Barclaycard Loyalty? Worth Appealing?

creditcardnewbie

Hello to you all,

Apologies if this has been posted before but could not find an answer to it on the forums.

I currently have a Barclaycard Platinum card with a credit limit of £2,600 and a balance of £2,000. I have been a customer of theirs for years with no payments missed etc but a few months ago Barclaycard increased my APR from 14.9% to 19.9%.

I called them and asked why (thinking it may have been because I am quite close to my limit) but the customer agent advised me it was because I currently had a lot of available credit??

Anyway, after much discussion with Barclycard pleading my innocence they advised they could not reduce my APR to it's original rate at the time.

So, since that discussion with Barclaycard I have since obtained a copy of my Experian report and to my horror it was showing an unsettled HSBC credit card account with a credit limit of £5,000 and no balance against it. I called HSBC who apologised and advised they will send another memo to Experian to advise them I have closed this account (which I did in May last year)

So, therefore I was wondering if it was worth my while appealing to Barclaycard to have my APR reduced again and if so would I be better putting it in writing to them because most of the customer service team seem unwilling to help despite me being a long-term customer with them?

I would love to close the account to be honest but feel I may not obtain another card in the current climate to transfer the balance to.

Any help or advice would be greatly accepted.

creditcardnewbie :beer:

latecomer

Why not ask HSBC to give you another card with a 0% rate to make up for the problems they have caused you. got to be worth a try

creditcardnewbie

Hello Latecomer,

Many thanks for your reply.

I tried that one with HSBC when I rang them - they told me that unfortunately once an account is closed it cannot be reopened.

It is a pity because if they had I could have transferred the Barclaycard balance over. Ah Well!

System

Hi

I know you mention the current climate but how good is your credit rating? It can't harm to make a couple of applications to other companies for 0% balance transfer cards, just don't keep on trying if you get declined for them.

Seems your loyalty to Barclaycard means nothing to them so time to vote with your feet if you can!

Regards
UNDERGROUND

creditcardnewbie

UNDERGROUND wrote: »

Hi

I know you mention the current climate but how good is your credit rating? It can't harm to make a couple of applications to other companies for 0% balance transfer cards, just don't keep on trying if you get declined for them.

Seems your loyalty to Barclaycard means nothing to them so time to vote with your feet if you can!

Regards
UNDERGROUND

Hi Underground,

Many thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately I was declined for 2 cards last month - Lloyds TSB and MBNA. It is my own fault really - I should have checked my credit report before applying.

I might wait until HSBC have notified Experian that my account was closed before applying again.

You are 100% right about Barclaycard too - they just don't want to know.

Thanks again,

creditcardnewbie :beer:

creditcardnewbie

**Update**

Decided to ring Barclaycard today again and they still don't want to know - they advised that a computer predicted my spending patterns etc and once the computer makes the decision they cannot reverse it. Sounds strange because I have not spent anything on this card in months.

Anyway, Barclaycard said that the computer reviews all customer accounts once every 3 months and makes the decision based on information received from credit reference agencies. The agent said the computer may reverse the decision in 3 months time and reinstate my original APR of 14.9%.

I asked if they review the accounts manually themselves and he said no - it is all done by computer.



Time to vote with my feet it seems and ditch this card asap.

Thank you again for all your replies.

creditcardnewbie :beer:

TFD_2

creditcardnewbie wrote: »

Hi Underground,

Many thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately I was declined for 2 cards last month - Lloyds TSB and MBNA. It is my own fault really - I should have checked my credit report before applying.

I might wait until HSBC have notified Experian that my account was closed before applying again.

You are 100% right about Barclaycard too - they just don't want to know.

Thanks again,

creditcardnewbie :beer:

MBNA are better than most at giving a proper explanation as to why an application was declined. If it was due to you having too much credit available i.e. the £5000 HSBC card, then they might tell you. Otherwise you will struggle to "vote with your feet" if you get declined elsewhere - bear in mind the number of applications isn't going to be helping your credit rating either.

Sam_BMN

Any chance you could get a bank loan to pay off the rest of your balance? You might even get a rate lower than your original 14.9% If you're planning to pay of your credit card over 2 years (say) make sure you take out a loan for the same length of time, else you'll end up paying more interest in the long run! And once you've cleared the balance, cut up that credit card!

creditcardnewbie

Many thanks for your responses TFD and Sam_BMN.

TFD - I might give MBNA a ring to see - hopefully I still have their letter about somewhere....think I shredded it upon receipt of it...lol. But, they should still have my details hopefully.

Sam_BMN - I currently have a loan of £400 outstanding with the Nationwide and I have 4 more payments to make on that so might wait until that ends before applying for another but thank you - it definitely is another option to consider.

Many thanks for all your responses - it is very much appreciated.

creditcardnewbie :beer: