Virgin Money Mastercard - Hold on account!

malamay

I opened this account last year to make use of the long 0% on balance transfers. I have paid down 20% of what I've borrowed, which wasn't bad as we have bought a house and got married in this time. I have not missed nor been late on a payment, and have payed more than the minimum when we had a little extra at the end of the month.

My husband has been out of work since January. This was both expected and not; we knew his contract was coming to an end, but he has never had much difficulty finding another one. Certainly we did not expect this to take as long as it has!

We're making do on my salary, but each month things are getting a little tighter. With the 0% coming to an end on my Virgin card, I called them up today, hoping they could either extend this rate or offer me something less than the 19.9% it is reverting to. I initially asked about this online, and was given a number to call. I went through a few questions with the customer service representative on the phone, but when she explained that proceeding any further would leave a mark on my credit history, I declined assistance. She mentioned they were putting a hold on the account. I was not happy with this, and asked her not to. She told me there was nothing she could do, as it was procedure with customers calling about financial difficulties. I spoke with the manager, who indeed confirmed the block had been applied!

To remove this block I have to make at least the minimum payments for three months. I complained that I had been doing this all along, and that my account is well managed. The manager even agreed with me, but repeated sections of my conversation with the CSR. He reminded me that my husband is currently out of work, etc. I responded that he may be working tomorrow or next week for all we know, and they shouldn't make judgements on this basis!

Is this typical behaviour for a credit card company when you call up asking for assistance? It seems to me that if a customer were aware that calling a number would put a block on their account, they wouldn't do it..

In the end, I cleared 3/4 of the balance with a B/T from another card. Getting rid of the other 1/4 will be my priority. Hopefully I will have this paid off by the end of the summer, and can then get rid of this account! I just hope there aren't any emergencies coming up in my near financial future, as my easily available credit has now been used.

Any ideas or suggestions on how I could have avoided this?

jonesMUFCforever

Not told them about your financial problems and kept your heads in the sand?
If I was a bank and I knew you were in financial difficulties I would do the same as has happened to you.

loopy.magic

I'm afraid your inexperience with credit card companies during difficult times is why you've ended up with this situation. MBNA (the company behind the Virgin Card) are a particularly nasty bunch. As a rule unless you're willing to accept some draconian measures, or embarking on some kind of Debt management action you should never tell a company about financial difficulties. The brutal truth is they don't care about you, you are simply a means for them to make money.

malamay

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Not told them about your financial problems and kept your heads in the sand?
If I was a bank and I knew you were in financial difficulties I would do the same as has happened to you.

That was a bit unnecessarily rude! I stated in my OP that I talked to them today. How have I kept my head in the sand? I know exactly how much I owe, and am doing what I can to reduce this!

malamay

loopy.magic wrote: »

I'm afraid your inexperience with credit card companies during difficult times is why you've ended up with this situation. MBNA (the company behind the Virgin Card) are a particularly nasty bunch. As a rule unless you're willing to accept some draconian measures, or embarking on some kind of Debt management action you should never tell a company about financial difficulties. The brutal truth is they don't care about you, you are simply a means for them to make money.

I had another MBNA card years ago, and no experience with their customer services. I know times are difficult, which is why I was surprised when they told me about the hold. I would have thought they'd want me to spend more with them, and pay them more interest. I have a few thousand left on the limit.

But yes, lesson learnt! I was hoping they'd want a long term customer, but I guess no one does these days.

loopy.magic

While it's true that they want to make money from you, the higher priority for them (especially in these times) is to make sure they don't lend you more money which you may not be able to pay back to them with a nice profit. Your plan is a good one, pay it off as soon as you're able to and then close the account. Good luck.

Degenerate

I presume by "hold" you mean that the card is suspended from further use.

You've told a lender that you are in financial difficulty and asked them to help you by changing your repayment terms. If you look at it from the lender's point of view, it's only common sense that they extend you no further credit in this situation.

chattychappy

Yep, they've only stopped you borrowing more. Remember how this started - you asked them for help because of your change in circumstances. Frankly you can't blame them. The risk attached to your account has increased. I'm sure they are basing this on their experience.

Since you pay on time, it is only going to affect you for 3 months, based on what they say.

You don't have any right to borrow a single penny more from them - don't take it as an insult.