MBNA changing statement due dates

Raymondo111

Hi,

Has anybody been caught out on this??

I have been charged a late payment fee of £12.00 plus an interest charge of £59.00 because of a so called late payment. I always pay on time thru HSBC Internet banking and on this occasion paid on the 31st October. It transpires that my statement due date had been brought forward by a couple of days and my payment was not credited until 4th November instead of the due date of the 2nd November. I thought all the major Banks had signed up to change their Interbanking arrangements so that anything paid on a working day was credited the same day? Turns out after talking to one of their advisers they advised of this change sometime in August? anyway she agreed to waive the £12.00 fee but I would have to speak to someone else as I was supposed to be on a 0% promotional balance transfer rate until Feb 2009. The next person I spoke to wasn't so helpful but finally agreed to re-instate the 0% rate but the interest fee still stood, I asked to speak to a Manager but was told they would say the same thing so not impressed!! When pushed further on the statement due dates they appear to have mysteriously moved from around the 6th of the month to the latest date which is the 30th November - she insisted that I should check the statement dates but when they change this much what chance do you have. I alwys pay on time well within the time period but have been caught out because of them bringing forward the dates so much!! Needles to say I have written a stinking letter to their Customer Advocate Office requesting that they remove the interest charge but I would like to know if anybody else has been caught in this trap and what was MBNA's reponse to their queries. Fortunately I can pay off the balance but don't see why I should when the so called late payment was in part their own fault.

MABLE

Raymondo111 wrote: »

Hi,

Has anybody been caught out on this??

I have been charged a late payment fee of £12.00 plus an interest charge of £59.00 because of a so called late payment. I always pay on time thru HSBC Internet banking and on this occasion paid on the 31st October. It transpires that my statement due date had been brought forward by a couple of days and my payment was not credited until 4th November instead of the due date of the 2nd November. I thought all the major Banks had signed up to change their Interbanking arrangements so that anything paid on a working day was credited the same day? Turns out after talking to one of their advisers they advised of this change sometime in August? anyway she agreed to waive the £12.00 fee but I would have to speak to someone else as I was supposed to be on a 0% promotional balance transfer rate until Feb 2009. The next person I spoke to wasn't so helpful but finally agreed to re-instate the 0% rate but the interest fee still stood, I asked to speak to a Manager but was told they would say the same thing so not impressed!! When pushed further on the statement due dates they appear to have mysteriously moved from around the 6th of the month to the latest date which is the 30th November - she insisted that I should check the statement dates but when they change this much what chance do you have. I alwys pay on time well within the time period but have been caught out because of them bringing forward the dates so much!! Needles to say I have written a stinking letter to their Customer Advocate Office requesting that they remove the interest charge but I would like to know if anybody else has been caught in this trap and what was MBNA's reponse to their queries. Fortunately I can pay off the balance but don't see why I should when the so called late payment was in part their own fault.

All the stress you have put yourself through when infact you could have avoided this. You could have so easily set a direct debit online. Sorry to say on this occasion you only have yourself to blame. Also if you had checked your statement you would have seen the date had been changed. Unfortunately we like to blame someone else rather than admit we are at fault.

exel1966

Fight them all the way and stand up for your consumer rights and don't let them get away with it !!

In this case though that won't apply and writing a 'stinking letter' is very unlikely to help your cause. They have been more than fair with you by waiving the £12 late fee and by reinstating your 0% period when they could have easily not done either for a mistake that was quite blatently yours. Many people do not get theirs reinstated.

Payment dates are not fixed dates and can change at anytime as you've found out. You would have been advised of this in your statement. If you chose to ignore it then you have to accept the consequences.

Your assumption about all bank payments being credited the same day is also incorrect. It only applies to Direct Debits/CHAPS and BACS/SO transfers between banks that have signed up to the 'Faster Payments' service. Most payments will still take anything up to 5 days, again as advised on your statement.

The harsh facts are, you made a mistake this time so to ensure you don't get caught out again set up a DD for the minimum amount and then if you wish to pay more, do so by a BACS transfer online.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

Raymondo111 wrote: »

Hi,

Has anybody been caught out on this??

I have been charged a late payment fee of £12.00 plus an interest charge of £59.00 because of a so called late payment. I always pay on time thru HSBC Internet banking and on this occasion paid on the 31st October. It transpires that my statement due date had been brought forward by a couple of days and my payment was not credited until 4th November instead of the due date of the 2nd November. I thought all the major Banks had signed up to change their Interbanking arrangements so that anything paid on a working day was credited the same day? Turns out after talking to one of their advisers they advised of this change sometime in August? anyway she agreed to waive the £12.00 fee but I would have to speak to someone else as I was supposed to be on a 0% promotional balance transfer rate until Feb 2009. The next person I spoke to wasn't so helpful but finally agreed to re-instate the 0% rate but the interest fee still stood, I asked to speak to a Manager but was told they would say the same thing so not impressed!! When pushed further on the statement due dates they appear to have mysteriously moved from around the 6th of the month to the latest date which is the 30th November - she insisted that I should check the statement dates but when they change this much what chance do you have. I alwys pay on time well within the time period but have been caught out because of them bringing forward the dates so much!! Needles to say I have written a stinking letter to their Customer Advocate Office requesting that they remove the interest charge but I would like to know if anybody else has been caught in this trap and what was MBNA's reponse to their queries. Fortunately I can pay off the balance but don't see why I should when the so called late payment was in part their own fault.

