Due date on a non working day

bella23

Hi, I have a Virgin MBNA card, which I have been paying off each month. I made a payment by debit card on the 23rd October (friday). The funds debited my account that day. I have just received my creditcard statement and they have charged me £12 for late payment. The statement says the payment was credited on the 26th (monday). They have also taken me off my BT deal. I have looked again at my previous statement and the due date was the 25th (Sunday).
I will be talking to them about this as the funds did leave my account, but I wondered if it is unreasonable to have a due date on a non working day?

happyformonths

Hi,
I'm afraid you will probably not have much joy when you talk to them. It does say on the back of the statement that you must leave time for funds to clear and it suggests a minimum of 3 working days (I think) for a debit card payment.

The due date is the same from month to month for interest calculation purposes; as interest is calculated daily (including non-working days) I don't think they're bothered whether it's a non-working day.

I know it seems unfair but, unfortunately, it's your responsibility to make sure they get the payment on time IF you haven't set up a direct debit for the minimum payment - which I highly recommend. That will always come out in time to get to them no matter what the due day is.

Hope this helps.
HFM

Innocent_Guy

Phone up Virgin and explain the situation. They have been known to re-instate the BT deal if this is your first mishap

Jemma-T

Yeah, phone them -be very nice- and plead your case but you have to take responsibilty for breaking your contract.

If you get a firm "No" try phoning at least once more as you will get someone else who may be more helpful.

And don't be scared to say "Please" to them. If you're really struggling to meet the payments in general you maybe need help.

Good luck!

henrik1971

I had the same problem with MBNA and raised it on here a few weeks ago. One of my payment dates fell on Easter Monday, but because the last working day was Thursday (5 days earlier) that was the "TRUE" payment deadline date.

Of course if you have to pay three working days before that deadline date, you had to make the payment by the monday before, even if paying by funds transfer online.

Isn't it amazing that we can send men to the moon but MBNA can't do sameday electronic funds transfer. Well, they can, but this would be helpful to the customer, so they do this to trip us up instead. I remember saying that I thought it would be helpful for MBNA to give this 'true' date on statements, but other forum members thought I was mad.

Milarky

I believe MBNA now accept Faster Payments and this would have applied to their account on Friday if the OP's bank was one of those now on Faster Payments and they had made a 'bill payment' instead.

Remember - the credit card co.s (and banks) make 'rules' to suit themselves.....

Moggles_2

Virgin will refund late fees as a goodwill gesture and reinstate your promo rate, provided that it's a "first offence" and you ask nicely. Leave it a few weeks though and this lender may not refund interest already charged.

Virgin has excellent online services. If you register your details on the website, you can monitor your account and pay bills in seconds. What's more, there's an idiot-proof explanation (the best I've encountered) of time required for payments to clear for every single day of the month, so you need never be in the dark again.

Also, it might be an idea to set up a direct debit to pay the minimum amount required. That way, it's Virgin's responsibility, not yours, to make sure the minimum monthly repayments get there and on time

Jemma-T

Milarky wrote: »

I believe MBNA now accept Faster Payments

FasterPayments is a great extra service but you never assume it'll get there in time. Sometimes it does a transfer in 20mins then sometimes 2 days. If a FP is going to fail (within "2 hours") I get an email off BOS usually.

Best thing is to pay the minimum amount immediately your statement is issued and then pay the bulk or clear it when/if you can.

If people use all these financial things then they should get into some sort of rhythm about taking responsibility and making payments and confirming the account has been credited. Doesn't take much time. The Internet makes things very easy.