Dealing with Devious Behaviour from MBNA (?)

What2DoNext_2

I have had a MBNA credit card from 2007. I got it to fund a holiday on an interest free basis for 12 months so that I did not have to pay for the holiday out my savings at the time. On November 2008, the promotion ended so I paid it all off. In the mean while I had a direct debit from my bank (Natwest) to pay off the minimum payment since a breach would mean charges and a cancellation of the promotional rates offered on the card. After paying it all off, I did not use the card since it offered no advantages.

Recently, I received a letter offering another promotional interest free thing on purchases on the card so I went ahead and used it to fund another holiday. I used the card in mid-June. I called up soon after and reset my online access to the account and checked with the representative to ensure that the direct debit was still active. The guy said all was fine. I was all set :beer:

Then, at the end of July, a minimum payment call was made but I did not worry since the direct debit would take care of it. WRONG! MBNA sent out the call to Natwest on the 29th July (Thursday) and MBNA sent me a letter on the 2nd of August (Monday) automatically backdated to the 31st of July (Saturday) saying that my direct debit has been cancelled. They also put it in my online statement only on the 2nd of August that the direct debit had not gone through. Normally they send me numerous text messages through their moneyalert service about my account but failed to send me a text message about a failed payment! I got the letter today (4th of August - Wednesday) and called them up to ask for an explanation and they said that Natwest "probably" cancelled the direct debit because it had been dormant for over 13 months. To which I said, in that case why did your representative say everything was active and ok with the direct debit. I also pointed out that this was not my fault. The representative then said it was not a banking error in other words not their fault either... He also said there were no notes on the system that I asked about my direct debit. Perhaps he meant to say we don't want to tell our customers that their direct debit might not be valid if we can get away with it especially when asked about it. I also asked why I did not get a automated text message atleast on the 2nd of August (Monday) to say this had happened. He said we do not offer that service :mad:

The representative on the phone then went on to say that he could reinstate the late payment fee charges when they come up on the system in a couple of days. I paid the minimum payment immediately but did not reset my direct debit because in my head I decided to take my business elsewhere since he couldn't reinstate the promotional rates offered to me on that account. He offered me their "current" promotional rate of 4.0% as soon as the minimum payment clears in a couple of days!!!

Then, I called Natwest and they said that yes the direct debit was cancelled because it was dormant but that it would not show as being active since it does not show anywhere in their system as existing! In the middle of my call with Natwest, I got a text message from MBNA moneyalert telling me that my direct debit had failed!!! :rotfl:Guess the service was made up in a hurry to deal with me!

JEEZ! As it stands, I am getting the charges refunded. They have refused to reinstate my original promotional 0.0% interest thing on my purchases though. So it will be their "new" promotional 4.0% in a couple of days. Now I am looking to transfer balance (~£3000.00) from the MBNA to another card and shall pay 2.9% fee on it but will I then be required to pay the interest charged on it between now and the date on which the transfer happens possibly in two weeks to account for the postal delays in sending in applications and so on?

Also is there a way to ask for recordings of the calls I made to them? Most of these calls are monitored for quality purposed or so I am told by some?

YorkshireBoy

If you feel aggrieved...

http://www.mbna.co.uk/contact/complaints.html

https://www.natwest.com/secure/global/contact_us/complaints_procedure.htm

izools

In regard to your experiences, I'd agree you are right to be angry.

It is certainly true that by default, direct debits will be automatically cancelled by the bank after 13 months of dormancy. And it is also true, that there was no banking error.

However for MBNA to tell you that everything was OK for the direct debit, given that they knew it had been dormant for 13 months, is very bad customer service. They knew you hadn't used the account in a long time and shouldn't have mis-advised you.

So whilst the T&C have technically been breached, through no technical banking error on either side, this only came to light as a result of misinformation from them. Kind of a grey area.

I'd say their offer of 4% is a reasonable compromise, but given the misinformation you've been given by their CSA its reasonable to want to take your custom elsewhere. Do you have any other cards you can put the balance on? Will you get it cleared in the next 12-15 months or will it take longer?

The Creation card currently offers 15 months 0% with 2.98% fee and they're really easy to be approved for, too. If you include the balance transfer details on the application chances are MBNA will have received the payment before you even get the card.

However if I was in your position I'd accept the 4% and save taking a hit to my credit score through opening a new credit card elsewhere

Tixy

They wouldn't know that the DD had been cancelled by natwest until they tried to take the payment. What they will have meant is that their system was set up to take the DD and had your bank details.

