Alliance & Leicester Credit Card interest ripoff!

Tom_Mackie

A few months ago I missed my credit card payment by a few days and was charged a late fee of £25 plus interest, which I expected. Then I set up to have the full balance to be paid by direct debit so I wouldn't be charged any late fees or interest. I purchased several major items on the card then the next month it was taken out of my account by direct debit. The following month I was charged £68 in interest even though I paid the balance in full by direct debit. When I asked A&L why they said that I had to have 2 clear months on time payments after a late payment before no interest would be charged on the outstanding balance. I was not aware of this though it is probably buried in the small print in their terms and conditions. I pointed out to the customer service rep that if I had known this and not used the card, no interest would be accrued so I felt this was unfair. They finally waived the charges if I paid my next balance in full.

grumbler

Tom_Mackie wrote:

... it is probably buried in the small print in their terms and conditions. ...

SUMMARY BOX :

Interest free period: Up to 56 days on card purchases only, if you pay your statement balance in full and on time every month, otherwise interest will be charged as set out below.

I wouldn't say that the print is very small
Futher explanation is in Terms & Conditions :

2d We will not charge interest on the card purchases shown on your statement if you pay off the whole balance shown on that statement, and on the statement before, by the date the payment is due. Otherwise, we will charge interest on all transactions, handling fees, service charges, default charges and interest starting on the transaction date and ending on the date you pay the bill in full.

See also: Fuming with Nat West Visa! today's post

Milarky

I'm Glad my handling fee is capped at £35! I've got the agreement in front of me - received it today, and I applied online too - so when did this go up to £50 then?

As to the 'two months rule', is it all that clear actually?

We will not charge interest on the card purchases shown on your statement if you pay off the whole balance shown on that statement, and on the statement before, by the date the payment is due.

Read it over and over, and you'll see that it is actually quite ambiguous since it only refers to a single "date the payment is due" - presumably the second due date? But what is doesn't say is by what date the 'whole balance' on first statement should be paid, does it? Thus is does not categorically link two statement periods together as worded even if that was the intention.

NatWest wording:

Interest Free Period - Maximum 56 days for purchases if you pay your balance in full and on time, and have paid the previous month’s balance in full and on time

[Note: "have paid" - past perfect tense - making clear when the clearing of the previous statement must have occurred. No past perfect tense with the A&L wording, so it could be satisified with a concurrent payment provided a minimum - or greater - payment was recieved by the previous due date. I don't think anyone would ojbect to interest from the first statement period rolling up - it's just that they haven't made it 'clear' what they intend.]

[You can see how people cleverer than us miss this!]

YorkshireBoy

Milarky wrote:

I'm Glad my handling fee is capped at £35! I've got the agreement in front of me - received it today, and I applied online too - so when did this go up to £50 then?

Looks like just last week. See MSE Dan's post #11 here...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=99125&page=2