Help - Virgin Credit card

girltuesday_2

Virgin just wrote to me changing my interest rate from 17.9% to 34.9%:eek:

Luckily I am in a position to pay off the balance and close the card, but they are a scheming bunch. A month before they also changed the payment due date so that the payment was due just BEFORE I get paid instead of just after, giving me a month where I had to make a double payment!

If you want my advice, steer well clear!

Moggles_2

girltuesday wrote: »

Virgin just wrote to me changing my interest rate from 17.9% to 34.9%. ... they are a scheming bunch. A month before they also changed the payment due date so that the payment was due just BEFORE I get paid instead of just after, giving me a month where I had to make a double payment!

This wheeze has been mentioned before, but cannot be stressed too often.

Particular care is needed with all cards run by MBNA (e.g. Alliance & Leicester, MBNA itself, Sony, Virgin). One of MBNA's favourite tricks is to bring the payment due date forward 5-6 days. Notice of this change will be embedded somewhere in the small-print leaflet which accompanied your previous statement. It's happened to me on three occasions now (Different cards, btw, but all underwritten by MBNA) and judging from the complaints to this forum, hundreds of customers are caught out.

Let's face it, for every MSE that complains to MBNA and gets a refund, there will be many more who simply pay up. So whether or not this is the intention, it's a nice little earner :rolleyes:

Moggles_2

girltuesday wrote: »

Virgin just wrote to me changing my interest rate from 17.9% to 34.9%. Luckily I am in a position to pay off the balance and close the card.

Once you've paid off/transferred the balance, Virgin will offer you a 0% balance transfer and may even waive the BT fee in order to retain your business. I'd put money on it.

A 0% balance transfer is, IMO, what the OP should aim to do now

Amy83

Moggles wrote: »

This wheeze has been mentioned before, but cannot be stressed too often.

Particular care is needed with all cards run by MBNA (e.g. Alliance & Leicester, MBNA itself, Sony, Virgin). One of MBNA's favourite tricks is to bring the payment due date forward 5-6 days. Notice of this change will be embedded somewhere in the small-print leaflet which accompanied your previous statement. It's happened to me on three occasions

That's a bit of a dirty tactic...

If I'm paying Virgin by direct debit will this still come out at the right time, will the direct debit automatically change to reflect the change in payment due date, or would I need to do something to change it?

Moggles_2

Amy83 wrote: »

If I'm paying Virgin by direct debit will this still come out at the right time, will the direct debit automatically change to reflect the change in payment due date, or would I need to do something to change it?

That's the beauty of direct debit payments. It's Virgin's responsibility, not yours, to make sure the monthly repayments are collected at the right time

sazzer

I have also been stung with a letter from Virgin hiking my rate up, this is the third time. Previously I have phoned to complain and they have happily reduced the rate again, this morning I was told this is not an option and to try again in a couple of months! Ok so its my fault I have run up a debt on a credit card but I dont earn a fortune and this will hike my monthly payment up considerably. Im assuming they are well within their rights to double your rate?

I will try the letter route but am frantically looking at other options so I can clear the balance and stick two fingers up at Virgin Money

NickX

sazzer wrote: »

Im assuming they are well within their rights to double your rate?

I'm afraid they are within their rights even though it is most underhand.

Best bet is to move the debt elsewhere, preferably with a nice long 0% promotion.

Amy83

Moggles wrote: »

That's the beauty of direct debit payments. It's Virgin's responsibility, not yours, to make sure the monthly repayments are collected at the right time

Perfect, thanks - I've not got a balance on my Virgin card, but I'd just helped my boyfriend sort his finances by doing a LOB to his Virgin credit card, and set up a direct debit so he doesn't miss any payments etc...you had me worried for a second thinking it could all go wrong again :rotfl:

GeorgeUK

sazzer - might also be worth popping over to the debt free wannabe board incase they can suggest any savings you can make from your current expenditure.

Faery

You have me all worried reading this! I have had a Virgin card for 6 years. Just never seemed to manage to clear it all off with a BT and kept it and ran it up aain. Stupid I know. I had one interest rate rise last year to 29.9% which I managed to talk down to 23% but if they put it up again, I won;t be able to manage the repayments!! And I can't pay it off. My credit score seems to have gone from excellent to very poor in the last year (not quite sure why, I never miss payments, on the electoral roll etc but credit searches).

I don't seem to have any options with this!