Could that be it?
10:25 pm
December 1, 2016
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Bill said
Based on what you say sounds like the bonus was for an ASP and in your case you have two separate ASPs. I know you see the 2nd one as a continuation of the 1st one but as different accounts were involved I guess technically these are separate ASPs and they say neither one meets the criteria. Could that be it?
No no, never had 2 ASPs, I stopped the original ASP that was for my TFSA and then immediately started a new one for the savings account, so I always only had one up and running, but technically I did stop the first one before the 6 month mark, but I had no idea that would disqualify me from the bonus, I figured, as long as you have an ASP set up and its continuously running for 6 months with no lag/gap in between, then it still meets the criteria, but they are saying no, it had to be 6 months on the original ASP that was set up.
Still waiting for supervisor call. Worst they will say is no, so nothing to lose, and as I said before, its not a lot of money, but still I just think its a bit petty on their part.
If that is their policy, I can appreciate that, but my point is, specify this in your T&C.
6:04 am
September 11, 2013
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moneyhelp, you say "No,no, never had two ASPs" but then you say you "stopped the original ASP.........and then immediately started a new one....." I suggest you use different wording in your discussions with them if your position is you only ever had one ASP, because right now you're saying you had two ASPs (one to your TFSA, then "a new one", albeit for the same amount, to your regular savings account) with only one of them active at any point in time.
Do their T&C define what they mean by "ASP"?
Based on what you quote from the T&C, the references are to "the ASP amount", ASP is singular, so I guess that's their position. And if they make an exception for you, perhaps that's not fair to other people who were careful to adhere to the wording in order to get the bonus, might also be what they're thinking.
I agree it would be nice if "close is good enough" always applied. Sucks, but it's only 25 bucks.
10:57 am
December 1, 2016
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Bill said
moneyhelp, you say "No,no, never had two ASPs" but then you say you "stopped the original ASP.........and then immediately started a new one....." I suggest you use different wording in your discussions with them if your position is you only ever had one ASP, because right now you're saying you had two ASPs (one to your TFSA, then "a new one", albeit for the same amount, to your regular savings account) with only one of them active at any point in time.Do their T&C define what they mean by "ASP"?
Based on what you quote from the T&C, the references are to "the ASP amount", ASP is singular, so I guess that's their position. And if they make an exception for you, perhaps that's not fair to other people who were careful to adhere to the wording in order to get the bonus, might also be what they're thinking.
I agree it would be nice if "close is good enough" always applied. Sucks, but it's only 25 bucks.
ASP = Automated Savings Program
I had one ASP set up for my TFSA. I decided to withdraw my funds from the TFSA and stop the ASP. I then started another ASP in the regular savings account. At no time there was 2 ASPs running at the same time. Terminated one and started a new one IMMEDIATELY after.
My point is two fold:
1) There was no lag/gap between both ASPs, so by definition it was continuos with respect to time as is stated in their T&C, just two different ASPs, so that's their position, that it had to be the same ASP for 6 months, which bring me to point 2.
2) If that is their policy, fine. But at least indicate this on their t&c.
And yes, I agree, its only $25. We'll see what they say.
12:34 pm
June 8, 2016
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FWIW, My story re: Tang ASP...I did 6 ASP deposits, last day of month Dec 2015-May2016, and waited for my $25...did not arrive; when I called Tang CSR, said would be deposited after 6 full months, ie Jan-Jun 2016 (so I did a 7th ASP deposit June 30, just in case...). Subsequent call to CSR July 2, was told to call back on a weekday, as weekend guy couldn't access my info on this (?). So I called back on July 4, CSR agreed that I should have received my $25, would forward my concerns to 'marketing'. Called back on July 11, fourth call now, and CSR seemed surprised I had not heard from 'marketing', and would make a "from us to you" payment, and the world was as it should be!! Kind of a rigamorale...
I know this issue is different from moneyhelp's, but the moral of my story: CSR, in this case, made it right (Marketing may yet have deposited the $25 at some later date; I'll never know)
Moneyhelp, hope Tang honors the intent of your ASP deposits, notwithstanding what the lawyers (fine print) might say...a little goodwill goes a long way often!!
12:51 pm
September 11, 2013
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moneyhelp, I see what you're saying, you were in the ASP the whole time. So maybe their issue is not that there were 2 different accounts involved, it's about the "continuous" part (which is also what the agent's conversation with you indicates).
Their T&C say "for 6 continuous months". You say you terminated one, then started its replacement immediately after, so maybe they're saying for a few moments in between you weren't in the ASP so it's not "continuous" - ?!
If that's their position, that's pretty strict and I'd be surprised if the supervisor doesn't override the agent. I had something tiny with them once, can't remember what it was, and they rectified it and put another $5 (I think it was) in my account as goodwill gesture.
5:04 pm
December 1, 2016
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Bill said
Their T&C say "for 6 continuous months". You say you terminated one, then started its replacement immediately after, so maybe they're saying for a few moments in between you weren't in the ASP so it's not "continuous" - ?!If that's their position, that's pretty strict and I'd be surprised if the supervisor doesn't override the agent. I had something tiny with them once, can't remember what it was, and they rectified it and put another $5 (I think it was) in my account as goodwill gesture.
That's exactly what they're saying. Their position is that since I stopped one ASP before the 6 month mark, it disqualifies my eligibility for the bonus, but the T&C say it must be 6 months of continuous ASP and my point is, I did fulfill that requirement, albeit with 2 accounts, but since I had set up bi-weekly contributions, each one of those bi-weekly contributions were met when including both ASPs; there was no gap of let's say a month going by and the regularly scheduled ASP that would have been due was not done and then I decided OK, I'll start a new ASP. That did not happen. I stopped one ASP and the next minute set up the 2nd ASP on the SAME day.
Each bi-weekly ASP from the moment I opened the Tangerine TFSA and Savings accounts were met and the T&C does not specify it must be continuos only in the same account.
Semantics... maybe, but still...
3:24 pm
December 1, 2016
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Good News. Tangerine was kind enough to make an exception for me.
I got on the online chat since a Tangerine supervisor was supposed to have called me within 1-2 business days and its been one week, so I asked what the status was and they told me to hold as they checked...
The agent came back online and said, "Ok, I've gone ahead and sent the request to pay the bonus to our operations team. The fact that you maintained an ASP for 6 months, but didn't know you had to keep it in the same account the whole time, shouldn't exclude you from the bonus."
That was kind of them to at least acknowledge that their t&c were not explicit enough for me to know their policy, but the agent did go as far as saying that this is a one time exception and that moving forward any ASP promo must be within the SAME account.
I thanked the agent and said, "great, ok thank you so much for your understanding and thank you for being transparent that it must be within the same account. Just a little friendly feedback, you might want to add that to the terms and conditions on the your website, its only 4 extra words; "in the same account" then there would be no room for misunderstandings or misinterpretations."
So good news folks...
7:02 pm
September 11, 2013
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Interesting. I thought it was because you stopped one before you started the other thus having a momentary break in the 6 months (I was going to suggest, next time, you start the new one before you cancel the old one so you never have a point in time when you're not in the ASP) but now they say it's because different accounts were involved. In that case, as their T&C didn't specify that, maybe they realize you are technically right, those 4 words should have been in the T&C, and so they're acting like they're doing you a favour.
Either way, 25 bucks is 25 bucks (unless it's taxable interest - ?).
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