MBNA penalising me for paying early!!

Biker-Budgie

any advice here really apreciated.

Last September i took out a CC with MBNA to transfer my wifes Barclaycard over on a 0% Bal xfr as the interest she was paying was silly.
I was granted a £5k limit so transfered £4996.

I received my first statement in Oct payable by 19/10/2010
I paid the minimum on debit card (13/10/2010)
I then setup a standing order to pay £50 per month on the 1st of the month first payment being 01/11/2010.

all sorted payments at the start of each month so keep my account upto date - i dont like owing money so all nice n tidy, i set a note in my calender to pay the balance off at the end of the balance transfer period (funds are in an ISA to pay off in full)
My statements are online, having a hectic end of the year i didnt check these, i noted that the funds had been leaving my bank account so didnt worry about it.

Today i checked my online account, and found i have been charged for late payments! and as i have paid late my 0% rate has been changed for violation of their T&C's. and as the interest has taken me over my credit limit they have charged me for that too.
very odd!

i checked through my statements and backtracked it to November

Oct statement - Owe £49.96 by 20/10/2010 (paid £49.96 13/10/2010)
Nov statement - Owe £48.96 by 19/11/2010 (paid £50.00 1/11/2010)

Dec - late payment fee £12.00 ??

I called up MBNA and was told that this is because they generate their statements after the 1st of the month, i have been paying on the 1st so it has been going to the previous months statement.

so basically they see it as me paying twice in November and then late every month after that.

the people i have spoken to at MBNA so far havent been very helpfull - they accept that ive acted in good faith but the charges still stand :mad: so im now awaiting a callback from a manager (48hr callback)

im guessing ive breached the T&C's so to the letter of the law im in the wrong but its plain for anyone to see that im not trying to get out of paying them - ive just paid them a day too early.

any advice from you knowledgable folks?

Tixy

They are right, this does happen to people quite a lot when using standing orders, you do need to carefully check the statement date and the due date and make sure your standing order is credited between those 2 dates.

If you appeal to them they do sometimes re-instate the 0% period but it is at their discretion (and being friendly and apologetic on the phone seems to help!)

Biker-Budgie

they offered that ealrier if i paid the balance - i just wasnt happy to pay the £183.94 worth of charges that ive incurred including interest so requested a manager.

looks like groveling required then, failing that close the account and pay off the balance - noting never to use them ever again.

fozmcfc

At the end of the day you are in the wrong, so noting never to use them again is ridiculous, because they basically haven't done anything wrong.

A lot of people report they get their money back and/or the 0% back or a low rate of interest for the balance. When ringing them agreeing to set up a DD can also go in your favour as unless you don't have the money in the account, you will always pay the minimum amount.

Failing that of course you can try to move to another 0% card.

Do let us know how you get on, as it could be useful to others.

molerat

Biker-Budgie wrote: »

they offered that ealrier if i paid the balance - i just wasnt happy to pay the £183.94 worth of charges that ive incurred including interest so requested a manager.

looks like groveling required then, failing that close the account and pay off the balance - noting never to use them ever again.

Or any credit card, they are all the same. Payment must be made between statement date and due date. Some cards have a set statement date, my Capital One does, and some vary, like my MBNA. The only way to be sure is to either wait for the statement which can cause problems if you rely on the post to receive it or set up a minimum payment by DD.

ironlady2022

You should have set a minimum DD rather than a Standing Order.

Biker-Budgie

the never to use them ever again was down to their customer service rather than T&C's - hiding behind T&C's in a case like this i find heartless, if i was trying to avoid making payments then fair enough but this is obviously not the case.

JasX

pay by direct debit then its their problem to get it right not yours, if you are going to chance it by cutting things so fine and not checking dates you create your own mess and have nobody but yourself to blame,

your only hope is some form of good will gesture from the bank

Biker-Budgie

JasX wrote: »

pay by direct debit then its their problem to get it right not yours, if you are going to chance it by cutting things so fine and not checking dates you create your own mess and have nobody but yourself to blame,

your only hope is some form of good will gesture from the bank

cutting it fine? sorry if i didnt make it clear - i paid them so early they hadnt produced the statement lol

I didnt use DD as i was overpaying each month. I wasnt looking for a free ride or to not pay my bills - quite the oposite.

thanks all, i get it - i didnt read the T&C's and its my error

molerat

On a 0% card, or any card for that matter. minimum by DD is your guarantee of not falling foul of the t&c's, it is like an insurance policy. You then pay what you want when you want, by SO if you wish, to top up or you could put it away in a savings account and get a (little) bit of interest.

chattychappy

Biker-Budgie wrote: »

im guessing ive breached the T&C's so to the letter of the law im in the wrong but its plain for anyone to see that im not trying to get out of paying them - ive just paid them a day too early

I think you need to just think a little differently. It's not some dirty sneaky buried condition that they've caught you out on. It's a basic way they operate. Ie transactions happen, statement generated, period of time to pay with a deadline.

Perhaps MBNA will/have dug their heals in - but people have in the past reported goodwill gestures being made. So I hope you take that attitude with them. Perhaps try again.

Nothing wrong with standing orders, manual payments etc. But you must get the dates right and allow time for payments to clear. If you go the DD route, you still have to take responsibility to ensure the money's in your account when it's needed and know the effect of making extra manual payments.