Cheap way for MBNA to boost their profits?

strongeyecontact

Yes I did have a huge credit limit - £11k. As mentioned, not hugely responsible (and if I told you what my total credit limit was on my other cards you'd be :eek: ) but I won't bemoan that, as it has allowed me to invest in some great properties.

Anyway, having dug into this a bit more, I have now discovered a few more interesting facts, such as I think they have been charging me interest on the balance transfer fee...

So I will be doing a lot more investigating, and then I can foresee a very detailed letter going to their Complaints department, which will no doubt receive the 'deny, deny, deny' treatment so beloved of major institutions. I especially love the line on their statements, paraphrased "once you have complained to us, you MAY be able to take your complaint to the Ombudsman".

MAY?

I think you mean WILL, without question!!

Their statements describe everything with such ambiguity you need a degree in languages to translate them - and just try to get a straight answer out of any employee... they wouldn't know how interest is calculated, or anything of much use at all unless they can push a button to get it spelt out for them on a computer screen for them to read (ask them anything remotely out of the ordinary and the wonderful "computer says no" sketch springs to mind), if their lives depended on it. Call 5 times, get 5 different answers!

Now less than 20 hours for the 'manager', who will actually just be a miniscule step up their corporate ladder, to call me back - can't wait to see if he/she has a clue what is going on. That's if they call at all. We'll see! Still venting, as you can see!

geordie_joe

janewatts wrote: »

:rolleyes: Thanks for your very concise summary, you have nearly got the gist of it

Thanks, I'll give myself half a point for effort

Have just read your other post and I hope you get it sorted out. I had an MBNA card once, and I know they way they work. They will do anything to lend you money, then do anything they can to screw more interest or extra charges out of you.

fitzroy

janewatts wrote: »

Anyway, having dug into this a bit more, I have now discovered a few more interesting facts, such as I think they have been charging me interest on the balance transfer fee...
/QUOTE]

It's not unusual for the balance transfer fee to attract interest and quite a few companies do this - see the small print.

JimmyTheWig

I still don't get it. Even with high interest of, say, 2% a month (27% a year) I can't get this to fail...
Credit limit: 11,000.00
Maximum balance transfer (95%): 10,450.00
BT fee (3% of transfer): 313.50
Initial outstanding balance: 10,763.50
Monthly interest on BT fee (2% monthly): 6.27
Monthly minimum repayment: 25.00
Monthly capital repayment (repayment less interest): 18.73
Balance after 12 months: 10,538.74
First non-0% month interest (2% monthly): 210.77
Balance after first interest added: 10,749.51

That still leaves you £250 below your limit.
Either I've missed something or MBNA have made a mistake somewhere. I suggest you (with our help if need-be) work out for yourself what their mistake is. From what has been said I wouldn't expect them to spot it!

strongeyecontact

fitzroy wrote: »

It's not unusual for the balance transfer fee to attract interest and quite a few companies do this - see the small print.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but to me a zero % interest balance transfer is just that. There is definitely something very funny going on, the interest amounts are way too high, and yes Jimmy, I will be investigating fully!!

Thanks for all your comments.

JimmyTheWig

Yes, I agree it is a bit harsh to be charged interest on the fee when there's nothing (short of paying off the full balance!) you can do to avoid that. But even at the high interest rates I suggested that only turns a 3% fee into a 3.75% fee, so nothing too drastic considering the benefit you get from the deal.

Out of interest (npi), was this a new card or a deal on an existing card? I don't suppose there was a balance on the card that you believe you had cleared but never actually received a statement showing you owed nothing?

strongeyecontact

Nothing obvious Jimmy but surprise surprise, the 48 hours for them returning my call has been and gone with nothing. Good thing I wasn't counting on it.

Out of interest, what is npi short for?

fitzroy

janewatts wrote: »

surprise surprise, the 48 hours for them returning my call has been and gone with nothing. Good thing I wasn't counting on it.

I'm not surprised either. In my experience they are hoping you will give up and stop ringing. When I've waited on a call that didn't materialise I don't waste more time chasing; I send a letter detailing what I think the payments should have been and send it recorded delivery. You can track when the rd letter was signed for, wait 7/10 days for response then move it to the next level; there should be a complaints procedure somewhere on the back of your statements.

strongeyecontact

Well fitzroy, I have a great story about how even Recorded Delivery letters don't work...

Last year Capital One, my MOST favourite credit card company to vent about, ignored two of my letters, having acknowledged they did receive them, and 9 days after receiving the second Recorded Letter questioning why their incorrect charges still hadn't been removed, they went one better and put a default on my record. Fantastic :mad:

Now, despite Capital One's own solicitors confirming absolutely nothing is outstanding, the default and a large supposed still outstanding amount remain on my credit file. I was trying to gather the strength to take it to the FSA as C1 (I won't tell you what that stands for in my house) were still on the deny deny deny tack, ignoring their OWN solicitors, but hadn't got round to it due to business commitments, and it wasn't really affecting my business.

Now however, having found other credit card companies have started to reduce my credit limits and/or increased their rates despite no problems on those accounts, and not even being able to get a mobile phone contract, I realise everything leads back to the C1 problem, so I really MUST sort it out. I just have to get in the mood, where I won't give up until I win (which I will, I have all the evidence). It's just so draining, why it is bloody well necessary? I am sure they won't get so much as a smack on the wrists, despite all the grief it has caused me...

But anyway, I digress

fitzroy

janewatts wrote: »

Well fitzroy, I have a great story about how even Recorded Delivery letters don't work...

Last year Capital One, my MOST favourite credit card company to vent about, ignored two of my letters, having acknowledged they did receive them, and 9 days after receiving the second Recorded Letter questioning why their incorrect charges still hadn't been removed, they went one better and put a default on my record. Fantastic :mad:

/QUOTE]

That's why I send only one recorded delivery letter and then move straight to the complaints procedure. I've not had issues with credit card companies or the like but just generally with any product where a complaint has been involved.

I've just had a result from TalkTalk where I'd been chasing a refund they owed me; I didn't let it run on and moved it up the ladder very quickly: one chasing phone call (no result), one rd letter (no reply), a personal message to the TT rep on the MSE Techie board (no response), email to the CEO Charles Dunstone - 20 mins later an email and phone call from one of his PAs with apology and a refund cheque 5 days later.

Don't let these situations "fester" as they just get worse (as you've discovered) and then it's twice as hard and even more stressful to get it resolved. BTW if your credit record has wrongly been affected there should be advice somewhere on the MSE homepage on how to contact the credit reference agencies and place an explanation on your record of the current position with Capital. If I'm wrong about that then perhaps do a search on the MSE "credit card" board or I'm sure another poster reading this thread will point you in the right direction.

In the meantime I wouldn't hang about with the MBNA situation; as suggested above, do the maths then use the complaints procedure.