Virgin Money Credit Card Complaint

stewdaviesuk

In July I took out a Virgin money credit card to take advantage of a 0% balance transfer deal. My first statement arrived in August but it was whilst I was on holiday (I never thought to ask and was not explicitly told when the statement would arrive and be due for payment).

I phoned them up and explained that I can pay the minimum today but it is going to arrive a day later than the due date. I was told it would be ok and that any late charges would be removed and no interest would accrue because of it and my 0% deal would contine. Pleased with that I made sure all future payments were timely.

My September statement showed all was in order and that the fees were indeed refunded.

Today I checked to see how I was getting on reducing my balance (my statements are now all on line so I tend not to pay too much attention to them) and discovered to my horror that since that since the September statement that had the the refund on it I was being charged interest.

I phoned today only to be told that although the interest overdue fee was waived the 0% was lost and I have been charged accordingly and that I was either mistaken or misinformed and there was nothing that can be done.

Has anyone any advice here?

Stewart

YorkshireBoy

stewdaviesuk wrote: »

I was told...my 0% deal would contine.

Can't imagine they'd volunteer such a statement so you must have asked directly, clearly, and concisely?

If so, then that's the basis of your complaint.

MBNA are known to reinstate promotional rates following transgressions during the first 3 months or so but because, incredibly negligently on your part, you've let it drag on so long I doubt you'll get anywhere.

Your best bet, before going down the formal complaint route, is to call their loyalty department on 0800 783 1116 during office hours.

my statements are now all on line

That's a choice you made yourself, being as you can still opt for paper statements. Possibly the wrong one in hindsight?

so I tend not to pay too much attention to them

I trust you've learned a very important lesson here? What if there had been some fraudulent transactions placed on the account?

You may wish to consider seting up a direct debit for the minimum payment. After all, it's only £25 or 1% of the balance (whichever is the greater) on this card isn't it? Anecdotal evidence on this board indicates it helps sway the reinstatement decision with customer loyalty if you offer to do it whilst on the phone to them.

Good luck...you'll need it!

hillen

DO NOT USE MBNA! they played a similar game with us - not giving us a date for payment on the 0% offer/statement and then gave us a late payment fee and of course no longer a 0% offer! after a complaint letter to the vice oresident - she took pity and admitted they had made a fault and refunded the account. however, now we are facing hard times and having written to mbna a number of times (average 6 week wait for a reply!) to complain about the fees put on our account and the high rate of interest, we have asked if we may have the account frozen...no response and now today they call 3 times for payment. I am tempted to go to a debt company but then i am just paying soemone else for doing work i could do. any ideas? can i ignore them? i have offered a minimum payment but that lasted 2 months and we found we were paying off only a third of the total amount... i hate mbna!! help!!!

stewdaviesuk

I can see at a glance if any transactions are on the account as it is shown on the summary page. I knew therefore there was no spending on it so the fraud thing was covered and any interest accrued is not shown on the summary page. I got alerted as the last payment I made rounded down the amount owed and it was obvious to me when I checked yesterday all was not right.

I am now awaiting a call from a manager on this.

The reason I moved a balance to this card was that Nat West got me on a similar thing. In branch I took out a credit card as it had a 0% deal on balance xfer AND new purchases, and this was explicity told to me by the assistant, but it turned out it was one OR the other but was not on any paperwork, it was apparently on a website only. That one is now with the Ombudsman, Nat West would not answer my letters or calls on the subject.

Thanks to both of you.

stewdaviesuk

Who-oo.

Manager said there was a note on my account stating that I will not be charged any interest back in August and they are now going to refund it all. Just shows you need to push it a bit and it should of never happened in the first place.

Result

slyracoon

stewdaviesuk wrote: »

Who-oo.

Manager said there was a note on my account stating that I will not be charged any interest back in August and they are now going to refund it all. Just shows you need to push it a bit and it should of never happened in the first place.

Result

Make sure you set up a direct debit to ensure you never miss any future payments.