It is quite normal for banks to cancel DDs after a long period of inactivity to help prevent against fraud.

You could do a subject access request to them for all details they hold on file -but I don't think that they have to give you copies of any calls. Though there should be notes from the calls on their systems. Many organisations delete the calls quite frequently so they may not hold the recordings anyeay. What do you think the calls will prove?

izools

Tixy wrote: »

They wouldn't know that the DD had been cancelled by natwest until they tried to take the payment. What they will have meant is that their system was set up to take the DD and had your bank details.

It is quite normal for banks to cancel DDs after a long period of inactivity to help prevent against fraud.

You could do a subject access request to them for all details they hold on file -but I don't think that they have to give you copies of any calls. Though there should be notes from the calls on their systems. Many organisations delete the calls quite frequently so they may not hold the recordings anyeay. What do you think the calls will prove?

Tixy, I think it's fair to say however, that the CSA was in the wrong, because they knew (or should know, working for a CC company) that DDs auto-cancel after 13 months.

The CSA will have also had on screen the last time they took a payment.

Given that they had this information to hand, and that they were asked by the customer to ensure the DD is set up correctly and ready to go, they should have advised the customer to check with their bank to ensure it is still set up.

Or atleast a staple response to all customers "Yes sir I can see that we will request the funds from your bank by direct debit on <date> however we advise you ensure your bank will honor our request"

YorkshireBoy

Tixy wrote: »

They wouldn't know that the DD had been cancelled by natwest until they tried to take the payment.

I'm not so sure.

http://www.bacs.co.uk/Bacs/Businesses/DirectDebit/Services/Pages/ADDACS.aspx

The above seems to indicate that MBNA would have been notified at 8am on the working day following cancellation.

And that would form the basis of my complaint to MBNA, if I were in the OP's position.

Tixy

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I'm not so sure.

http://www.bacs.co.uk/Bacs/Businesses/DirectDebit/Services/Pages/ADDACS.aspx

The above seems to indicate that MBNA would have been notified at 8am on the working day following cancellation.

And that would form the basis of my complaint to MBNA, if I were in the OP's position.

Not seen that before - happy to stand corrected. And agree, definitely a good back up to a formal written complaint.

izools

Tixy wrote: »

Not seen that before - happy to stand corrected. And agree, definitely a good back up to a formal written complaint.

Well it certainly holds more ground that my reasoning! Thanks guys

YorkshireBoy

Tixy wrote: »

...definitely a good back up to a formal written complaint.

Works both ways too. NatWest may not have sent the information, but would be prompted to check following receipt of a complaint letter.

The only two options are either NatWest didn't send it, or MBNA didn't act on it (presumably the statement said "your payment WILL be collected from your nominated account on xx/xx/xx"?).

Either way, someone will cough up! Everyone's a winner?

What2DoNext_2

izools wrote: »

...a staple response to all customers "Yes sir I can see that we will request the funds from your bank by direct debit on <date> however we advise you ensure your bank will honor our request"

I would have been happy to take the hint and done this. Natwest and Barclays are both doing a 12 month interest free offer for new cards. In the call with Natwest, they approved a card pending me signing off on it. I do have a couple of credit cards but I don't use them and when I do I pay them off before the interest hits me. I am paranoid about getting into debts since I have friends who are in bad places because of it. Other than my mortgage I don't have outstanding credit issues... If like "izools" says, my credit score gets hit then how badly will it get hit if I do take another card? It goes without saying that I will then close my MBNA one after the balance transfer.

I think the whole issue is just devious. If it was trully a genuine mistake, I would expect them to just reinstate the original terms. They obviously have my previous dealings with them on record. I am going to write a complaints letter to them Tixy and I was thinking that if the calls are logged then there is proof that the customer service representative did not let me know about the possible direct debit issue. I am pretty sure all I will get back is a standard letter saying nothing of real value.

What2DoNext_2

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I'm not so sure.

...The above seems to indicate that MBNA would have been notified at 8am on the working day following cancellation.

And that would form the basis of my complaint to MBNA, if I were in the OP's position.

This is VERY useful. In this case, they should have certainly sent me the text message atleast on Friday I would have thought if they did not have an ulterior motive. Is there a time period after which a minimum payment fails that the CC can start implementing a late payment fine and call it a T&C breach? Or is it immediate?