Liverpool Victoria SBT

GH

Having suffered the ignominy of being turned down by Virgin , my thoughts somehow turned to Liverpool Victoria. I rang them to enquire about SBTs - they say they don't do it as such but issue cheques which if paid into a current a/c still attract the 0% interest for 6 months with NO cash advance or handling charges.

Seems good. Anyone have any experience of this with LV?

johnllew

Saga (an LV card) provide convenience cheques; there's no handling fee and currently they qualify for the 0% for 6 month offer. I use them and have had no problems.

klondyke

currently they qualify for the 0% for 6 month

Until 1st February 2005, I think.  ie first cheque can be written up till January and still have 6months at 0%.

thefirs

Saga (an LV card) provide convenience cheques; there's no handling fee and currently they qualify for the 0% for 6 month offer. I use them and have had no problems.

Strangely enough, and until this very morning I would have echoed these very words. However...

My new Capital One card was issued just under two weeks ago. I had requested that my Saga/LV balance be paid off so that I could issue a convenience cheque to an interest-bearing account. I called Saga/LV CS early last week to establish that the cash had arrived, and wrote the (large) cheque. Imagine my surprise this morning when that same sum was debited from the account it had been paid into, and the Nationwide was on the phone asking what I proposed to do about it.

Calls to Saga/LV ensue. I am told that accounts less than one year old have to wait a week before funds credited to the account can be re-used. I ask for the clause in their T&Cs that says this; ten minutes on hold and I give up (luckily I have 0845-inclusive minutes on my mobile).

An hour later I call again. They have found clause 5(b):

5(b)Notwithstanding Condition 3(b), we may refuse to authorise some transactions if you exceed your available credit. The available credit on your Account will be based on your Credit Limit, amounts to be debited to the Account which remain unpaid and payments received from you which are paid into your Account. For the purpose of calculating the ‘available credit’, you must allow up to 6 days after the payment is received before your available credit limit increases, regardless of the method of payment.

The girl admits that the print is very small and offers no justification for having what I describe as a "cooling-off period" when they have my (well, CapOne's actually) money. I rattle on about inconvenience etc. She then offers me £20 in admitting that they should have pointed this out to me on Tuesday.

I have found them quite gentlemanly to deal with in this way. But dont count yer chickens before the eggs have hatched.

johnllew

Until 1st February 2005, I think.  ie first cheque can be written up till January and still have 6months at 0%.

The 0% offer is until the 28th February. So take out a BT/cheque now, then pay the balance off mid-Feb and repeat BT/cheque by the 28th for a further 6 months @ 0%.

klondyke

Sorry - Feb 28th it is. (I had Feb 1st on the brain (such as I have) as 2 of my 0% cards run out then

tcall

I used to work for Liverpool Victoria (granted, not in this department).
All I can say is DO NOT DEAL WITH THEM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Their customer service is terrible (not due to the staff - due to the company's proceedures and lack of staff). My department regularly had telephone queues of nearly an hour.

johnllew

I've had a Saga Visa card for years; it's run by Liverpool Victoria and the customer service has been excellent throughout.

myhandle

and in my couple of calls to them re. my CSMA card they have been polite and quick to answer (alternative to 0870 number I discovered is on https://www.saynoto0870.com)

tcall

I must have imagined the hundreds of complaints I had to deal with each month then ???
Of course not everybody will have the same experience, but having seen things from the inside, I have witnessed a huge number of unhappy customers.

silverlady_2

I've had a Saga Visa card for years; it's run by Liverpool Victoria and the customer service has been excellent throughout.

I'll second that. I have Saga Visa card and always found customer service excellent