Why the Lloyds Avios credit card ‘refer a friend’ service is a joke

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Four weeks ago I wrote about the new refer-a-friend offer that Lloyds was offering on the Lloyds Avios Rewards credit card.

This was a decent deal. You could refer someone for the card and they would receive 4,500 Avios points for signing up. Given that there is usually no bonus on this card, it was a good incentive.

You, as the person making the referral, would also receive 4,500 Avios.

It was all very nice. Apart from the fact that the Avios website was well and truly broken.

Avios refer a friend

I tried to make a number of referrals over a number of days. Only once did I ever receive the email. Feedback from other Head for Points readers confirmed it.

I don’t know how difficult it is to write a piece of software that sends an email to an address you type into a box but I am guessing it does not require a PhD …..

And then, last Thursday afternoon, I received a massive flow of emails into my inbox. Someone had unblocked the pipe and all of the emails I had triggered over the previous three weeks suddenly appeared.

I thought it was fixed. Not that this helped much, since the people who were interested had already got fed up with waiting.

On Friday, I was asked for another referral. I triggered an email but nothing arrived. Nothing on Saturday either. Or Sunday. Finally, at 5pm on Monday, it arrived. Just three days after being requested.

Until Lloyds / AGL can hire a 12-year old who is capable of writing a bit of computer code to automatically send an email, I would give the refer-a-friend scheme a miss. You are just opening yourself up to hours of grief.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Worzel says:

2 Dec2 December 06:45

Lloyds=Shambles=Best avoided!
Danksy says:

2 Dec2 December 06:49

Ditto, shambles with their Avios cc when I held one
Andrew says:

2 Dec2 December 06:53

It is a joke, I asked avios about this and they told me that the referral goes off to Lloyd’s for ‘verifying’, to check they have not had a previous referral or card, and then they send the link email, taking up to 5-7 days.
It’s still a joke though…. One of my referrals got nothing for 2 weeks, and the one who applied, still no sign of the points posting!!
Mark2 says:

2 Dec2 December 07:16

We have been spoiled by dealing with Amex and MBNA, although I am sure that they have a glitch occasionally!
- JQ says:
  
  2 Dec2 December 07:44
  
  Amex has glitches very often, and tends to award 1000-4000 MR whenever you point them out!
Max says:

2 Dec2 December 07:20

Whilst I agree there were a few days between me submitting a “friend” nomination and them receiving an email from Lloyds, otherwise the application has progressed without any glitches.

I fail to see why this is “hours of grief”. Not as speedy as an American Express application admittedly, but certainly this has not caused us any grief. And it is an easy way of getting 9000 Avios, so I would disagree on giving it a miss myself. Certainly a darn sight easier than some of the lengths people go to get a few Avios (3V cards certainly caused me grief when I tried them!).

I use the lloyds Avios cards when abroad for all purchases. I use a Halifax Clarity for ATM withdrawals (it has no fee).
TJ says:

2 Dec2 December 07:32

I feel it is my duty as an experienced UX designer and former web developer to point out that there is most probably a well intentioned team behind the software, which probably works well (or could work well) of our want for some broken business process! Retail banks are notorious for it.
- Worzel says:
  
  2 Dec2 December 07:37
  
  ?!
- JQ says:
  
  2 Dec2 December 07:47
  
  A well-intentioned outsourced team whose code is mostly generated by helpful forum posters, perhaps? The uptime of the Avios website is less than 95%.
- Oh! Matron! says:
  
  2 Dec2 December 09:02
  
  TJ is correct. The issue is normally the meddling management, poking their oar in, and not quite fully understanding what they actually want, and the contracted party who designs the stuff, not fully understanding what is meant to be delivered, requirement creep, etc.
  
  “Some blame the management, some the employees, everyone’s a victim of industrial disease!”
  - Simon85 says:
    
    2 Dec2 December 10:49
    
    First time Mark Knopfler has been quoted on this site I’m sure!
  - TJH says:
    
    2 Dec2 December 11:55
    
    I’m working on a government public-facing service at the moment that closes from 6pm to 8am, so a couple of weeks delay in sending an email seems normal by comparison.
    
    I’m also a tad surprised how enraged everybody seems to be, surely if you know these things do work but are somewhat syncopated it’s just a waiting game?
- Andrew S says:
  
  2 Dec2 December 11:58
  
  Seems like a lack of overall ownership by anyone
Geoff says:

2 Dec2 December 07:32

Absolutely terrible service surrounds these avios cards.
Zoe says:

2 Dec2 December 07:43

Almost as well run as the recent Tesco £8 champagne promotion. My tiny local express got one delivery that sold out in 4.5 hours for a very heavily advertised promotion intended to last a further 4.5 days.
Local extra had 4m long sign outside but similar stocking issues.
No doubt would blame customers for buying it…
Luckily they aren’t required to organise a p@ss up in a local brewery.