MBNA hassles

Legacy_user

I'd be interested if others have had similar problems with the MBNA card or if I'm just unlucky...

Set up a direct debit on their website as soon as I got my first statement thinking it would mean I would have no worries about remembering to make payments. Second statement comes along and no payment has been made and I've been charged £25... Luckily they reversed this when I phoned up but they claim no knowledge of any attempt to set up a DD. Also, despite me clearly saying I did not want card protection I've been charged for it. Have heard a few people say they had some dodgy practices - maybe this isn't an exageration...

System

Quick follow-up. The card protection people won't refund me as it's outside the 30 day window. However, I've not had any paperwork from them, not authorised the payment not seen anything about it until it appeared on this last statement. Any suggestions how I take this further?

Milarky

Set up a direct debit on their website as soon as I got my first statement thinking it would mean I would have no worries about remembering to make payments

AFAIK, you only can only request a direct debit form online - this would need to be sent by post for you to sign and return. If you wait until the time of your first statement to request a DD, you are not leaving enough time before the due date. I could be wrong, but MBNA is not one of those credit card issuers [eg cahoot, Egg] that can set up DDs in a paperless manner.

In general, your statement should advise you if the required payments will be taken by direct debit. But if this does not happen you should call them up and ask if the debit is live. They should tell you if this is so, and on this basis it isn't unusual to have to make the first minimum payment manually.

At least with MBNA they are able take a debit card min. payment - the safest and quickest means - and can also despatch a DD mandate to you at the same time.

I make it a routine, however, of asking all the pertinent questions as soon as I get a new credit card and activate it [e.g. First statement date, first payment date, how to set up a DD - obtain form if necessary ....]

I also don't tend to opt for the DD method nowadays precisely because of the set up delays, and I find other methods [i.e. manual payment] work nearly as well. At some point if you are going to keep a card it makes more sense to start ar DD, but not always at first.

System

I could have sworn the site allowed me to set up a DD online, however when I went back to it later I couldn't even find the area to request a BT let alone set up a DD. I certainly had the impression it was all set up and ready to go as otherwise I'd have made the first payment there and then.

The other thing I've just realised is that MBNA deduct payments from the 0% bit first. The card protection will stay on my account as a purchase even if they agree to cancel it and refund me so I'll get charged interest on this. I guess there is no way around this other than to pay off the entire balance... TBH this has annoyed me so much I'm going to move over to Barclaycard as soon as my application is complete and tell MBNA to stuff it. I had promised never to use them after they'd refused me a comemorative Liverpool uni card for no obvious reason and was only tempted by the 0% offer...

bpyoung

You can set up DDs online. I did with Egg, in fact it was part of the application process.

VelvetGlove

Sorry to hear about the hassles you've had with MBNA Stephen I did set up a minimum repayment direct debit with MBNA over the phone last weekend & they warned me that it wouldn't be set in time to take my July payment but would be in place for August.

Suzz_2

I think you do need to take care with direct debits - they take a while to set up; don't know why... I've fallen foul to this once. Good of them to refund you the £25...

Wait for the message on your statement saying the DD is to be collected; until then assume it ain't been done yet.

The other matter though - card protection - I would complain. They should not have taken this unless you requested it, normally on the application form.

A single card protection payment probably wasn't a huge sum(?) but I'd write to a 'high up' person about this - you want, as very min., a refund of the payment, cost of phonecalls/stamps & acknowledgement of inconvenince.

Suzz_2

PS - Don't mention to them, but our post service is not quite 100% reliable....   The DD forms may never have reached them.

PPS Depending on the amount of the single card protection payment (that may, as you say attract interest) compared to the credit limit they've given you on the card, maybe cancelling the card is a bit drastic...

If you can get some free cash from them for 6-12 months, this may justify the initial hastles... then get your own back by cancelling.

I don't have one now, but have had an MBNA card in the past, with no problems.

Leia_Stephens

I am also having a problem with a DD which I set up with Barclaycard

A payment was supposed to have been collected "either on or just after the due date" last month, but it wasn't. Fortunately though, I made a more-than-minimum payment before the due date

My most recent statement - which arrived last week - also has the DD listed, so I shall have to see if it works this month, but it won't matter too much because I made a payment to my BC yesterday.

Has anyone else had this problem with DDs when they are listed on the cc statement but not collected ???

Leia

klondyke

I thought it was normal (or should be) that if minumum payment has been made by the time credit card co thinks about DD, it won't take more. (Standing order for a set amount woud be different.)

Problem usually lies the other way round when one makes a payment before due date hoping they won't take DD as well - and then they do, ending up with card in credit. I found the hard way that, getting the overpayment back is treated as a cash advance UNLESS you ask for a cheque. Weird

System

This really is getting daft now. I decided to stick with MBNA and did another BT to them. They have charged me a fee for this.

Now, I was under the impression that any transfers in the 0% period were fee-free. Not only that, but the agreement says they will notify if they are going to charge a handling fee before processing the BT. The form on the website only says they *may* charge a fee, not that they are going to, so in effect I've had no notification that the fee is going to be charged.

This really is it now - as soon as I get my Barclaycard it's all getting moved to there and the MBNA card chopped up.