Virgin - Penalties and transferring away

buzzbomb

Hello all,

Hope someone can advise!

Recently moved to Virgin Creditcards in July as my Tesco 0% deal expired. I don't get a paper statement sent to me by Virgin and rather than go DD, I always remind myself to make the £25 min payment each month.

Anyway, payment was due on the 15th and I paid this online on that day (as I get paid on the 15th and had had a bad month!). However, I got hit with a late payment fine and subsequently lost my 0% deal and got hit with the higher rate interest on the £25 & £12 fine, so now got a bill of £80 to settle!

Called them up and an adviser told me they need a few days to process the payment so that's why I've been fined. As it was my first late payment, my 0% deal is void and they've put me on a near 2% interest rate now for the duration of my deal.

On top of that, my 0% on purchases is gone now too.

Really not happy with all the above as I've never had a problem paying on the due date in the past and I know I can get a better deal / service elsewhere, but will it effect my credit rating changing vendor so soon?

Cheers in advance!

fozmcfc

End of the day, you paid too late for whatever reason, so you broke the T&C's of the card. Why didn't you call them beforehand to let them know you wanted to pay on the day, too make sure it would go through.

Many people around here who have lost their 0% deal, have managed to plead with Virgin and get their 0% back, if it is the first time they have broken the T&C's.

No reason why you can't switch again, providing you definately feel you will be accepted elsewhere. If you have applied for credit at least 3 times in the past few months, you may have difficulty in obtaining credit.

Fiddlestick

buzzbomb wrote: »

Really not happy with all the above as I've never had a problem paying on the due date in the past and I know I can get a better deal / service elsewhere

The due date is when the money has to be with them, not the date you need to make the payment.

Sometimes it can take a day or so to process a payment or to receive the funds, so it's worth paying well before the due date.

You can ask them to reinstate the promotional offer, but they have no obligation to do so really.

buzzbomb

Thanks folks - I don't usually jump credit card provider until my 0% deal is up, but I think I might need to in this instance to avoid the interest if there are no problems with it effecting my credit rating.

Previous CC companies I've used have been fine with me paying on the due day when I've needed to with no repercussions; Virgin are the first to whack me with a penalty and void my 0% deal.

Bah. Lesson learned!

YorkshireBoy

buzzbomb wrote: »

...they've put me on a near 2% interest rate now for the duration of my deal.

So if I understand correctly:

You've around a year left, and they're now charging 2% APR (instead of 0%).

You want to pay someone else 2-3% for another year of 0% elsewhere?

You sure? There isn't a (significant) gain for you is there?

Isn't it better to call retentions (0800 783 1116), plead your case politely, and stay where you are?

buzzbomb

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

So if I understand correctly:

You've around a year left, and they're now charging 2% APR (instead of 0%).

You want to pay someone else 2-3% for another year of 0% elsewhere?

You sure? There isn't a (significant) gain for you is there?

Isn't it better to call retentions (0800 783 1116), plead your case politely, and stay where you are?

Not quite - I can get a balance transfer with no fee (offered through my bank).

And yeah, tried my best to get my offer back in the politest manner - alas, to no avail. Said the best they could offer (seeings how it was my first late payment) was put me on close to 2% interest per month going forward for the duration of my 0% deal term.

Thanks again though!

Any

buzzbomb wrote: »

Not quite - I can get a balance transfer with no fee (offered through my bank).

And yeah, tried my best to get my offer back in the politest manner - alas, to no avail. Said the best they could offer (seeings how it was my first late payment) was put me on close to 2% interest per month going forward for the duration of my 0% deal term.

Thanks again though!

BEST????? Some 24% APR??
Are you sure you got that right?

Sounds like a punishment, not "the best we could do"..

ppc1

As it is the first time you have paid late, I would write to MBNA (Virgin) Customer advocates office. I would say they are very likely to reinstate your 0% promotional offer there address is:

Customer Advocate Office
MBNA (Bank of America)
Stansfield House
Chester
CH4 9QQ

Trust me on this one, they will want to resolve your issue.

exel1966

buzzbomb wrote: »

Hello all,

Hope someone can advise!

Recently moved to Virgin Creditcards in July as my Tesco 0% deal expired. I don't get a paper statement sent to me by Virgin and rather than go DD, I always remind myself to make the £25 min payment each month.

Anyway, payment was due on the 15th and I paid this online on that day (as I get paid on the 15th and had had a bad month!). However, I got hit with a late payment fine and subsequently lost my 0% deal and got hit with the higher rate interest on the £25 & £12 fine, so now got a bill of £80 to settle!

Called them up and an adviser told me they need a few days to process the payment so that's why I've been fined. As it was my first late payment, my 0% deal is void and they've put me on a near 2% interest rate now for the duration of my deal.

On top of that, my 0% on purchases is gone now too.

Really not happy with all the above as I've never had a problem paying on the due date in the past and I know I can get a better deal / service elsewhere, but will it effect my credit rating changing vendor so soon?

Cheers in advance!

For future reference MBNA accept Faster payments. A payment by FP from your online bank account by 5pm will be credited that day and updated overnight.
Payment made on the MBNa site will take 3-4 days as it will go via BACS.

ppc1

exel1966 wrote: »

For future reference MBNA accept Faster payments. A payment by FP from your online bank account by 5pm will be credited that day and updated overnight.
Payment made on the MBNa site will take 3-4 days as it will go via BACS.

I totally agree, for the record I would advise that any faster payment made after 5pm Friday will not credit the account until the next business working day. Be careful not to get caught out during bank holidays ! Virgin, MBNA, Bank of America, BT, Amazon often have due dates that fall on a weekend!

YorkshireBoy

ppc1 wrote: »

Virgin, MBNA, Bank of America, BT, Amazon often have due dates that fall on a weekend!

As do Allied Irish Banks, Barclays, Co-op, Egg, First Direct, Halifax, LTSB, Nationwide, NatWest, RBS...

Need I go on?!