Abbey Zero estimated interest issue

irtimaled

Hi Experts...

Just over 6 months ago I signed up for an Abbey Zero card for me and my wife-to-be to take on our honeymoon with us for emergencies. Prior to going away we used the great zero loading on foreign currency to buy some activities from a Hawaiian company. We ended up not using the card at all on honeymoon, and for several months we've been paying of the minimum payments via direct debit without issue. Unfortunately I've recently had some trouble with the card & am not sure where I stand, which hopefully is where your expertise will come in handy.

I knew that the 6 months 0% on purchases would run out some time in Dec'08 or Jan'09 although I couldn't be 100% sure when the 6 months began due to the significant delays in getting the card. Anyway in each of the statements the "Estimated interest on your next statement" figure was £0, and I relied on this as an early warning device for when I needed to clear off the debt. Seeing this in the November statement suggested that the interest free period would not lapse in Dec'08.

Upon receiving my December statement I was shocked & confused to see an interest charge of £17; even though the previous month the estimate for interest was £0! I quickly called Abbey’s customer support line and was told that the 0% on purchases had indeed run out early in the month and that the interest had been attributed for the rest of the month. Oddly they couldn't/wouldn't tell me the exact date this began and that if I wanted more help with the matter I would need to visit a branch. I immediately logged into my savings accounts online banking and paid off all but the £17 interest on the card, and then drove to the nearest town with an Abbey branch. When arriving at the branch I was advised that they had had several instances of this and that I should contact the customer service line.

I called up the customer service team for a second time and was advised that they had received a large number of calls like this and that they would have to carry out an investigation into the matter & contact me back. Today I received a letter from Abbey Card Services advising that “At the date of production of the (November) statement your interest rate was 0% and therefore the estimate of interest was).” , that “your latest statement also confirmed that the period was ending.” and “The interest debited on your (December) statement relates only to interest calculated following the change of interest rate.”

In fact there was no reference to the date the interest free period would end on the last statement only the 6 month duration. If they were aware of the impending end to the promotional period they should’ve not printed the interest estimate of £0 & clearly shown the date it ended on the statement.

My questions are should I:-
- have to pay the interest
- complain to Abbey
- refer my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service

Sorry for the wordy post but I felt it important to give a good background to my problem.

Thanks in advanced for your help.

normanmark

Well technically its your responsibility to ensure you know when the end of the deal is. Usually these run by the dates when the card was opened & not by statement dates. Going by that you would be liable to pay the interest. What you could do now is complain that their statement wasn't clear enough & see if their good nature will refund the charge. Worst thing you could have done though is not pay the interest, albeit a small amount and the principle, it'll only give you headaches in the long run as it's easier to credit the account with £17 as opposed to trying to correct it later.

Call them. Good luck