Skycard/Barclaycard suddenly & dramatically reducing credit limits?

DesG

Keep us informed of any progress Ickle! I wouldn't let them away with £94 either.

Cheers, Des.

IcklePickle_2

DesG wrote: »

Keep us informed of any progress Ickle! I wouldn't let them away with £94 either.

Cheers, Des.

Thanks Des

I'll definitely update when I hear back from FOS. Cross your fingers for me that they agree it was unfair!

wyebird

I had a letter this morning which made me think of this thread.
Barclaycard sent a letter a couple of week ago offering me 0% til Jan 2010. BT Cheque had to be presented by 31st Jan to qualify. Letter today stating credit limit reduced (dated 28th Jan). So, if I had taken up their BT offer, they presumably would have bounced the cheque and charged me as would the recipient?
I didn't, so it doesn't matter, but it is a concern how much a company can change its mind within 2 weeks!
Card was Goldfish is on a long 3.9% offer and paid enough each month so it will be clear once offer expires.

Calchas

Whether they are within their T & Cs or not, morally and ethically they are wanton!

It is this type of behaviour that leads to customer contempt.

The very idea that one enters into an agreement, pay for the privilige and then watch as these despicible corporarte machines completely ignore their side of the bargain makes me ever so slightly angry.

Please persevere IcklePickle. No regulator will uphold this type of reprehensible behaviour.

IcklePickle_2

Thanks Wyebird and Calchas.

I received an email from the Ombudsman service on 30th Jan saying they will be dealing with my complaint shortly. Fingers crossed they'll agree that SkyCard keeping the BT fee is unfair. I will certainly update this thread as soon as I hear anything.

This experience has made me realise that credit card companies can basically do what they like - they need to give you a certain amount of notice, but once they have done so they can demand repayment of *any* amount you owe them and this has scared the pants off me!! So I'm now working to pay off all our CC debt completely so that I can rest knowing I'm not going to be hung out to dry... !

Ickke Pickle. x

londonuk2008

Good luck and we are following with interest.

Swans1912

I have both a barclaycard (£4500 Limit) and skycard (£2500 limit) and haven't heard anything yet...... They both have £0 Balance (now) and I have never paid interest... in-fact barclaycard waived a BT transfer fee to stop me closing the account + 6 months of 0%!

wyebird

Yes, hopefully you will get the right result!

BankingHood

A credit card company must treat the customer fairly. I am pretty sure that what has happened here is an error, but it is not being dealt with by Skycard correctly. This is most likely because the person that has dealt with your complaint has not applied common sense to the situation, which they can do quite easily. To charge a customer a balance transfer fee, reverse the lending decision AND KEEP the fee is a pretty stupid instrument to make money if you ask me. I am sure the FOS will bind them to reversing this charge and others like it.

Make sure you account for the cost of phone calls to Skycard (especially if you have been using the national number) and other incidental expenses.

Also, make sure that you check how many reward points you have so you can spend it on the latest gift. if you spend £500 you get £5 off your Sky TV bill. Make sure you cash this in BEFORE you cancel the card. I know it's not much help but better to get every last thing out of them before you tell them to Foxtrot Oscar.

pb3

IcklePickle wrote: »

I called to complain, my enquiry was passed to Customer Relations. I spoke to them today and they advised that basically there is nothing they can do. Barclaycard have decided to reduce credit limits in this way on 'dormant cards'.

Hmmm... That explains a rather abrupt letter I got wrt to my Littlewoods Card (taken over by Barclaycard a while back) yesterday. Basically they cut from credit limit from around 3-4K I think (can't remember now) to £260.

I haven't used the card in ages so the cut doesn't bother me too much. What does bother me is that the letter was worded in a way that implied that the cut was due to the way I manage the account and was taken after they consulted credit reference agencies. The letter ended with a note that they would be unlikely to reverse the decision and rather condescendingly gave a list of behaviours (paying balances on time, staying within the limit etc) that they expected of account holders.

I've ordered the £2 statutory reports from Experian and Equifax (just in case) and should nothing adverse be on them, I am tempted to write to Barclaycard demanding that they refund the £4 as a gesture of good will. Why couldn't they be up front in their letter that the reason for the cut was the low usage of the card? Mail merge technology was around over 2 decades ago!

Now that the card limit is so conveniently low, I plan to use the card in place of my prepaid card, which I've had some issues with in reclaiming fradulent transactions - but that's another story!