Barclaycard Ditching Price Promise & Warranty

MSE_Martin

Barclaycard has just announced it is ditching its price promise and extended warranty service (and the rather naff travel accident insurance).

New Customers

New customers signing up for the cards after 1 Jan won't be eligible for any of these.

Existing Customers

If you already have a card then:

Price Promise:  This will continue to work on all goods bought up to 31 January 2005, and you will still have 60 days left to find it cheaper after that.  This means the Buy Xmas Goods at Jan Sales prices article still works this year.  

Extended Warranty:  Again all goods bought up to 31 Jan 2005 can be registered for the free years extended warranty.

Barclaycard has said it will be providing 'replacement benefits'.

So far these seem to be a fraud and identity hotline, and purchase delivery protection.  Not even close to what they're ditching as far as I'm concerned.

Martin


UPDATE

I just got the press release from Barclaycard Detailing this.  I've duplicated it below (though do remember this of course includes Barclaycard's spin, so read it with a pinch of salt)

PRESS ADVISORY NOTICE: 6 DECEMBER 2004

BARCLAYCARD TO CHANGE CARD BENEFITS

Barclaycard is to change the free card benefits available to cardholders following a review prompted by customer research and new industry regulation of general insurance products.

From 1 January 2005, Barclaycard is withdrawing Price Promise, Extended Warranty and Travel Accident Insurance from its complimentary card benefits.  That date is extended for existing cardholders to 31 January to make sure they receive the level of support that they are used to over the Christmas period.

The old services are being replaced with new and improved card benefits which offer customers better support  when they travel, greater protection against fraud and faster access to the right help when things go wrong at home – the main areas of concern identified by customers as being most important to them.  The new services will be available from 1 January 2005 and are summarised below:

·   Identity Protection Service - giving confidential advice on identify theft, with tips on prevention and detection together with professional support for victims to help them resolve the problem and repair their credit status

·   Fraud Protection – protecting cardholders from any fraudulent spending on their Barclaycard.  If we see any unusual spending on an account, we’ll call the cardholder to check that everything’s ok

·   Purchase Delivery Promise – protecting customers when others let them down. Goods purchased with a Barclaycard are covered against loss or damage from despatch to the door

·   Emergency Card Replacement and Cash Advance – fast help if cardholders lose their Barclaycard whilst travelling away from home.  We can arrange an emergency cash advance of up to £1,000 a week (and we’ll refund the 2% cash advance fee) or we can issue a temporary replacement card within 3 working days – anywhere in the world

·   Travel Service – giving customers valuable help before they travel.  Whatever the holiday, our travel service gives customers an extra 5% discount on the current tour operator price – including any late deals.  We’ll also waive the 2% credit card booking fee if payment is made with a Barclaycard

·   Home Emergency Helpline – helping customers when the unexpected happens and they need to arrange emergency home repairs. Whatever the problem (burst pipes, central heating failure etc) an approved contractor will be with the customer within 2 hours of their call.  Fixed repair costs mean that customers agree the price in advance and are protected against any unexpected extra charges

The final dates for claims and registrations are:

·         Extended Warranty – items purchased on or before 31 January ’05 can be registered up to 1 April 2005

·         Price Promise – purchases made on or before 31 January ’05 qualify for price promise; the final date for new claims is 1 April 2005

·         Travel Accident Insurance – no new claims after 31 January ’05

For those customers who use and value Price Promise and Extended Warranty a low cost package will be offered from February 2005 which will include these and other benefits.

Peter Crook, Barclaycard UK Managing Director comments:

‘We want to offer services which appeal to as many of our cardholders as possible and more importantly, which provide them with the right support and protection when it’s needed the most.

‘It’s clear that our customers have an ever increasing demand for security, so we’ve extended our online fraud guarantee and internet delivery protection to other transactions.  We’ve also invested in an identity protection service.  This crime is a growing problem in the UK and now our customers can turn to us for help if they want to know how to protect themselves or if they think their identity might have been stolen.’

Barclaycard customers can find out more about the new generation of free cardholder benefits in their December statement pack or on https://www.barclaycard.co.uk.  All customers can access the new benefits from 1 January 2005.

Notes to editors:

Barclaycard is Europe's leading issuer of credit cards with 10.8 million customers in the UK. Barclaycard International has 1.8 million cardholders. Barclaycard can be used to pay for goods and services in more than 30 million places in over 200 countries and to withdraw cash from over 850,000 ATMs and banks worldwide.

Visit barclaycard.co.uk to view the full Terms and Conditions

Unbelievable_2

The Lloyds Premier card is also ditching its Best Price Promise facility, as of 1st January 2005

markathe

If i buy something from a shop that is selling itsown brand - in this case its a leather sette - and they have a few other shops around the country .... if one of those other shops has it cheaper in the jan sales ...would the refund promise still apply ??

Norfolk_Jim

Well, thats a bit of a downer and to think I was going to repay my Barclaycard and stop stoozing it so that I could use these very benefits. Will keep it all on deposit now and cancel card when 0% ends. Pity though as I wanted to buy a LCD TV and the warranties on those are pretty hefty making this benefit very attractive to me.

jellyfish_2

MBNA's Beyond card is also dropping the Extended Warranty benefit.

The card issuers seem to be dropping this benefit en mass!  

Mr_Nick_3

I've only just got a Platinum Barclaycard in the last week, and I got it for the price protection. (and because it's looks nice too)

I did notice though that in the benefits leaflet that came when the card arrived, it didn't mention anything about a price promise.

Mr_Nick_3

Took about 7 days in total. Very fast indeed.

MSE_Martin

The reason many are dropping extended warranties is new insurance regulations make it much more expensive for them to operate it.

And for the questioner abroad the price promise only operates for stores in the UK

martin

markathe

If i buy something from a shop that is selling itsown brand - in this case its a leather sette - and they have a few other shops around the country but still in the UK .... if one of those other shops has it cheaper in the jan sales ...would the refund promise still apply ??

MSE_Martin

No it must be at a different store. So if it were sold somewhere else - eg. FCUK clothes via a department store, it should work, but not if it's a difference branch of the same store.

Shinds

Well HSBC's new (Gold - 0%) card has Free one year extended warranty policy - on upto 3 household products a year valued between £50 - £1500.