NAB 350k Points - rewarded by whinging about a promo I'm not eligible for

Here's a little story of how a whinge about a bank promotion I knew I wasn't eligible for ended up putting $395 in fees back into my pocket. It goes to show its always worth calling up the bank to be let in on promotions. Worst that can happen is they say "no" and nothing changes.

Keen to hear other people's little banking tips and tricks.

NAB has this 350k Frequent Flyer points offer for new customers going on until end of Dec. I'm not eligible for it as I'm an existing customer. Called them up anyway to voice my dismay at being left out of the promotion, being a long and loyal customer who until now haven't thought about refinancing etc etc.

The poor lady I got first had no idea about the offer, and ended up reading the promo details from a sheet with great emphasise placed on the "new customer" criteria. My response was that I understood that however surely there's something the bank can do to reward their current customers. Perhaps half the points and a gift card that expires in a week?
After some more back and forth and feigned hearbreak I asked to be sent to the mortgage retention team to explain my views which lead to a complaint request. Looking back, chatting with the loans department was a waste of time and I should've just asked for the retention team directly.

Two working days later, I get a call from NAB that they really can't backdoor me into the points promotion but they can waive the $395 annual package fee as a sign of good faith. Not a bad outcome from a call that I thought was going to deliver no result.

 

I've called lenders simply asking about new customer deals before and indicating I would like the same rate please despite being an existing customer, and I have been told no, to which I sigh in bewilderment. I have had call centre operators then pipe up and ask "Are you planning to refinance elsewhere?" And I have wondered where that question came from since I made no mention of it, so I say "Well maybe..." and bam, the call centre operator tells me that an 0.9% reduction has now been applied. Wow that was easy I thought. I suppose the call centre operator was grateful for a courteous caller for a change.

 

Foxtel is the best for this stuff, call them up threatening to disconnect and they open their legs like a pair of BBQ tongs. 5x free box office movies for you sir lol.

 

This is not unique to the banking industry, it's possible everywhere. The key is loyalty, if you have been with a provider for a good amount of time they will really stretch to retain your business.

This is just some of what I have achieved in a 10 minute phone call in the past year alone:

Foxtel - From $75 a month to $36 with NO loss of channels

Gym - 3 months for half price as a fitness first platinum member. Saved $12 a week for 15 weeks.

Healthcare - 1 months free (value $230)

CreditCard - Accidentlty missed a payment deadline and got charged $300 interest. Got that reversed quick smart.

Elec/Gas - additional 2% pay ontime discount. Not much but $50 a year better in my pocket.

Car/House - obvious one but always save $100+ on the quoted auto renewal.

It is amazing what can be achieved in less than an hour on the phone. I always find it funny how people work to make money but people won't put in the time to save money.
Most people wont do this exercise once a year claiming "too busy" but the value in comparison to their hourly wage is probably 20-30 times more!

 

Im with NAB and saw that promotion as well as an earlier one for their credit card (lots of ff points as well) - read all the nitty gritty fine print to find out im not eligible. Hmmmm....

 

One of my favourite mottos "if you don't ask, you don't get".

 

Give em a call Nattl. "I'm not eligible" was the main concern on my mind but hey, NAB delivered something.