"missold" 0% credit

gata.org

hi,
Quick question, I took out a virgin atlantic credit card about a month ago (MBNA), paid for a flight with it, then a bit later phoned up to make a payment.

At this point they sold me a 0% promotional credit which I transferred into my bank account, paying a modest 2% handling fee. I was repeatedly told that I would pay no interest until April 2010.

Anyway I made payments before the deadline for the flight I'd booked + the cash handling fee. Was a bit surprised then to find an interest charge on this months statement. Phoned up to query it and was told that I'd fallen into "the trap"; what they explained is that it would basically be impossible to pay off the flight without also paying off the full balance of the interest free credit. To say I'm not happy is a bit of an understatement.

Obviously I should've read the small print, and I underestimated quite how underhand a company MBNA actually are in their dealings. Can they actually do this ? I feel I've been sold this credit under false pretences, i.e. missold. It was not explained to me when I agreed to this that I wouldn't be able to pay off the flight balance before the interest free credit. In fact as stated above I requested repeated reassurances that I wouldn't have to pay "any interest" until April 2009 as long as I didn't miss a minimum payment.

Is there much I can do here apart from pay it off and learn from it ? I'm planning to make an official complaint at the very least.

Thanks for Reading.

Joe

kriss_boy

Its a tough one... because you would have know that if you had read the credit agreement when you took out the credit card. But you obviously didnt.

I would phone up, emphasis the fact that the customer services agent repeatedly confirmed it would be 0% when he had knowledge of the flights.

td_007

gata.org wrote: »

hi,
At this point they sold me a 0% promotional credit which I transferred into my bank account, paying a modest 2% handling fee. I was repeatedly told that I would pay no interest until April 2010.

- was the payment hierarchy explained to you?
= if yes, then they have basically covered themselves
=if no, were the new t&cs sent to you before you made the bank transfer?

Basically, if you did not have the opportunity to review t&cs particularly the payment hierarchy before you made the bank transfer, then you can claim misrepresentation, otherwise it is a lesson learned.

MPH80

Except - td_007 - the payment hierarchy didn't change - so there's no need for new T&Cs - the OP accepted them when they signed up for the card.

Moggles_2

This payment hierarchy (whereby transactions charged at special promo rates are paid off first, leaving a more expensive debt to accrue interest), is pretty standard across the cc industry, which is why it's not generally a good idea to have two different types of transaction (in this case a money transfer plus a purchase) running on the same credit card at the same time.

td_007

MPH80 wrote: »

Except - td_007 - the payment hierarchy didn't change - so there's no need for new T&Cs - the OP accepted them when they signed up for the card.

That may be the case, but it might be worthwhile to argue on technicality that with the introduction of an additional offer which is essentially a variation of initial condition of providing a card, the OP should have been made aware that the original t&c still remain valid or should have been provided with a new one.

CLAPTON

Are you actually better off or worse off with the 0% deal than if you hadn't taken it?

gata.org

CLAPTON wrote: »

Are you actually better off or worse off with the 0% deal than if you hadn't taken it?

I am worse off because of it.

CLAPTON

why ?

what are the figures
what did you do with the 0% transfer?

gata.org

CLAPTON wrote: »

why ?

what are the figures
what did you do with the 0% transfer?

It went into my bank account.

gata.org

td_007 wrote: »

- was the payment hierarchy explained to you?
= if yes, then they have basically covered themselves
=if no, were the new t&cs sent to you before you made the bank transfer?

Basically, if you did not have the opportunity to review t&cs particularly the payment hierarchy before you made the bank transfer, then you can claim misrepresentation, otherwise it is a lesson learned.

payment hierarchy explained to me, no definitely not
T&Cs, not sure, i don't know whether they changed or not, i would guess MBNA have standard T&Cs but I don't know