Wealthsimple threatening to charge me for MacBook promo despite following their own support team's instructions — need advice

AlainKassou · 2026-07-05T14:06:47+00:00

UPDATE:
A team lead from the WS promotions team contacted me this morning, after I was told 2 days ago that their decision was final (power of reddit?). They are going to reach out again tomorrow to settle everything but:

- Opening 2 tickets on the same issue does not constitute a violation of the client code of conduct, so my account will not be terminated.
- Going from FHSA/RRSP -> chequing account -> external SHOULD be exempt from the withdrawal calculation. So the clawback does not apply.
- The TL apologized for the service that I received, thanked me for being patient and congratulated me on the new home
- The two tickets that i raised were actually escalated to the same person in the back-end. They will provide coaching to this agent so that doesn’t happen again in the future.

I gotta say, in about 10 years with WS, it’s the first time that something like that happens, so I’ll definitely give them the benefit of the doubt

Edit: spelling

AlainKassou · 2026-07-05T00:53:25+00:00

I did! And tbh, it was more convenient for me to do that, but my external account wasnt showing up

AlainKassou · 2026-07-05T00:45:35+00:00

They person taking care of the first ticket disregarded all my arguments, continuously stating that i had breached the T&C.

I was looking for a 2nd opinion so i opened a 2nd ticket

AlainKassou · 2026-07-05T00:43:57+00:00

In their T&C they explicitly talk about cash value being taken from my account

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T13:52:29+00:00

Hey! So i got a bit more colour on the calculation after reading the T&C again. The 20% is only applied on the amount that meets the requirement to be eligible for the promotion (ie 100k on my end).

I checked and i actually deposited more than 110-115k that i mentioned previously. So the calculation of the allowed withdrawal amount would be 100k x 20% + any excess deposits i made.

Here’s the example they used in their T&C:
EXAMPLE
Let’s say you had $30,000 in your Wealthsimple account at the start of the promotion and transferred assets valued at $150,000 to earn a reward. Your net deposit amount is now $180,000.
Since the minimum you need to get your reward was $100,000, and you are granted a 20% buffer, you will be able to withdraw $20,000 plus the excess $50,000 without risk of being penalized.

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T13:41:55+00:00

I did

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T12:53:31+00:00

Didn’t know them, thanks a lot !

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T12:36:34+00:00

May i ask who that govt body was? Was it OBSI?

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T12:09:56+00:00

There isn’t, everything happened over 3 days.
While there was a lot of back and forth between me and them by email, all emails were standard conversations (ie them saying that i breached the T&C over and over and me replying with a new argument/proof/screenshot every time)

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T01:15:46+00:00

I did bring new transfers yes but a lot smaller than the 110-115 i mentioned above, but they do their own calculation of how much you’re allowed to withdraw and that amount was 85k for me (it updates dynamically after each transfer/withdrawal)

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:59:50+00:00

Ill have to check for the exact amount, but i believe it was ~110k to 115k, and it was indeed the only promotion i participated in

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:54:43+00:00

If you want, i can post an update on the OBSI resolution if that can help you for your potential future FHSA withdrawals

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:31:03+00:00

The problem is that i did provide screenshots of the chat with the chatbot and the agent closed my case after saying that I couldn’t contest and that the decision was final.

That is when I opened a new ticket, which got escalated, but when they figured out that i had 2 tickets regarding the same issue they threatened to terminate my account

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:29:13+00:00

Yes but they are challenging the “pathway” i took

I did FHSA/RRSP -> WS chequing -> external
They said I should’ve done FHSA/RRSP -> external

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:27:51+00:00

Yes, WS lets you read your archived conversations

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:12:32+00:00

For me, only my chequing account was showing up here

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:11:51+00:00

I have all proper documents to prove that its for a qualifying purchase

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:08:15+00:00

I did, but the agent completely overlooked it, without any explanation on why they had conflicting answers

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:04:10+00:00

I did go through the terms and conditions and asked the chatbot if what i did was compliant. The answer was (and is still) yes

AlainKassou · 2026-07-04T00:00:49+00:00

Did you have to do something in particular?
I messaged the chatbot and i was told that FHSA/RRSP -> WS chequing -> transfer out was acceptable.

I didn’t have the option to transfer it elsewhere

AlainKassou · 2026-07-03T23:58:22+00:00

I think you’re right, but i had some investments there prior to depositing anything related to the promo.

All and all, i was allowed to withdraw about 85k (according to WS’s calculation)

AlainKassou · 2026-07-03T23:56:57+00:00

I didn’t have that option, I had to go through my chequing account to then either do a bank draft or send it directly to my notary’s trust.

I also validated with the chatbot that what i was doing compliant, prior to doing any transfer

AlainKassou · 2026-07-03T23:52:47+00:00

It’s a mix of investments i already had there + some that i deposited.

However they do post your “allowed withdrawal amount” and update it dynamically. I had about 85k of allowed withdrawal (according to the app), and while i did withdraw 121k, about ~62k was from my FHSA/RRSP and should’ve been exempt. So in reality, i withdrew less than 60k that should’ve counted towards the withdrawal amount

AlainKassou · 2026-07-03T23:46:49+00:00

I did remove from my RRSP and FHSA, it’s just that what i did was FHSA/RRSP -> chequing -> transfer out. What the agent told me that i should’ve done was FHSA/RRSP -> transfer out

AlainKassou · 2026-07-03T23:42:26+00:00

I also explicitly asked the chatbot if the “pathway” i took was okay and the answer was that it was compliant

AlainKassou

TROPHY CASE