Argos buy now pay 6 months later

bertieandduffy

Hi

I purchased an item on my argos card on "buy now pay 6 months later". 3 days before final amount was due to be paid I called Argos and paid off amount, I was told "the payment has been processed and balance is now £0. To my surprise I receive a statement for one months interest totalling £110.00,when I contacted them they said payment was received day after r the due date therefore interest has been applied !!!
I have written to them asking them to listen to telephone call as their calls are recorded, but they just keep demanding payment...Please can someone advise me on what I can do or where I stand.

Thank you

Colliefrog

I may be wrong, but don't you have to wait so many days for the payment to clear? If it cleared after 6 months was up then that's why you were charged interest.

withabix

bertieandduffy wrote: »

Hi

I purchased an item on my argos card on "buy now pay 6 months later". 3 days before final amount was due to be paid I called Argos and paid off amount, I was told "the payment has been processed and balance is now £0. To my surprise I receive a statement for one months interest totalling £110.00,when I contacted them they said payment was received day after r the due date therefore interest has been applied !!!
I have written to them asking them to listen to telephone call as their calls are recorded, but they just keep demanding payment...Please can someone advise me on what I can do or where I stand.

Thank you

What day did you authorise the payment to be taken? That's what you actually did. You didn't PAY the balance at that moment.

In any case, it is your bank that probably caused the delay, not Argos (or rather their credit provider, who you were actually dealing with).

Argos (or credit provider) didn't receive the money for 3 days, so this triggered interest to be due.

Always, ALWAYS authorise payment of balances on this type of deal at least 1 full week before the date that the deal finishes.

You won't win this one - all you will do is incur charges for late payment, increasing your debt.

basak19

I tried applyin for an argos card but they turned me down!

bertieandduffy

Ok...Thanks for your advice I will give in gracefully.....

Groovygirl

I wouldn't give in, they don't always present the payment immediately (if you make a payment on the weekend they don't present it till monday). I had a problem with a payment once being declined cos I made 3 payments to them for Pay Later schemes and I didn't incur any charges. I would do a few checks first, my payment by dc over the phone take 2 days usually. Also what I would do is check the date when you bought the item and then add on 6 months (sometimes it doesn't tally as Argos takes a few days off which in my mind is wrong). Hope you understand what I'm trying to say and hope you get the interest back.

bertieandduffy

Thanks for that I will check on my statement ..anything is worth a try..

bookworm1363

Groovygirl is correct, they have been known to do this with me too and I have always got them to back down when pointing it out to them.

Furthermore, under the new Faster Payment service, depending on what card you used to pay, the payment shouldn't have taken that long to process and I would query this with the bank if they are still taking that long, months after the PACS was put in place, most banks now clear payments on the same day. I have made payments to Argos BNPL using my Barclays debit card the day before deadline and haven't been charged interest.

Finally, if you were told that your balance was £0, then it's £0 and you should argue it all the way, I know I would. If they refuse to budge, then ask them for their final decision and ask the Ombudsman for a decision. It will take time, but it's worth it, especially for such a large amount of interest. Do tell Argos in your letter that you will go to the FOS if need be.

bertieandduffy

I will be putting pen to paper straight away...I never thought of the Ombudsmen thanks for that and your valued advice

Pound

The £110 would be 6 months interest, not one. The BNPL offer is void if you don't pay on time.

emweaver

I had this so wrote to them using the letter on mse on claiming back bank charges and they took all the interest back off! GL