River Island / Santander Store Card - Late Fees

jooshy

I've got a River Island card which has been open and being repaid for the best part of 2/3yrs now. The repayment date is the 18th of the month, which is a total pain in the !!!! for me as my payday is the 20th. I have explained this to them on numerous occasions and asked them to move the due date for me or make some sort of arrangements as i cannot always make the payment on time. They have always refused and keep slapping me with a £12 late payment fee every other month for missing my minimum payment of £6-8pm which ends up getting paid on 21-22nd of every month.

Is there anything i can do to stop this or get these charges claimed back in any form as it's really annoying me, i am making additional payments for the past few months of around £20-30 so i am far exceeding the min payment required to them yet they chg me an extra £12 so paying it off is a bit of a challenge.

I appreciate it is mainly my fault to ensure funds are available, yet the excessive-ness of the charges is what has annoyed me, so to get any or part of it back to clear my balance asap would be great. Will scan docs if needed.

Help please!

michael1983l

You could try not spending the money you would allocate if the DD went out on the first pay day of the month.

chattychappy

Snooty answer: They are perfectly entitled to set the dates. Sorry to say, your personal circumstances don't enter into it. A credit card does allow you to buy now and pay later - so if you can't pay by the time the statement due date comes in, then something is going wrong.

Having said that, if you apply for another card you'll probably get a different date. Some cards do allow you to change the date - I believe MBNA do.

Since your current provider said "no", I suggest you just vote with your feet. However if you keep missing payments, your credit report might be in a bit of a state.

kirwell81

jooshy wrote: »

I appreciate it is mainly my fault

QUOTE]

Not mainly - more totally.

If you are not able to ensure that you keep money aside I would suggest you open a separate account. Then on the day you get pain you transfer £30 or however much you wish to pay over to. Then set up the direct debit for the RI account to come off there.

[Deleted User]

jooshy wrote: »

I appreciate it is mainly my fault to ensure funds are available,

No. Not mainly. Entirely.

As Michael says - don't just spend every penny of your income each month. Save the bit you need to pay the bills. It doesn't make any difference what day the bill it's due. It still needs to come out of a month's income.

michael1983l

chattychappy wrote: »

Snooty answer: They are perfectly entitled to set the dates. Sorry to say, your personal circumstances don't enter into it. A credit card does allow you to buy now and pay later - so if you can't pay by the time the statement due date comes in, then something is going wrong.

Having said that, if you apply for another card you'll probably get a different date. Some cards do allow you to change the date - I believe MBNA do.

Since your current provider said "no", I suggest you just vote with your feet. However if you keep missing payments, your credit report might be in a bit of a state.

It is not a snooty answer at all, if they cannot be responsible enough to budget the payment, then they are not responsible enough for the card. I would suggest that not being able to meet a minum payment of £6 - 8 at any time would mean they cannot afford to pay back the debt.

[Deleted User]

kirwell81 wrote: »

jooshy wrote: »

I appreciate it is mainly my fault

QUOTE]

Not mainly - more totally.

For a second there I thought had double posted. :rotfl:

jooshy

Fair play there's no need to speak to me like i'm a child and that i'm stupid. I asked if it was possible to claim these charges back at all, not for a lecture on managing my finances which frankly you're not in a position to provide. Thanks for the advice reg accs, i have recently opened a bills account this week as this has been one of the main causes of my mis-management.

chattychappy

Charges are not meant to be punitive but a reasonable reflection of the cost to the bank resulting from your breach. £12 a go has become a de-facto standard merely because the OFT said it would presume that a charge above this would be unfair.

You cannot claim the charges back simply on the grounds that you are finding it difficult to pay on time or they've refused to change the pay-by date.

Your best chance, IMHO, is to ask them to justify these penalties by reference to the costs they have incurred. Do this in writing. Total up what you have been billed. Assert that the infractions are minor, the charges are automatically generated and that they are disproportionate in the circumstances. If they've never sent you separate letters or called you then add this in to.

I don't hold out much hope, but they might just make an offer so that you don't take it further.

jooshy

OK thanks worth a go for the sake of a letter isnt it, dont ask dont get. Ill let you know how i get on - one lad on another forum said he got his chgs back from them so we'll see!

chattychappy

chattychappy wrote: »

If they've never sent you separate letters or called you then add this in to.

Just to clarify: this is to support your claim that the charges are in excess of their costs.