Credit card vicous circle

NickLinney

Hi
I need some advice as to where I stand with my credit card situation, Halifax One Mastercard.

I have a high balance on my credit card approx £6,700 (the majority of which is on a 7.9% for the life of the balance transfer). I have made all my payments on time for the past 3 years and never been over my limit. However an oversight last month saw me go over my limit by £5.39.

Because of this Halifax have now cancelled my balance transfer offer and doubled both my minimum payment and interest charge. I understand technically they are allowed to do this because I have breached my terms and conditions of the offer but surely common sense should prevail.

Does anyone have any advice on how I could contest this or how I can persuade them to re-instate the offer?

Also, although I have an excellent credit rating with Equifax and Callcredit I cannot get another credit card in order to balance transfer as I am using 95% of my available credit on my cards. So my vicious circle is, my interest is so high I am not making a dent in the balance but I can't get any free credit to make use of the balance transfer offers!! HELP
Thanks

gnaril

Yes call them up and advise them of the situation and there was a genuine error and your looking for them to reinstate it.

They are generally ok with it if accounts maintained in a good order etc. Either call up or writie into card services address on the back of your statement.

All the best

NickLinney

Thanks for your quick response....trouble is (and I know I should have put this earlier) but spoke to Customer services and they said that they wouldn't re-instate it because it was oversight on my part (even though it was £5). Long conversation but he was having none of it. However I did get him to admit by the end of the conversation that they "could" re-instate it but they were choosing not to.
Will writing to them really make a difference?

td_007

NickLinney wrote: »

Thanks for your quick response....trouble is (and I know I should have put this earlier) but spoke to Customer services and they said that they wouldn't re-instate it because it was oversight on my part (even though it was £5). Long conversation but he was having none of it. However I did get him to admit by the end of the conversation that they "could" re-instate it but they were choosing not to.
Will writing to them really make a difference?

Many people have had success by calling up again and speaking with someone else - give it a try.

NickLinney

Thanks...I will try that....if not then I guess writing to them is the next step

NickLinney

Tried calling Halifax customer services again...different person but same result. The excuse they use is that it "wasn't a bank error" so therfore they will not re-instate the original balance transfer offer!!
I explained that the money was paid into a Halifax branch BEFORE the interest was applied to my account but it didn't clear until the next day but it was "falling on deaf ears"!
What ever happened to good customer service? I had made all my payments on time and kept within my credit limit for 3 years and for one day they decide to do this...I will put this in writing but I get a feeling that it will not make a blind bit of difference because all they are concerned with is making as much money as they can.
Word of warning, Halifax do not know the meaning of customer service!!

AbbeyDhabi

Strange. It certainly used to be the case that cash paid in at a Halifax branch was effectively credited the same day. Do you mean interest date or due date. If it was after due date, even by one day they are right. However goodwill is a wonderful thing. If you normally run the account in good order, most banks will re-instate, but it IS up to their discretion.

ILW

It appears that now all the people who decided to take them to court have had their day, all goodwill has gone. Pity.

NickLinney

Strange. It certainly used to be the case that cash paid in at a Halifax branch was effectively credited the same day. Do you mean interest date or due date. If it was after due date, even by one day they are right. However goodwill is a wonderful thing. If you normally run the account in good order, most banks will re-instate, but it IS up to their discretion.

Thanks Abbey Dhabi, my minimum payment had been made earlier in the month well inside the due date but the cash that was paid into the branch was an additional payment (because my OH had used the card by mistake) on the day the interest was due to be added.
Good will is not a word anyone at Halifax understands and how I have previously managed my account seems to count for nothing!!
I have been told by 2 separate "so called" customer relations staff that it is possible to get the offer put back on my account but they are still sticking to their script of "it wasn't a bank error so we will not change it!!".
All I want to do is be in a position to close down all my accounts with Halifax but they have now made it twice as difficult as they have now doubled my interest payments!!

I have another question to the forum, can I transfer balances from a credit card in my name to another credit card in someone else's name (i.e. my OH)? I ask because I have a lot of debt in my name and my OH does not have any credit cards. She is prepared to do this as this is the only way I can embark on the balance transfer "merry go round". I cannot do it myself as although my credit rating in good (in respect of Electroral Roll, No missed payments, low number of credit searches, no defaults), I have a high level of debt and credit card usage so I am not able to obtain any more credit in my name, even if it is to reduce my interest rather than get myself into more debt.

YorkshireBoy

NickLinney wrote: »

...can I transfer balances from a credit card in my name to another credit card in someone else's name (i.e. my OH)? I ask because I have a lot of debt in my name and my OH does not have any credit cards.

Your OH can transfer your CC debt to a card in their name.

However, if they don't have any credit cards at the moment (or have never had any), ie no recent credit history, then don't build your hopes up for them either a) getting accepted, or b) getting a sufficient credit limit.

NickLinney

Thanks for the info.

She has never had any credit cards in the UK but she does have an existing personal loan of which she has 7 months history of making payments and also we have a joint bank account so she has this as well.

We have subscribed to Checkmyfile and she has a good credit rating currently with Equifax and Callcredit so I assume it will be consistent with Experian also. If this is the case can anyone offer advice about which credit cards would be most likely to accept her?