Abbey Complaint

Jazzy_B

I applied on the launch date at the beginning of May, and got my card today.
When I applied, I'm sure there was an option to choose either Mastercard or Visa. I chose Visa, but a Mastercard has arrived.
I phoned Abbey on 0800 389 9905(this gets you to Abbey's welcome message), and they said there was no option to have a Zero card on Visa.
I just wondered if this had happened to anyone else?

CannyJock

midlandsgirl wrote: »

Twice we have taken advantage of their interest free offers. To quote "Twelve months interest free purchases for twelve months. thereafter reverting to standard APR of 15.9%" Twice they have almost doubled the interest rate as soon as the interest free period ends.

It'll say in their T&C's that they can vary the interest outside of the promotion period. Surely you learned from the first experience and weren't caught out by the same trick the second time? They all do it - they're in business to make money

midlandsgirl wrote: »

Another thing to be aware of:- payments to the card, however they are made, take 4 working days to be received. This is strange as other cards paid in exactly the same way receive their money in 2 working days maximum.

Exactly what it says in their T&C's - doesn't matter what other people do - they're in business to make money

midlandsgirl wrote: »

It is IMO a deliberate attempt to catch out the unwary and inexperienced.

You got it Did I mention they're in business to make money?

Joe65_2

withnell wrote: »

Like all things Abbey, if you apply in a branch it's very quick - instant yes/no and credit limit on cards

I've long felt that Abbey's branches with friendly and helpful staff are let down by a central structure utilising multiple different systems, which results in a lot of passing the buck and no responsibility ever being taken. ..............!

Couldn't agree more. Marvellous Branch staff, inherited, from Abbey, B&B, A&L, but they no longer run the show.

It happens to all the best Customer Service providers, eventually. Some chancer with too much money, sees how successful they've become , buys them , continues trading on their reputation while quietly discarding the quality & customer service that earned it.

.............
British Caledonian (Airways), was another prime example.

Joe65_2

CannyJock wrote: »

..............
Exactly what it says in their T&C's - doesn't matter what other people do - they're in business to make money

Originally Posted by midlandsgirl

It is IMO a deliberate attempt to catch out the unwary and inexperienced.

You got it Did I mention they're in business to make money?

Has anyone noticed their new Current Account , offering a whopping 6% !!! on balances up to £2,500.

The maximum Interest you can possibly earn on that is £150 a year, for the first year only, being just £120 after Basic Rate Tax, which is precisely cancelled out by the £10 monthly fee.

Oh, didn't I mention the fee ?

And that's every year.

Joe65_2

Bosty wrote: »

Can only agree with the above posts. Abbey are a waste of time. I applied online two weeks ago for the Abbey Zero credit card. I received no response/acknowledgement, so today I rang Customer Services only to be told that the application had been 'declined'. Can see no logical reason for this as I have never had any debts & have always paid off my previous credit cards in full every month. I checked my credit rating online with both Experian & Equifax & all is fine based on the guidance notes. I also calculated my credit rating using the calculator on this website & scored 'Excellent'. So what's the problem ?

My advice.... don't waste your time !

Perhaps when the have to drop the Abbey name, they can call it:-
'Zero Interest ',
despite the whopping 27.9 % APR on cash advances.

foxtrotter_2

On 07-06-2009, zzzatang posted: [/QUOTE]However I would like to mention that their telephone based complaints procedure did not help me and I ended up using thier online complaints form. This online complaint was taken seriously and Abbey did respond to it, with in 2-3 weeks. please note that it took about 3 to 4 mail exchanges with the complaints team in order to get them agree to the problem and to get the most severe credit file problem to be rectified. go to Abbey.com --> contact us --> Feedback and complaints there is an online complaints page on this page. [/QUOTE]

.................................................. Already another member has acknowledged that as helpful, and it was the sort of information I was looking for today, BUT PLEASE NOTE: the merging of Abbey with Santander means that the place on the internet to look for means of complaining about an Abbey card is now santander's huge and rather confusing website .

The telephone number given for credit card complaints is: 0845 602 1582, available from 07.00 to 23.00hrs. Monday to Saturday, but read on! What I wanted was the postal address to which complaints about a credit card transaction could be sent. Neither of the two options offered mentions that or, as far as I remember, complaints either, but at least choosing option 2 gets you straight through to a human being, rather than a recorded request to enter your card number.

The reaction of the man who answered my call was an immediate " You can't have a postal address" but my "Why not?" answer seemed to change his mind. The confusion that seems to exist within the organisation was reflected in the first line of the address he gave me, being "Abbey National plc". When I asked "Might it not be Santander now? he had to ask someone first and then altered it to Santander, PO box 1109, Bradford BD1 5XS

Of course, the card and the local office are both labelled "Abbey" so who knows which should be on the address, or whether it matters? They asked for a telephone number to which they can reply to be included in any letter. My view is that for the record in what may prove to be a long dispute, it is far better to have a reply in writing, plus proof of receipt of letters to them sent by recorded delivery, which an email does not usually provide.

I still felt doubtful about the address I had been given so I tried a number given for "Santander credit card complaints". A bright young lady on that line told me at once that the address I had been given was incorrect, and my letter should go to: Customer Complaints, Abbey, P.O. Box 5129, Milton Keynes, MK9 2YN

A long post but I hope that it is helpful to someone.

NGlady

Gosh thats awfully hard to read!
Im not really able to help here, but i know the people who will be able to will come along soon - it will be helpful for it to be in paragraphs as at the mo its really hard to read!