I think that what you have achieved is as good as it's going to get. My experience of MBNA is that they have always given reasonable prominence to such date changes (I do recall being informed of this myself a while back). Not certain but I think there was even an option to contact them to discuss the matter if it was going to cause a problem - though I've no idea if they would have re-instated the previous date. On a more general note, I have noticed that MBNA and Goldfish have ben pretty tight with how many days you have to pay after receiving the statement whereas Co-op and Halifax have been much fairer. It does make me wonder whether some card companies try to trick customers into late payments - though the insurance against this is setting up a DD.

YorkshireBoy

Raymondo111 wrote: »

When pushed further on the statement due dates they appear to have mysteriously moved from around the 6th of the month to the latest date which is the 30th November - she insisted that I should check the statement dates but when they change this much what chance do you have.

You were notified of the change in the interest free period from 56 to 50 days via the notice of variation MBNA sent you in July/August...you didn't read it.

They confirmed the change on the statement they sent you, and also clearly showed you the date your payment should arrive...again, you didn't read it.

...the so called late payment was in part their own fault.

Which "part" was their fault?

vet8

I have sympathy with the poster.

I have a Virgin card which is run by MBNA and my payment date was originally the 16th of the month. It has moved forward without any warning several times by 4 or 5 days at a go and now stands at the 1st of the month!! The idea of setting up a DD would not work for me because they would be trying to take the money from my bank before I have been paid each month and the bank would charge me £38.

This is clearly a con. None of my other credit cards change the date at all they are always on the same fixed date. MBNA do this and I am sure it is to try and catch out customers who do not notice the sneaky date change.

daveboy

vet8 wrote: »

I have sympathy with the poster.

I have a Virgin card which is run by MBNA and my payment date was originally the 16th of the month. It has moved forward without any warning several times by 4 or 5 days at a go and now stands at the 1st of the month!! The idea of setting up a DD would not work for me because they would be trying to take the money from my bank before I have been paid each month and the bank would charge me £38.

This is clearly a con. None of my other credit cards change the date at all they are always on the same fixed date. MBNA do this and I am sure it is to try and catch out customers who do not notice the sneaky date change.

Rubbish.

It is the customers responsibility to check their statement and the information on it.

As for the direct debit comment above, it's not MBNA's fault your finances are in a mess and you have to wait to be paid first.

The only problem here is educating people to read their statements when they arrive.

vet8

I agree that it is the customer's responsibility to read the statement, but I must point out that Virgin used to make that difficult. It has now changed, but the payment date was on the back of the statement whereas all the other details were on the front. Why? Unless it was done to try and catch people out?

Also your comment about my finances being in a mess is unwarranted. I am sure a lot of people are getting short of money approaching payday, we are not all rich.

I just feel that it is unreasonable for a credit card to change its payment date and it always goes forward which means that the time limit between payments gets smaller and so the interest free period goes down.

Why does MBNA do this and no-one else?

Raymondo111

Whilst I accept that you should read the terms and conditions in this instance I agree with Vet8 I think its MBNA playing the system as the advisor I spoke to had said that they had many complaints on this subject. I don't like DD's as I quite often pay well over the minimum and the intention was to move the debt to another 0% card when this one finished. Most of my other cards have statement due dates that only change by a day or so so again I know that I always pay about a week before the statement date in fact I guess to some Companies I am the perfect customer.

I don't like some of the high handed comments on 'you should look at the statement dates and you should read the terms and conditions' perhaps these people work for MBNA!!!

As I said before if I can't swop to another 0% I will pay the card off and tell MBNA to stick their card where the sun doesn't shine.

Rolandtheroadie

MBNA changed my payment date a while back (brought it forward a few days ) and coincidently, I'd just made a large (interest free, 3% fee, cheapest way to do what i was up to)cash drawdown on my card. I feel the move was deliberate to try to make me default on my payment and lose my interest free deal.

The point is, they told me about it. In writing. It wasnt even on a statement (front or back) but in a letter.

If you dont like their methods, get rid of their card. Read your correspondance front and back and dont get caught out again.

I do sympathise but they've reinstated your 0% deal and i'd think this is the best result you could hope for.

vet8

You were very lucky to get a letter. Virgin just change the date regularly without any warning at all. I know several other posters have complained on here about them.