MBNA payment due tomorrow and I don't have the money to pay it

looby75

Hi everyone

Due to circumstances beyond my control (family illness and money I lent to the family member who is now ill ) my already tight budget has burst it's banks and I don't have the money to pay my MBNA credit card this month.

I called the "help line" on the day I realised I wouldn't be able to pay and spoke to someone who told me pretty much tough !!!!!!. I suggested paying half of the minimum payment until things settled down and was told that I would accrue charges if I paid any less than the full minimum amount and that I would be taken to court and be required to find the full balance of almost £5000 immediately for breaching the t&c of my account with them. Now I've read about the bullying tactics of MBNA on this site before but it's a bit harder to know what to do when you are personally on the receiving end of the bullying.

So what do I do?

nrsql

I suspect it's a good idea to pay what you can to show willingness. Don't stretch yourself (maybe just a token £1 payment) otherwise you will find yourself short again next month. Might also enclose a letter explaining the situation.
Sure you will get charged and a nasty letter - but think about claiming the charges back.

If they do eventually get round to taking you to court it will be up to the court to decide what to do not MBNA - but that won't happen (would bet on that) for a single missed payment.

You would have thought they would be happy that you have contacted them wouldn't you? Anyone interested in their customer base would be - obviously that doesn't apply to their staff.

bobsa1

Yes I'd agree, make a payment, no matter how small and send a letter explaining you intend to pay full amount next month etc.

looby75

nrsql wrote:

You would have thought they would be happy that you have contacted them wouldn't you? Anyone interested in their customer base would be - obviously that doesn't apply to their staff.

On the back of the statements and on their website it says something along the lines of, if you are having problems paying this bill please contact us as soon as possible so we can discuss alternative options.

It's all lip service, all they want is to bully you, at your own cost, into robbing peter to pay paul

As for it being a one month thing, I doubt it will be. The person I lent money to on my credit card is now facing long term hospitalisation and she won't be able to pay me back the agreed monthly amount for the foreseeable future, if ever again. It's not her fault, but it does put me up !!!!!! creek.

looby75

I got it wrong, apparently my payment was due Friday....as I was told by a very snotty woman who called me at 8am this morning

I explained my situation to her and offered to pay half my payment, but she was having none of it again. Told me I must find full payment and suggested I lend it from someone else in my family. If I get the full payment to them by the end of the week they will remove the late payment fee though. Gee thanks, don't listen to a word I say why don't ya.

Great start to the week.

rog2

This would appear to be typical of MBNA, and probably why there are so many active threads on the subject.
I too received a letter demanding payment by today, and have no way of being able to pay. Strangely though, the phone hasn't rung yet (maybe I shouldn't have said that).

skaff

If you feel you can't explain your situation to them yourself or feel you are being shouted down by them, take a trip to your local CAB. They will speak on your behalf, get your interest stopped and refer you to a debt counsellor...all free of charge of course.

I was in a similar situation a few years ago with a number of companies. Fortunately, the housing boom allowed me to get some cash together but i still negotiated settlement figures well below what i actually owed. They may talk tough but, as others have already said, they will happily take some money rather than none.

Best of luck!

looby75

apparently there is a letter on it's way to me outlining my contract with them and a breakdown of the fees....and I have no option to appeal them.

Yeah right lol I have to admit I did actually lol when she told me that. She snapped at me and told me being in debt was no laughing matter and that I should be taking it very seriously. I told her I was but it's hard not to laugh when someone tells you something so outrageously incorrect it's funny.

Probably haven't helped my cause very much but she had been ranting at me for almost 10 mins by then.

looby75

skaff wrote:

They may talk tough but, as others have already said, they will happily take some money rather than none.

Best of luck!

See this is what I can't understand, I have now twice offered to pay half of my minimum payment, and both times I've been told no that's not acceptable. I thought that they would have been happier with at least half of it than none

looby75

Well I've left a message on my local CAB answering machine requesting and appointment to see them (it's appointments only round here) so fingers crossed I can get one soon. Thanks for the suggestion Skaff

skaff

What are they saying will happen if you don't pay the full amount? Court action? Let me tell you a little story...

I was behind on HP repayments to a company. I tried to reason with them, explained my postion and what i was able to pay and they turned me down flat and issued a court order.

Outside the judges chambers i met with the representative of the company. I had managed to find some more money and offered to pay 25% over my normal payments for the next year to bring my missed payments down. This would mean me paying approx £350/month. The rep said that this was acceptable but still wanted it to go through the courts to 'make sure you don't let us down again'!

Inside, the judge listened to the situation, hurled a torrent of abuse at the rep on the company's working practices, froze all interesr and reduced my monthly payments to £100/ month with the offer that if i found this too much to just let him know and it would be reduced further.

It isn't just the customers that don't like bully boy tactics!