Advice on Credit Card Issue

chas_smash

I have had my credit for 20 years and always pay the balance off each month and have never paid any interest on it.
In March this year we posted off our cheque as usual. On the next statement we were charged a late fee and interest on the last payment as they said it had arrived a day late! This came to around £31 in total. We phoned to complain but was spoken to in a very rude and arrogant way and told we had to pay it with no regard to our 20 year custom and the fact that we had sent a full payment (why would you do this to arrive late??) We asked to speak to a manager and we were told one would phone us back but they never did. We wrote to the credit card company to explain our concerns and distress at the situation and they never replied. We never paid the charges as we felt total aggrieved at our treatment. The next month more interest and charges were added and this has gone on now for 6 months so the figure now stands at £178. In all that time we have phoned around 5 times and have always been spoken to very arrogantly and with no understanding of our view on this treatment. In all that time they have never commenting in writing on the situation. I would like advice as to what we can do as I feel this company are rude and arrogant and hard faced on the phone to their customers and have ignored the complaint as it suited them to make more money from interest charges over the period.

chas_smash

I am sorry but your answer is as bad as there attitude.
One day late!:mad:

YorkshireBoy

chas_smash wrote: »

I am sorry but your answer is as bad as there attitude.

I thought...

Suggest you pay it, and complain afterwards

...was excellent advice.

But, since it appears that wasn't what you wanted to hear, how about...

Just don't pay it. They'll forget about it and everything will be OK in a couple of months.

Is that better?

vixsta7

You could look at sending one of the template letters to try and reclaim the charges.

chas_smash

I have left this particular company now and I use another card as they are awful to talk to I have read a lot of complaints about the way this company have treated people and I guess I have learnt an expensive lesson but I still feel very annoyed of the way they gone about this.

normanmark

chas_smash wrote: »

I am sorry but your answer is as bad as there attitude.
One day late!:mad:

There attitude is exactly spot on correct. 20 years or not, the terms & conditions should be followed by every customer.

If you don't pay on time & the full amount then interest is charged.

I'm pretty sure that they could refund the penalty charge as a goodwill gesture but the interest will stick.

NickX

I've known debts be sold off to DCAs for less than £178.

You shouldn't just ignore this, it will damage your credit rating and you could start to get contact from some undesirables.

I suggest you speak to the Provider concerned and perhaps negotiate a settlement with them on this. Good Luck.

normanmark

Also the ignorance you've made towards the amount has only harmed yourself. Sometimes standing and being stubborn over 'principles' does more harm than good.

chas_smash

I think they have been very ignorant when they have spoken to me in fact it has been shocking the way they have. Anyway thanks for all your advice i guess i will tell the wife to forget her principles and pay the debt oh how they will laugh making so much money so easily.

normanmark

chas_smash wrote: »

I think they have been very ignorant when they have spoken to me in fact it has been shocking the way they have. Anyway thanks for all your advice i guess i will tell the wife to forget her principles and pay the debt oh how they will laugh making so much money so easily.

You're expecting them to break the terms & conditions. You failed to pay on time & thus you have to accept what comes with that. One day or One week its still late. Therefore interest is then applied.

If you paid it & then tried to complain via then you might have had a bit more response. The fact you've been ignorant & not paid it when YOU have broke the terms & conditions of the card means that the answer you're looking for is one that isn't available.

Imagine if the card company broke its side of the bargain if you paid on time & in full and they charge you interest. You'd be irate. I don't see why you can have the cheek to complain when its you that's broken your side of the agreement. By all means any card company can refund a penalty charge, but interest is a compound part of how credit works. Don't like the rules, then don't play the game of borrowing the money.

Apologies if this sounds a little full on but the previous posts i had was trying to suggest the above in a more constructive manner but it seems that spelling it out is the only way you'll understand.

Richard019

chas_smash wrote: »

I am sorry but your answer is as bad as there attitude.
One day late!:mad:

I don't know if it's intentional, or just the way it comes across (coming from where I originally do I often find I come across a lot more bluntly than I mean to), but if the tone of that post is anything like how you were when you dealt with the card issuer's staff then I'm not surprised they didn't help you.

It wasn't the staff who charged you, it was an automated system. Even if it was a person who was responsible for applying the charge the chances you were speaking to the same person were incredibly remote.

As someone who's worked in retail (ie customer service) at various levels within stores for the best part of 10 years, if someone came in with a problem and took that tone with any of my staff (especially if the initial problem wasn't caused by that member of staff) I would be doing the bare minimum I was legally obliged to in terms of helping them and informing them how unacceptable it was, and that's when it's people being paid to help.

Like I say, I don't know if it's intentional or not, I like togive benefit of the doubt in online forums where tone can easily be misread, but you seem to have managed to take an offensive tone with people offering help purely out of goodwill. The only way to get things like this (the original situation) to work in your favour is to be nice to them, acknowledge the mistake and then point out it's an isolated incident. People tend to be a lot more willing to help in that situation, and you'd be surprised what you can get back.

NB: Just in case I get a comment about my inexperiance due to youth, the 19 isn't my age, it's to keep a few of my usernames on websites the same.