Minimum Finance Charge with Vanquis

Pandilex

This is my first credit card, and I noticed they charged me a £1 minimum finance charge this month.

I set up a direct debit with them the day I activated my card to take the full amount of any outstanding balance, so I was surprised to see this. I telephoned them, and they said it's because I bought something using my card around the date the bill was issued, so interest was charged on it as it appeared on my next statement.

This sounds like total crap to me, surely the item should have appeared on the next month's statement rather than accruing interest. Although the interest was small, they kindly round it up to £1 and call it minimum finance charge.

I tried to argue with the guy on the phone but he ended up saying don't buy anything from 1st-5th of the month which is roughly when my bill is issued.

Is this right? It sounds suspicious to me...

CLAPTON

do you always pay your bill in full?

izools

This will be due to a transaction appearing on the account the day your bill was produced.

Vanquis have an age old error with their billing system that they're too stupid to fix. Call them on their free number - 0800 781 6314 - explain and they will refund the £1.

Pandilex

Hi yes, I set up the direct debit for the full amount so it is automatically taken from my bank account.

I'll try ringing them again later after I get a couple more replies, the guy was very insistent earlier when I called that it was my fault.

Brian1966

Regardless of what you were told on the phone it isn't your fault, it is a peculiar thing which is pretty much exclusive to Vanquis
As izools said, ring them and they will refund it, don't be fobbed off.

izools

Pandilex wrote: »

the guy was very insistent earlier when I called that it was my fault.

He lied to you. It is a very old bug in their system that countless customers have been affected by and notified Vanquis about but they refuse to fix it. They can refund the money but they don't fix the issue.

When you call back, if the person you speak to blames you and / or refuses to refund the money. demand to speak to their supervisor and ask the supervisor why his / her staff are lying to you and why their staff haven't been trained on how to resolve this common, old, well known issue.

Unfortunately this is one of many reasons I always advise fellow forum members to try their luck with Capital One Classic, Aqua, and Barclaycard Initial before even considering Vanquis...

Good luck!

Pandilex

Thanks guys, I'll ring back later and have a go!

Fancy telling me to be careful buying anything from the 1st-5th, I knew something had to be up.

It must be a nice little earner for them to sneak a few quid onto people's accounts, and then rake in the cash from the 0871 premium number for those who try to get it fixed!

izools

Indeed. Make a note of the 0800 781 6314 to call them on anytime you need to

PeteMate

just on this one, i've paid nearly all of my outstanding balance on my vanquis, and they've slapped a 13.63 'billed deferred finance charge' onto my latest statement.

Anyone know if i could claim this back, or is it part of their T&C's??

Thanks, Pete

izools

Did you clear your last two statements in full?

PeteMate

No. i paid all but £25.