MBNA 0% on supermarket purchases scam

Anacrusis

Although £50 interest on £200 sounds extremely high

[Deleted User]

Anacrusis wrote: »

I think they might have in the T+C that the supermarket money will be taken off first, so technically you'll have paid the 0% supermarket money, plus £2000 of the left over £2,200. Very annoying, but I think that might be how they do it.

No. Read Chatty's post. That explains what is happening.

chattychappy

The payments are indeed being applied to the balance with the highest (ie non 0%) first. No worries there.

But because the OP is not paying off the statement balance in full, s/he is being charged interest on every transaction from date of purchase to date the payment arrives. Some of this interest is at 0%, some of it is at standard date.

MBNA have made an offer - it's up to cardholders to decide whether it benefits them in their circumstances. If you normally pay off in full, then there is little value - unless you shift your non petrol/supermarket spend elsewhere.

tannoy_2

Ok, I now understand what's going on. Thanks for explaination chattychappy.

However, I though I was quite savvy when it came to things like this but I confess I fell for MBNA's promo offer without thinking it through.

I seriously thought the offer was as simple as it sounded, i.e. 0% on purchases at petrol stations and supermarkets. The statement page online even highlights the transactions that have the promotional rate applied. I didn't realise that for the promo offer to apply to me I would have to spend less, i.e. just at petrol stations and supermarkets. This isn't logical and I imagine others may get caught out too. Crafty !!!!!!s that's all I say.

Anyway, because of this craftiness and not being as upfront as they could have been, I am phoning MBNA's retention's dept right now to cancel. There's absolutely no point in being loyal these days. Plenty more credit cards out there.

chattychappy

tannoy wrote: »

I seriously thought the offer was as simple as it sounded, i.e. 0% on purchases at petrol stations and supermarkets. The statement page online even highlights the transactions that have the promotional rate applied. I didn't realise that for the promo offer to apply to me I would have to spend less, i.e. just at petrol stations and supermarkets.

...
Anyway, because of this craftiness and not being as upfront as they could have been, I am phoning MBNA's retention's dept right now to cancel. There's absolutely no point in being loyal these days. Plenty more credit cards out there.

Well, I still disagree with your analysis. The promo offer did apply to you - just in your circumstances it wasn't of benefit to you.

I wouldn't cancel your MBNA card. I don't think they were crafty or there was any malicious intent to catch people out. In the end, business is business. Afterall, you're normally equally crafty in paying your balance off in full so normally they never get any interest from you!

But the point is, in my experience MBNA are the best when it comes to promotional offers and their limits are generous too. Yep, some of the offers are of no value to me - others are great. Despite your experience, I think they are pretty fair and transparent. I don't think any other CC would be better if they made the same offers. MBNA's online system works well - and as you note - it's pretty clear to see from their statements which rates are being applied to which transactions.

I would chalk this up to experience. After 10 years of their not making much money out of you, they scored £50 off you. I wouldn't begrudge them that.

tannoy_2

Just phoned MBNA's customer retention's dept on 0800 783 1116. I argued my case and they've refunded me the £53.03 interest charge in full.

Hooray!

chattychappy

Ha ha ha well done.

My post was already long winded, but I was going to add that they've also been pretty good at compromising for first time offenders when they miss payments. I think they are more flexible than most.

I would still clear your full balance immediately if you haven't done so already - interest could still be accumulating on any non-promo purchases (though I'm guessing your payment was applied to this balance first, there could be interest on interest or interest on subsequent purchases).

tannoy_2

Thanks chattychappy.

The customer service lady took care of any future interest charges already by issuing a refund to be made in the future, on 8th March. That's rather good.

I feel a little bit more educated today on how the whole interest thing works.

chattychappy

Well.. I used to be very sensitive about paying even a penny to credit card companies and used to scan things extremely carefully.

Now I see it as a bit of a game. I take reasonable care when I read this stuff, but sometimes I mess up and end up paying. Bit like turning up to Pizza Express with one of those voucher things only to realise it's not valid on Fridays (or whatever). I just don't have time to check every detail and don't even always read the T+Cs like I used to. I'm a lawyer in my day job so become lazy when off duty. Different story if I feel I've been seriously conned or large amounts involved.

Despite people saying that loyalty counts for nothing, I'm guessing in your case it did make a difference to MBNA. If you've put alot of turnover through the account for a long time, they probably didn't want to lose you.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

tannoy wrote: »

Just phoned MBNA's customer retention's dept on 0800 783 1116. I argued my case and they've refunded me the £53.03 interest charge in full.

Hooray!

Glad to hear it - as long as you realise that they didn't have to do that.

It sounds to me a bit like an insurance claim when you have under insured.
The insurance company won't pay out in full but will pay proportionately.
Their (not unreasonable) argument is "How do you know it was the stuff we insured that was damaged/stolen".
MBNA could reasonably argue "How do we know which part of the balance you were trying to pay off?"
Come to think of it, maybe that's a rubbish analogy but they were correct in charging interest. What they did for you was an ex-gratia favour.
Just make sure that it doesn't re-occur next month as there may still be an unpaid balance (which will not necessarily be classed as petrol/supermarket spending). Best way forward is to pay off in full until you receive a statement showing nil balance, then only use the card for petrol and supermarket.

EDIT: Sorry. I should have read the next couple of posts before posting. I see you've got that last base covered.