Consumer complaint received 2018-07-26
Company: HANCOCK WHITNEY BANK
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Didn't receive terms that were advertised

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I visited the XXXX XXXX website and saw a publicly available page on the bank 's website advertising a promotion for opening a checking account and meeting certain criteria. That website is, at the time of my signing up and at the time of writing this complaint, still accessible online and publicly available. 

The site says, " Earn up to {$400.00} with a new checking and savings account ... .must meet criteria - see below. '' Upon looking below the headline, in the middle section of the site it says : " Choose which offer is right for you. Here 's how : 1. Enter your email address on the form, and we'll send you a promo code.

2. Bring the promo code to your nearest financial center.

3. Open your account ( s ) and complete qualifying activities. '' While going through the sign up process, I had issues with the website and the signup process. On XX/XX/18, I called the support line to make sure everything was set up properly with the account. While on the phone, I decided to double check that the promo code was applied properly and asked the phone representative to check for me. The representative had to speak with XXXX XXXX 's back office employees, but shared two pieces of news to me.

1. I was not eligible to receive this promotion because according to the back office it was only for people who received a flyer in the mail and it was not for residents of Texas 2. It is illegal in Texas for a bank to give a bonus greater than {$150.00} Point # 2 appeared to be an outright lie from my perspective, because I have seen many advertisements in the branches of other banks in XXXX advertising bonuses greater than {$150.00}. 

Point # 1 was news to me, because the site only says to enter your email address to receive a promo code for this bonus. Additionally, the site does not make any mention anywhere of specific states that are eligible, and does not specifically say that Texas residents are not eligible. 

When I disputed these points on the phone, I was instructed to go into a physical branch and I would be taken care of. 

I promptly drove to a branch 10 minutes from my location, and spoke with XXXX XXXX about the issue. She repeated the same lines to me as the phone representatives did, except she added that the promotional code came from a third party. I flatly objected to that assertion, because the process to receive a promo code for this offer is by using a page that is publicly available on the XXXX XXXX website at XXXX XXXX XXXX In my experience, when promotional offers are targeted to specific people, they receive a unique code in the mail. However, for this promotion a code can be received by anyone accessing this publicly available site. The site is quite clear that a promo code is required to receive the promotional offer, and that to receive a promo code one simply needs to request one by entering their email. The promo code form also asks you to enter your zipcode when requesting the promo code, so the bank was certainly aware that I was a Texas resident when I requested a promo code and before I signed up, yet the bank still sent me a promo code and allowed me to create a checking account. During the sign up process, there is even a box for you to enter the promo code and a button that says " verify promo code. '' I used this button and did not receive any errors or messages saying I was not eligible.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation