MBNA rip-off

roy_1

I made one money transfer into a MBNA credit card using a promotional rate of 0% until October 2008. In August this year I received a call from one MBNA Sales person offering me another deal which I accepted. This time I had had to pay a fee of around £100 and the money would be interest free until May 2009.

When it came to October, I paid my initial debt in order to avoid being charged with interest. But later I found that I was charged interest because the payment I had made was allocated to pay the second promotional offer and not the first!

I understand this comes detailed in the terms and conditions i.e. the payments are put towards the lower rates of interest first. But what strikes me is that the credit card company offered me a deal knowing that I had no way of avoiding paying interest. Either I would have done what I did and throwing away the promotional offer fee that I had to pay upfront or I would have to keep paying the oldest debt interest until May, the term of the offer.

I really think this is a completely and utterly misleading, don't you think?

I appreciate your comments.

Roy

lynxptc

roy_1 wrote: »

I understand this comes detailed in the terms and conditions i.e. the payments are put towards the lower rates of interest first.

So why did you do the transfer?

_Andy_

roy_1 wrote: »

I understand this comes detailed in the terms and conditions i.e. the payments are put towards the lower rates of interest first.

So, given you that you were obviously aware of it, how exactly is a lender adhering to the terms and conditions of your credit agreement a 'rip off'?

exel1966

NO rip off here (as usual) !

But I would say that you have been caught out by some lucrative and clever marketing.

The moral is always to check the T&C's and ask qustions before making any financial decision.

roy_1

Thanks for the comments!
I have to say in my defense that when I was offered the second promotional offer I never thought I would be getting myself into this situation. The bank mislead me into accepting a product that turns out to be more expensive that they first told me!

Do you see this as "Clever Marketing"?! I won't be a customer for much longer I can assure you, so there it goes the customer retention rate! And what about the customer perception of the brand? I tell you what I will be telling everyone: don't bother with MBNA, they are a rip off company!

Cheers everyone.

jamalfatty

roy_1 wrote: »

The bank mislead me into accepting a product that turns out to be more expensive that they first told me!.

They havent misled you though, they've done exactly what they said they would do?!

buckeroo

Every Credit Card company does this payment allocation with interest free money/balance transfers so even if you do tell people to go to another provider them same would happen else where......

Thomas_Crown

buckeroo wrote: »

Every Credit Card company does this payment allocation with interest free money/balance transfers so even if you do tell people to go to another provider them same would happen else where......

I think you'll find that Nationwide & Saga (Allied Irish Bank) allocate payments in a fairer way ie. transactions attracting the highest interest first.

smartpicture

Not everyone is as clued up about typical financial marketing practices (clever or otherwise) as the regulars on here. I've regularly had conversations with credit card companies offering new deals, where it is impossible to know what the actual true financial impact is unless you know the right questions to ask. They don't lie to you, but they are certainly misleading for the inexperienced, and I know lots of people who've ended up with something other than what they believed was on offer.

normanmark

Well ask them to send through the paperwork so you can read all the terms & conditions for yourself. Simple