Credit Card Cheques Need A 666 On Them Blog Discus

Former_MSE_Andrea

This is a chat forum discussion on Martin's 'Credit Card Cheques Need A 666 On Them - For More Reasons Than Often Said' blog which you can read here.

nim_2

I have to say that this sending out of cheques really irritates me.

Apart from anything else I do not want something that can be easily used to spend money, which the CC company will expect me to replay, to be sent out unsolicited - if they did go missing in the post I would never know because I am not expecting them, so the first warning is the large bill or getting my card frozen.

I appear to have trained my CC providers not to send them out - I tell them that the next time I receive one I will cancel the card immediately - and actually have previously cancelled a card for just that. [I have also previously sent one provider an envelope of confetti - shredded cheques]

Girlyb

I agree with Nim credit card cheques are disgraceful. They are forced upon you and most people don't realise how truely evil they are! Certainly not a Money Savers friend!

I shred them every time and did with great pleasure when Capital One sent me some last week!

Ban the horrible things!

msissons

According to the T's+C's on my HSBC account (changing soon - still need the overdraft!) if they issue you with credit card cheques, they will undertake 'regular credit checks' on you, so it can't exactly be good for your credit rating either.

Niteflyer101

1st suprise! :shocked: 2nd annoyance!:mad: 3rd IN THE SHREDDER!!!!

This was my response to Cap1's unsolicited credit card cheques!!

rbulph

I love Capital One's credit card cheques - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=127286&highlight=rbulph, and think that they are very generous in providing them on the terms that they do. You just have to watch that you stick within the terms to not pay any interest.

philhuff

Just to play Devil's Advocate here a little, I'd like to stick up for Capital One - I've been sent cheques by them before, and they've been the very occasional life saver for those places that don't take cards, such as my dentist.

The cheques themselves are fee-free, and treated as a regular purchase, so there's an interest free period and no usage charges or increased interest rates.

However, I do agree that generally they're a bad thing.

MSE_Martin

Hi philhuff

Capital One cheques aren't fees free (certainly the ones i got aren't) and they are treated like cash not a regular purchase. You may've received a special set, but usually Im afraid not

martin

claire_bargains

I have recently had a very blunt conversation with my Credit Card provider (which is paid in full each month and earns me vouchers to spend in their store).
They seem to have a "helpful" habit of sending me cheques every so often encouraging me to use them, for instance, to transfer my other cards to theirs - they are on a loser straight off, as I don't have any.....
It went - do not send me any more cheques, I won't use them, don't need them, and they result in me having to dispose of them carefully, which takes up my time.
I think they got the point!
The problem with these things are that some people think that these companies are trying to be helpful to them - and this is just not the case, it is simply a ploy to get you to either get into hock with them, or get further into hock - both of which making them money.
I would personally have them made illegal. I'm far from being in favour of a nanny state, but these are sent out to people with little regard for their circumstances. You wouldn't expect a chemist to sell poison to someone suicidal, so why allow these people to send such things out with scant regard to their ability to pay?
Ooh, it just makes me mad......

lowedb

I've been trying to stop these things being sent for years. I've tried all of the ploys, including cancelling card accounts after warnings.

These days, I destroy the cheques as soon as I receive them, but keep them to prove I didn't use them.

I don't think we'd ever get them made illegal, but it ought to be a requirement of the FSA that banks have a way of letting customers choose not to have them.

nokeyblokey

Like philhuff, I find these cheques very useful. I occasionally use Capital One cheques, and the T&Cs state that they are treated exactly the same as card purchases. They incure NO fees, the purchases are covered by the same purchase protection as the card, and they enjoy the usual 56-day interest-free period. I may be fortunate that I pay off my account every month, so incur no interest charge, but for anyone they can be very handy for paying for goods where the vendor charges for the use of a credit card, like holiday companies, and for any vendor that does not accept credit cards. I have had my Capital One card for six years and have never paid one penny in charges or interest. They just have to be used sensibly.