We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Virgin Credit Card - I've made a bit of a !!!! up...
VanMartinrooy
Posts: 2 Newbie
in Credit cards
Hi all...Hoping for some advice! I opened a new Virgin card and transferred a balance of about 1.8k over to take advantage of the 0% offer. As the transfer went through and I had given my bank details during the application process I assumed it was all taken care of - unfortunately as the post was going to my parents address and I didn't collect it, as had no intention of actually using the card, I didn't realise that they hadn't set up the direct debit etc. until I got an answerphone message from a debt collector!
Stupid oversight I know... went straight online, paid the outstanding balance and set up a direct debit and thought all was well. However, I've now found out that the 0% gets cancelled if you miss a payment, so I'm paying interest again...!
Although my credit history is good and I got a pretty good limit on the Virgin card (about 2.5k more than I needed), I'm now concerned that I won't be able to get another 0% card and transfer the balance again because of this missed payment and the increased amount of credit I now have available. Is it worth even trying - I don't want to worsen my score!
I still have the Egg credit card from which the balance was transferred - this is of course settled, and I was intending to close this and apply for a card with 0% on purchases (to buy a couple of things I can easily pay back within the period). I'm aware that they have an 'anniversary offer' which includes some months free on balance transfers - I'm just wondering whether it would be best to transfer the balance back over and take advantage of this, or to close it (reducing the total amount of credit open to me) and hoping it will help with obtaining another 0% card to transfer the full amount to for a longer period of time? Of course, either way I will have to pay the 3% balance transfer again, which serves me right for being lazy I guess :-(...
Thanks in advance chaps!
Stupid oversight I know... went straight online, paid the outstanding balance and set up a direct debit and thought all was well. However, I've now found out that the 0% gets cancelled if you miss a payment, so I'm paying interest again...!
Although my credit history is good and I got a pretty good limit on the Virgin card (about 2.5k more than I needed), I'm now concerned that I won't be able to get another 0% card and transfer the balance again because of this missed payment and the increased amount of credit I now have available. Is it worth even trying - I don't want to worsen my score!
I still have the Egg credit card from which the balance was transferred - this is of course settled, and I was intending to close this and apply for a card with 0% on purchases (to buy a couple of things I can easily pay back within the period). I'm aware that they have an 'anniversary offer' which includes some months free on balance transfers - I'm just wondering whether it would be best to transfer the balance back over and take advantage of this, or to close it (reducing the total amount of credit open to me) and hoping it will help with obtaining another 0% card to transfer the full amount to for a longer period of time? Of course, either way I will have to pay the 3% balance transfer again, which serves me right for being lazy I guess :-(...
Thanks in advance chaps!
0
Comments
-
Did you contact Virgin apologising? You may have been away on holiday and missed the first payment. Ask if they can reinstate the 0%.
For a first offence, no harm in asking.After falling off the gambling wagon (twice): £33,600 (24,000+ 9,600) - Original CC Debt: £7,885.91
Dad Gift 6k ¦ Savings & Inv Tst: £2,500
Loan 10k: £0 ¦ Dad 5.5k: £2,270 ¦ LTSB: £0 ¦ RBS: £0 ¦ Virgin £0 ¦ Egg £0
Total Owed: £2,270 (+6k) 11/08/20110 -
I agree - there's no harm in asking. The worst they are likely to do is say "no".
Did you ask them to set up a direct debit when you arranged the balance transfer. If so, do you have the name of the person you spoke to (and the date and time - even if only approx)?0 -
Glad I followed your advice - just spoken to a very helpful girl at Virgin Customer Services, who said it was fine as I'd only missed one payment and offered straight away to refund the interest and reinstate the 0% rate!
Cheers guys! I did get the impression from the way she went straight into it that they've had a lot of those calls... perhaps there have been some c*ck-ups/complaints about new applications that have worked in my favour!!0 -
Hey VanMartinrooy,
Well done on getting a positive result.:j :j :j
Just remember to make a mental note to check with your bank and Virgin that the direct debit has been set up so that they can't spring this trap on you again.
All the best:D:beer: Who knows where thoughts come from - they just appear!:beer:0 -
I got caught by exactly the same trap back in July. I thought I had set up a direct debit but they didn't do it.
What they didn't tell me is that because I was late on my first payment, through Virgins error, the interest free period was no longer valid and they have been charging me full interest for 9 months while I thought it was just a straight repayment.
The girl you spoke to might have fixed it but I was told that too and they didn't.
This is about £80 a month interest for 9 months.
All they've offered me so far is a refund of two months interest and a not very big discount on my future interest until November.
Any advice on getting my money back anyone?0 -
VanMartinrooy wrote: »I had given my bank details during the application process I assumed it was all taken care of -I thought I had set up a direct debit but they didn't do it.
Never assume a DD is in place, until you can see, printed in the bill and black on white:“The amount of £ xxx will be debited from your nominated account on or after…..date”0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.3K Spending & Discounts
- 247.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.3K Life & Family
- 261.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards