Got my 18.9 APR card changed to 0% for 9 months!!!!

JasonW_2

Thanks to the advice from Martin in his book and on this site, I called my credit card company (still nameless til I get the card in my hand!) to complain about the APR as I had the card for 6 years. They said there was nothing they could do and it was tough!

Wrote a letter that I would be leaving them in the next 2 weeks as the card was no longer competetive and I felt used that as a loyal customer, I was subsiding new customer offers. Heard nothing for a week, so made a £600 payment towards my balance, and the next day got a call from the offering me the 0% for 9 months of balance transfers and purchases, and 9.9% after that!

Any amazing result, which will save me over £400 alone in 9 months.

JW

SnowyOwl_2

Oh well done Jason, that's wonderful that you took them on and won! Just shows how much they want your custom. V.encouraging for the rest of us to try it too.

jo_b_2

Nice one, Jason.

Pat__3

Good on ya Jason, Thanks for sharing with us.:)

It gives us all an incentive.;)

Trow

If the 0% is for balance transfers and purchases - make sure you transfer out your balance so you can transfer it in again, unless they have specified that it will apply to your current balance also.

Having said that - well done.

JasonW_2

Yes I have just under 3k on the card, and am in the position to clear the card apart from £400. What I wanted to do was transfer the £400 to my tesco card then transfer the whole back (~£3500 total) to my new card to take full advantage of the 0%! That means my tesco card would also be cleared which is an major plus. The o% card has a £9,750 credit limit so there is no problems in that respect, but do you think there would be any problems transferring off the card then back on to it? I dont want to ring and ask so they dont know what Im planning, and would rather do it anyway. After all, what is the point of 0% if you cant use it. I assume this is what they were banking on though, I still use the card, then payments would clear the 0% part and leave the previous debt gathering interest @ 9.9%

Anyone see any problems?

dag_2

do you think there would be any problems transferring off the card then back on to it?

Shouldn't be a problem. I've done this loads of times.

You can't always get the cheapest interest rate on your existing cards by doing a single transaction. It often takes two or more transactions, moving balances back and forth between cards - as you've discovered. That's why we call it "shuffling".

You're absolutely spot on about payment being allocated to new 0% debt before previous 9.9% debt. You don't want that to happen - so you'd be well advised to clear the 9.9% balance first, before transferring a new 0% balance onto it. If transferring to another card that charges more than 9.9% is the only way you can do that - then go for it.

The Tesco card will charge you a week or two's interest on another £400 - but if you leave the £400 on your unnamed card, you'll be charged interest on £400 continuously at 9.9%, until you've cleared the whole of the 0% balance. So transferring it to Tesco and then back again will be much cheaper...

... unless you're expecting a windfall, and are likely to pay off the whole balance within a month or two. Or unless Tesco is charging ridiculously high rates of interest, above 40% APR.

Hope that helps.

thecomputersaysno

Watch out for any FEE for transferring a balance (either way). It used to be that you could get a 0% deal and transfer the balance free. This is no longer always the case, and the same card Company may charge for some customers and not others. Check your Ts&Cs - you may have to phone them back