I Hate Virgin Money... 34.9% APR

MrsChips

I'm here to Vent :mad:

Received a letter this morning from Virgin saying that my APR is going up to 34.9% (Variable) in April :eek:

It's already at 26.9% which is shocking considering that they offer 0% to all the New Customers. I may as well get a loan from a dodgy company it would probably be better rates of interest!!

Anyway, they did at least offer me an opt out - If I agreed Never to use my Credit Card again (I've not used it for 2 years anyway) my APR will remain at 26.9% ... How Kind of them :rotfl:

That's how I get thanked for paying £450 off my card in one go!

Anyway Rant over .... Avoid Virgin or if you are already a customer start making your exit plan now before you to are on 34.9% !!

lauzellen

How can they validate putting interest rates up when the base rate has gone down and currently sits at only 1%? If they had any reguard for their "customers" they would pass on these cuts - but no instead they increase the interest rates to squeeze even more out of people at a time of financial economic crisis in the country.

salesadmin

They tried this with me back in September. Luckily I had some money come in that was just enough to pay them off before the rate went up!

I wrote to them to cancel the card and complained about the interest rate, they wrote back stating that they thought 34.9% was a good rate for the service provided!!

Zara33

Capital One are doing this also...can't remember the exact rate.

MrsChips

Glad to see its not just me that thinks their APR is ridiculous

I only wish I could afford to may them off

salesadmin

It might be worth trying to transfer the balance to Tesco. My credit rating has taken a battering recently as I've missed a couple of payments on direct debits etc and I still got approved and have transfered to a 0% balance from another cc

MrsChips

It might be worth trying to transfer the balance to Tesco. My credit rating has taken a battering recently as I've missed a couple of payments on direct debits etc and I still got approved and have transfered to a 0% balance from another cc

Thanks, I might have a look at Tesco then. My Credit rating is bad since a Student Debt 5 years ago but I guess it's worth a try. I've just Transferred £450 over to my Halifax CC as they were offering 7.9% for the Life of the Balance but they wouldnt up my limit. I've got £2000 with Virgin.... Do you mind if I ask how much you transferred to Tesco. What Limit did they give you?

MrsChips

I agree Lauzellen (and your not a Muppet:eek:)

My Argument is .... How can they justify putting a loyal customers rate up to 34% but offering 0% to new customers? - I've not de-faulted on a payment for over 3 years and I've been paying over my minimum payment each month for the last year and this is how they thank me.

It doesnt make sense to me, its pure Greed.

sparkey1

Ring the number on the letter and complain. I did and they cancelled the increase and put me back on the 18.9% APR band. I recently tried to get a better rate and I was told that I should be on 24.9%. When I spoke to the call centre I asked if there was any way to stop these sudden increases. I was advised that the system did it automatically if you only pay the minimum amount. My advice would therefore be to complain, and then pay £5 or more above the minimum each month. Hope this helps.

MrsChips

Ring the number on the letter and complain. I did and they cancelled the increase and put me back on the 18.9% APR band. I recently tried to get a better rate and I was told that I should be on 24.9%. When I spoke to the call centre I asked if there was any way to stop these sudden increases. I was advised that the system did it automatically if you only pay the minimum amount. My advice would therefore be to complain, and then pay £5 or more above the minimum each month. Hope this helps.

Thanks Sparky, I tried that and it didnt work!!

I called them a few months ago to complain when my rate went up to 26% but they said that they couldnt offer me a better deal. Since the latest increase I have called them to "Opt out" of the increase - I could only choose this option if I agreed not to spend on my card again , which Is fine as I dont use Credit Cards anymore anyway.

I was told that the only promotion availble on my account was if I had Children or got Married... they would kindly pay my bill for 3 months if I did one of these (lol) !!

Salesadmin - Will call Tesco CC tommorrow, just looking online now. Thanks

MrsChips

Good on Ya, Lauzellen (I just ignored him/her) :T :T :T :T :T :T

P.S. I'm not using my Credit Card to live on either - I used it to get me through my Degree 5 years ago, now i'm just trying to pay it off as quickly as possible but Virgin putting the Interest Rates up every couple of months makes it much harder to pay off, it feels like I am going backwards rather than forwards. Even the guy I spoke to at the call centre thought that 26.9% was a bit steep and now its gone up again :rolleyes: