Interest rate hike - Customer Services don't understand

the_insider

Hi all,
Quick question, hoping for some help from someone who has experienced this before because I can't quite get my head around it.
I've had a letter from Barclaycard about my Gold account, they are going to increase my interest rate and I have until 31st March to reject the hike. Fair enough, I've got no problem with that because I'm trying to pay it off anyway and I'm just going to get them to close the account.
I had actually paid it off in full last month but have had some unexpected expenses this month (OH not been paid and we've had to sort out getting wills at short notice) and there are two transactions waiting to be applied to the account. One will not be posted until after 14th Feb when the will writer comes back to get everything signed.
I called Barclaycard today to check that using the card will not waive my right to reject the hike when it comes to it. The guy in the call centre didn't seem to understand the question and just kept telling me that the increase wouldn't take place until after 31st March.
I don't want to be stuck with the higher interest rate, I authorised the transactions before they notified me, but I'm worried that they will put up the interest anyway.

Hope someone can help!

cooltt

Its quite simple.

On March 31st your card will no longer work, any balance remaining on the card will be paid off at your current rate. They won't give you a straight answer because they don't want you to max out the card before it's cancelled.

izools

Actually a lot of card issuers freeze the card as soon as you opt out even if the APR isn't due to increase for a month or two.

However, if the card has already been Authorized (pending authorization) by the writer, Barclaycard can't later decline the transaction for ANY reason.

Pending authorizations won't affect your eligibility to opt out of the rate hike.

the_insider

The transactions aren't pending yet, I checked my balance today and the guy said there was nothing pending. Maybe I'll just contact the will writer and see if he'll take a cheque instead, just to be safe.

izools

If you've got enough in the bank to write a cheque surely you can just pay with your debit card?

the_insider

I'd have to get a cheque drawn in branch from my savings account. I was hoping to pay off the card in the next three months or so. It depends whether the company will change the payment method once they have the card details. The first of the two payments should be going through any day now, it's a small company so I guess they just take batch payments each week or something.

chattychappy

From what you say, it seems you've got until March 31st to reject the change. On that basis I would have thought you could carry on using the card as normal until whenever it is you notify them of your rejection. And that could be as late as March 31st. (Earlier to be safer!)

the_insider

That's what I thought, I was just worried that they might withdraw the offer if I used it. Guess I'll just have to risk it. It's only going to work out a few pounds more expensive if they do I guess, I'll be paying it off soonish.

jonesMUFCforever

I don't understand - Post 1 states that OP paid off his card in full last month so why does it matter what the interest rate is?
Surely a will cannot be THAT expensive that he cannot pay it off before end of March?

the_insider

You've obviously misunderstood. There has been an issue with reduced income into the household this month (see original post) and I'm concerned that the offer to freeze the interest will be lost if the transactions are put through by the will writers. If the problems with income continue then I might not be able to clear the balance until after March (it's around £300) and will then have to pay the higher interest rate. But as I said earlier, it's only going to be a couple of pounds anyway.

izools

Perhaps it would be best to take out another card elsewhere? The Halifax Clarity, Capital One One Rate, and Co-Operative Platinum Fixed Rate are good APR cards. You'll need an excellent credit score and very stable circumstances to be in with a chance of approval for the latter two, though.