Martin's right about NEVER purchase on a BT cc...

xjlmummy

...if only I'd known!

New to all this, becoming obsessed and not before time.

Have just discovered the hard way!

When Barclaycard "kindly" extended my credit limit in 2004 to give me a £750 super balance transfer into my impoverished Barclays current account at 6.9%, nobody mentioned the fact that higher rate purchases sit and fester. Paying minimum amount by DD on statement means that the transferred balance is down to £350. However, meanwhile in my innocence I've been paying my monthly broadband (£17.99) on my Barclaycard...so despite paying £32 a month for 18 months I still owe the same amount if not more and my higher-rate balance is now over £1100!:mad:

Ok, well having become a bit more savvy from reading MSE articles and fora, I accept that I am responsible for the mistakes I made. But is there any room to argue with B/card that it was missold to me (over the phone via a Barclays personal banker with no real explanation of the rates for later use?:think:

I'd sure be grateful for your views on this!
Shari

IvanOpinion

Did your statements not show the balance each month ? Did you not read your statements .. if not then it is your own fault.

Ivan

xjlmummy

Gee thanks for the support Ivan _pale_ ...

I think I did say I was to blame for some of it, and I agree that ignorance is no defence but I am a newbie and never knew even to look at the statement in detail - it got paid on DD so no to be perfectly honest I gave them a cursory glance.When you're in a lot of debt it gets too scary to look after a while.:o

Perhaps I'm in totally the wrong place here, but I kind of assume that not everyone on MSE is naturally gifted with financial acumen, and maybe some of the folks out there learned the hard way, like me?:huh:

Shari

IvanOpinion

Chill my little MSE chum, I am not getting at you but you have to put things into perspective. We often hear people shouting about 'its my money, how dare the bank charge me to gain access to it' but on the other hand we also often see 'its my money, and I never thought to check my statements'. Anybody who does not check their statements is leaving themselves wide open to fraud and an ever increasing debt ... I have seen several mistakes on my statements over the years (I am not claiming fraud, just simple mistakes) .. unfortunately you have learned the hard way.

Looking at your sig you seem to be starting to follow Martins advice which is a great starting point. I don't believe that the bank is or should be held respsonsible however that is not to say that you maybe should not have a word with your local CAB or discuss the matter with your bank manager directly. The main thing is to make sure you pay as little interest as possible on your debt and get it out of the way.

Ivan