Consumer complaint received 2019-03-21
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Opening an account — Didn't receive terms that were advertised
Company: BB&T CORPORATION (VA)

I opened a BB & T XXXX XXXX account on XX/XX/XXXX. The terms of the new checking account said that if I completed the following : " If you complete one of the following within 75 days of account opening you will receive the {$200.00} incentive : - Enroll in and receive two direct deposits of {$100.00} or more OR - Use U by BB & T bill pay to initiate three online payments of {$25.00} or more Please know that this offer is available for new BB & T clients who open a BB & T checking account and is limited to one incentive per household and does not apply to second or multiple personal accounts. 

Your account will be reviewed between 75 and 120 days of account opening and the incentive will not be provided to you if your account is not in good standing, is closed or has a balance of less than or equal to XXXX. 

The {$200.00} incentive will be paid within four weeks of qualifiers being met. '' After completing all the requirements, BB & T is now refusing to pay out the {$200.00} because they claim in their email to me that " Our records show on XX/XX/XXXX, you opened a XXXX XXXX   using our refer-a-friend promotion and on XX/XX/XXXX, you received a {$50.00} incentive payment to the XXXX XXXX. '' However, this account was closed XX/XX/XXXX. Moreover, they are claiming that this means the new account I opened on XX/XX/XXXX was considered a second account. However, from how the terms are worded, they are intentionally vague on whether this only applies to current customers with current accounts with them or whether this excludes all customers who have ever had an account with BB & T. 

Certainly, this is one way for BB & T to bait and switch customers into coming back to their bank and not follow through with their terms meanwhile using the money I deposited. Of course, if they wanted to exclude all prior customers from getting the bonuses they would have easily written that clause into the terms. Looking at a comparable bank with a similar footprint, XXXX XXXX, their terms for their bonuses are extremely clear that you can only have one bonus per lifetime and that their offers do not account to people with " existing or prior '' accounts : " *Offer is available to new personal checking Customers who do not have an existing or prior personal checking account at XXXX XXXX , open their account online via this web page and complete the required qualifying criteria. '' BB & T Certainly, if we look at XXXX, which BB & T intends to merge with, and their terms for their checking account bonuses, we see much intentionally clearer terms about who are considered new customers : " You must be a new XXXX personal checking client. Clients with an existing personal checking account with XXXX ( either as the primary or secondary account holder ) are not eligible. You must not have closed a personal checking account within 180 days of the promotion start date ( on or after XX/XX/XXXX ). '' XXXX also excludes people who have second or multiple bank accounts like but they are clear that they mean existing customers, not prior customers and they exclude prior customers by stating the 180 day requirement which BB & T does not do. 

Further, it is unclear whether BB & T actually applies this rule consistently with all customers. There are many datapoints online to suggest that BB & T in fact does not and many customers who had accounts in the past have been able to get bonuses again.