Any Virgin One account holders out there?

mr.brown_5 · 13 November 2008 at 3:24PM

And how many are as displeased as I am that a week after RBS announced the 1.5% cut, Virgin rates are still "currently under review".

Anyhow, I've just phoned them up to tell them I'm leaving (although I'm not) and got put through to the "Specialist Deals" dept.

"Can we ask why you are considering leaving?"
"RBS announced the 1.5% cut a week ago and there has been no announcement from Virgin - unacceptable."
"Sorry sir, the rates are currently under review..." and more stuff read off a card..

"If the interest rate cut were passed on would that stop you leaving?"
"Well, yes. Duhhh"

Anyway, if more people make the same kind of call it might have some effect.

And so endeth my first post. I thank you for your time.:D

redbites66 · 13 November 2008 at 4:14PM

mr.brown - the one account is driving me mad. i've been ringing them everyday for a week now. i'm not getting much sleep either! it's a stressful time for everyone!

i suspect that RBS are so heavily in debt they see this decision not too pass on the rate cut (pls: note if anyone else reads this that we are still waiting on the 1.5 rate cut decision) as an excellent opportunity to make money. they know full well that hardly any banks have any similar deals and rate tracker mortgages are thin on the ground. even first direct withdrew their 3.99% deal.

i feel let down by RBS/one account because we have had to put up with at least 12 rate increases and once the rates started dropping they did not pass them on at all.

and so endeth my first(!) message because i am extremely angry with the bank.

SJG110958 · 14 November 2008 at 1:18PM

I am a Virgin One account holder and was always led to believe the rate would change in line with BOE changes. When Branson was at the helm this was always the case. Not the same since RBS got involved - especially this year , failed to pass on cut earlier in year / put rate up .25% in June / took ages to pass on last .5% cut and look unlikely to pass on latest 1.5% cut. This was their reply to my question about rate cuts-
"We are also aware that some years ago certain price promises were made to our customers around changes to the Virgin One Account rates following any change to interest rates set by the Bank of England. These promises did not reflect the mortgage terms and conditions, but were a genuine statement of our intentions at the time, and we can only apologise if, as a result of the communications, you were ever led to believe that the rate would always track the Bank of England Base Rate."

I have emailed Mr Darling and would suggest everyone else does [EMAIL="darlinga@parliament.uk"]darlinga@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]

nikkinugget · 19 November 2008 at 7:46PM

I am a One Account holder and they are still telling me they are reviewing their interest rates. It is not good enough. I think we should all get to gether and demand they reduce the rates and backdate the decrease to the date the Bank of England announced it. They are always quick to increase the rate. It is really bugging me and I am sooooo mad.

Charliecherry · 19 November 2008 at 7:59PM

nikkinugget wrote: »

I am a One Account holder and they are still telling me they are reviewing their interest rates. It is not good enough. I think we should all get to gether and demand they reduce the rates and backdate the decrease to the date the Bank of England announced it. They are always quick to increase the rate. It is really bugging me and I am sooooo mad.

Hey im with you .....we are getting well tucked up here,i ring them every day
just to register my dissatisfaction......all along those years when i followed all
the BOE rate cuts with them ..thick and thin,,,,,they then decide to go off and do what the hell they like this year .....

wymondham · 19 November 2008 at 8:09PM

I guess it's just business ... they desperately need the money and are keen to delay any reduction!

Charliecherry · 19 November 2008 at 8:38PM

wymondham wrote: »

I guess it's just business ... they desperately need the money and are keen to delay any reduction!

Yes got that ..business i understand.....but there has been a breakdown of trust here,is all iwant is them to be honest,then i can make an informed decision about whether i can/want to carry on banking with them.......

System · 6 December 2008 at 4:15PM

A Base rate tracker offset mortgage with a rate of 3.49% !!

This is a great deal! I am currently a One Account customer, and have had enough of them. Furthermore, when I rang to find out about exit fees (there aren't any by the way , if you have been with them for more than five years), their customer retention guy was quite aggressive and almost rude, saying NO other company offered what One Account offer, but here it is:

First Direct (HSBC) Base rate Tracker offset. Borrow up to 80% LTV (on non new-build houses, 75 % if new-build).

You get three physical accounts, but the balance in the two credit accounts (current account plus saving account) always offsets the interest in the mortgage account. You can re-borrow from the mortgage facility at any time up to the agreed limit or 80% (75%). Same deal as Virign One, pay off by retirement etc.

RATES

Tracking at 1.5% above bank of England base rate

FEES

£599 arrangement fee, no booking fee. £99 drive-by valuation fee.

OFFERS

You get £100 cash back if you first open their online account (the mortgage sales advisor can tell you more) Also, if you take their premier account service which costs £7.50 per month for six months and then £9.50 for six months thereafter, you get another £100 cash back and it includes worldwide travel and mobile phone insurance which we want anyway. SO

Effective cost to switch: £399 PLUS £99 valuation!

I've already gone through the agreement over the phone, takes about 40 minutes. Paperwork following now.

I only found out about this by chance on Friday, and this morning it went on their website under new mortgage offers. I think this is a brilliant offer and clever of HSBC/First Direct to get in and pinch customers from us disgruntled One Account holders!

(By the way, I don't work for HSBC!)

:beer:

DickDastardly_2 · 6 December 2008 at 6:51PM

I would be interested to know how this pans out. I considered leaving the One Account and I too looked at 1st Direct with better rates, etc. Did the same and waited for paperwork. It came through and was a bit confusing and not entirely filled in - the idea on the phone was we only needed to sign it, which was not the case. Anyway, when I filled in what I could I called. Three times in fact. I found their advisors to be wholly untrained, un-helpful and ended up sticking my aspplication in the bin.

Worse still was we were completely mis-lead and mis-advised on the initial call.

The main sticking point was the practicality of moving from a negative balance One Account to a positive balance 'normal' bank account and seperate mortgage. Not one advisor in the mortgage section had any idea how this transfer worked and some of the advice received was truly frightening.....:eek:

See whatv you think when your paperwork comes through and let me know how you get on, I must just have been very unlucky.....

System · 6 December 2008 at 8:10PM

Yep, it will be complicated for me too, as I have been stoozing and have around 120k worth of available credit card credit! The balances total around 50k and I explained all of this to the advisor on the phone. They seemed very clued up and familiar with 'my kind' of customer! The suggestion was that so long as we arranged a mortgage facility big enough to accommodate the virgin one account debt AND the credit card balances, then we could clear down the balances at the time of the transfer - paying them off with the new account. (Incidentally - as is ALWAYS a good rule to follow if stoozing - I never 'stoozed' above my weight! I mean my total stooze plus my one account balance never exceeded the total facility I have arranged with Virgin One). My impression of the advisor was that they were well trained and very helpful - but I guess they're all different! As I said in my earlier post, the guy at the customer retention centre for VOA was not very pleasant!
:j

anneen · 9 December 2008 at 5:29PM

I too would love to know how smoothly this works for you. We have interest free credit card balances yet to expire. Reading through the literature on their site, it does not clearly explain that you can draw down from your facility and that you will not be charged interest on any unused portion of it as Virgin.

However will send for forms but please keep us posted!

Anneen

Any Virgin One account holders out there?

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