Amazon Credit Card free Voucher

tee_pee_2

can we not ask martin to contact them?

hchalk

Thank you for that info tracker it could be useful!

Tee Pee - Have already emailed Martin personally to ask if he can help us, not sure if I'll get a reply.

tee_pee_2

just dug out t& c's I didn't check them before as I got the info from Martin and he has never let me down in the past so took it for granted the t& C's would be bob on. ( That'll teach me)

it says BT 2% but checked statement on line and the amount has not gone on yet.

I will never do through Halifax again I feel robbed . They shuldn't advertse one thing and do another.

M_Thomson

hchalk wrote:

Thank you Glen, that was my feeling exactly!!

The consumer action group have phoned me today in response to the email I sent them and they have advised to go through the Halifax complaints procedure and then if still not happy to contact the financial ombudsman.

Has anyone else had any replies to emails/phone calls yet?

Helen

Just a reminder. You have to go through the whole complaints procedure, and reach deadlock before you can contact the ombudsman.

hchalk

This is what mine says Teepee, does yours not say the same?

"We MAY charge a handling fee of 2% (At least £2) for balance transfers and cheques offered at special promotional rates other than a special rate you received when your account was opened"

When we opened are account the promotional rate was zero!

Call_Centre_Monkey

After doing a bit of research, there was a 2% fee (I think capped at £50) made clear in the t&c's. I understand there was a bit of literature going about that didn't mention the fee, but everything else published did. The important thing however, is that you did sign t&cs to say you did agree this fee.

Now of course, no one will want to be charged it, especially now it's a few months down the line. But Halifax are a business and are only claiming what is rightfully theirs. If you were given misleading information, that is frustrating - but as I've said earlier in this thread, card companies often send out a different offer in the t&cs to the one you may have seen advertised. The reason for this is usually the previous offer being discontinued and a new offer replacing it.

So I can confirm you will need to pay this fee if you have been sent the letter by Halifax, and future transfers will be at 3% uncapped as I understand it.

BigSofty

Call_Centre_Monkey wrote:

After doing a bit of research, there was a 2% fee (I think capped at £50) made clear in the t&c's. I understand there was a bit of literature going about that didn't mention the fee, but everything else published did. The important thing however, is that you did sign t&cs to say you did agree this fee.

Ok. The T&C say a fee is payable. I agree that the T&C superceeds the promotional offer. So when I read the T&C and it says a fee payable I thought I had wasted my time by getting a card that I would not be able to transfer from. The letter sent out with the card says, "If you have any questions just phone..." I phoned the number to speak to a credit card represetative. I specifically asked about the transfer fee. He said there was no fee during the promotion period. So I think I was being honest and reasonable by accepting that what the rep said was correct because it did match the offer I thought I had signed up for. What is more I checked after the transaction to make sure there was no fee. I then made another transfer having established that what he said was true - there was no fee. The second transfer also went through with no fee.

Call Centre Monkey - do you really think that it is correct and legal to charge a fee retrospectively after misinforming a customer for 6 months?

If Amazon had discovered that their website had the wrong price for a book I bought 6 months ago do you think they could legally charge me the correct price now?

I feel this is the same as the Amazon Credit Card company discovering that their computer had the wrong price for a balance transfer fee. SURELY they cannot change the price after giving a verbal quote.

I am now waiting for 5 working days to hear how my complaint will be handled. Although the call centre reported that there was about 1000 complaints so I suspect that the response time may be extended. I have contacted the call centre, written to the credit card services department and emailed Amazon. So far no response from any.

BigSofty

I have now repaid my credit card in full in case there is any milage in returning the "goods" as I don't wish to pay what they now say they cost!

Anyway if you have any purchases on the credit card you will have to repay this month anyway to avoid interest charges after the 6 month 0% on purchases. Remember all payments so far will have paid off balance transfer first before repaying purchases.

hchalk

Call Centre monkey, I don't think you quite understand.

My balance transfer went through at the same time as my account opening. I phoned up to confirm it was baalnce transfer free and they said yes.

The T&C's I signed state that "We MAY charge a handling fee of 2% (At least £2) for balance transfers and cheques offered at special promotional rates other than a special rate you received when your account was opened"

This does not apply to balance transfers on opening the account, this applies to any future balance transfers! Which mine wasn't!

Call_Centre_Monkey

hchalk wrote:

Call Centre monkey, I don't think you quite understand.

My balance transfer went through at the same time as my account opening. I phoned up to confirm it was baalnce transfer free and they said yes.

The T&C's I signed state that "We MAY charge a handling fee of 2% (At least £2) for balance transfers and cheques offered at special promotional rates other than a special rate you received when your account was opened"

This does not apply to balance transfers on opening the account, this applies to any future balance transfers! Which mine wasn't!

So the t&cs make the point that it is indeed different when the account is opened. That could mean that the charge is always applied at account opening instead of just maybe being charged at other times. It doesn't explicitly say there will be no fee for BTs when you open the account. It's all just down to interpretation.

I understand the wording is terrible, but I'm sure Halifax would have consulted their lawyers before sending out these letters about the fees to make sure it's all above board.

BigSofty, it's probably the case the person you spoke to wasn't aware of the fee. With all the products that are available, it's very hard to keep track of which cards dont have fees, and which do (and if so, how much and are they capped). The call centre agent probably looked at the account, and saw no mention of the fee, therefore told you that. The bottom line is that you can be told anything under the sun over the phone, but it doesn't change the t&c's you've agreed to.

I've come to learn that it's best to get everything firmly in writing, because call centre staff aren't going to be correct 100% of the time. They are just going by the information provided by that organisation - they are infact a link between customers and the bank itself.

Certainly, the Amazon BT fee problem is regretable, and in a way I'd be angry too. But legally speaking, I'm reasonably confident Halifax will have checked into it, and these fees being applied now are being correctly applied.