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Selfridges Store Card (Creation Financial)
Ben8282
Posts: 4,821 Forumite
I wonder if anybody could give me some thoughts about something that has just happened with Creation Financial regarding a Selfridges store account card.
This account was opened back sometime in the 1990's when I used to work near to Selfridges. I stopped using this card for purchases back in 2001 when I changed jobs. The account was fully repaid in 2003 but used again for some substantial purchases in 2005, paid off in full October 2010. Since then the account has been about £4 in credit due to my overestimating the interest which would be charged on the last statement.
My credit limit shows as £4300 including a cash facility of £1720. The account has always been on direct debit and there have never ever been any payment problems.
In June of this year I incurred about £1500 of unexpected expenses which I charged to the credit card which I use for purchases and pay off in full each month. To avoid a situation where I would have to start paying interest on all my purchases, I have used my overdraft to pay the credit card in full for the last couple of months but this situation is not really sustainable as my current account overdraft facility is now being used almost up to it's limit which I don't like.
I need to spread the repayments of these unexpected expenses which I had not bugeted for. After thinking about the best way to do this, I came up with the following plan:
1. Use cash facility on Selfridges card to fully repay bank overdraft.
2. Use the balance created on the Selfridges card to take advantage of a 0% balalce transfer offer from my existing credit card (at the moment I don't have any other balances so cannot take advantage of the 0% balalce transfer offer).
3. Repay the Selfridges card in full with the balance transfer.
4. Make maximum use of the 0% balance transfer and then repay when my budget allows.
As I do not have a pin number for the Selfridges card (it is not chip and pin) I called Creation initially to ask if I now need a pin to use the card in store. I was told no, I only need a pin if I planned to use the card in an ATM. I asked to be sent a pin. The man asked me if I intended to use the card for cash in an ATM and I told him yes. I was told pin would arrive in 7-10 days.
No pin arrived. I called Creation again this afternoon. They were a bit evasive about the pin, initially saying it had been sent out on the same day as I asked for it (unlikely as I called them at about 7.30 in the evening) and then avoiding a direct answer by counting off the days since my call to make sure 10 working days had actually elapsed.
I then asked him about the Cash Advance facility as detailed on my statement; quote 'Cash Advance. Could put cash in your pocket or directly into your bank account subject to your having a cash facility'. This is written on the back of my statement. The statements are Selfridges specific; they are not some sort of generic Creation statements.
Initially he said that I was not entitled to a cash advance as I had not yet made any payments to the account (?) but then changed his mind and decided that I had made payments after all so I was entitled.
After some discussion about whether it was better to take cash via ATM or by thier transferring the funds directly to my account, I decided to go ahead and ask them to transfer the funds. He said he could transfer up to £2000. I mentioned that my cash limit was only £1720 but he said he could temporarily increase my cash limit. I told him thanks, but I had only planned to take £1700 and asked him to transfer £1700. He took the details and said that the money would be in my account within 7-10 working days. We even calculated together the latest date by which the funds should be expected.
After a few minutes, he called me back on my mobile number. He was sorry but his manager had not approved the transfer as the cash facility was not available on the Selfridges card. If it had been any of their other store cards there would not have been a problem but unfortunately my Selfridges card did not allow it. He also told me that I would not be able to use the card to take cash from an ATM either as that was also not permitted with this type of card. I asked him what I could do with the pin number when I eventually received it. He said I could use the pin in the Selfridges store at the bureau de change if I wanted to purchase foriegn currency. This sounds like nonsense to me; if I don't need a pin to make purchases in the store, why should I need one to use the Selfridges bureau de change?
He then went on to say that the only way I could get cash on the card was to go to Selfridges bureau de change in store and use the card to purchase foriegn currency.
I went on to explain that as I no longer worked near Selfridges it was rather unlikely that I would be making much use of the card in the future and asked if I could exchange this card for one of Creation's credit cards but was told no, would have to apply.
The problem is that I don't really believe any of this but how can I question this 'refusal' when it is not a refusal but a statement that what I want is not available with this card type, which is contradictory to both what is written on my statement and to what the Creation staff were originally saying? When I access my account online the cash limit and available cash limit are still showing as £1720.
This has messed up my cash flow for this month as well; to get through the month I will now have to take a credit card cash advance to cover my cash needs until next pay day due to the large overdraft.
This account was opened back sometime in the 1990's when I used to work near to Selfridges. I stopped using this card for purchases back in 2001 when I changed jobs. The account was fully repaid in 2003 but used again for some substantial purchases in 2005, paid off in full October 2010. Since then the account has been about £4 in credit due to my overestimating the interest which would be charged on the last statement.
My credit limit shows as £4300 including a cash facility of £1720. The account has always been on direct debit and there have never ever been any payment problems.
In June of this year I incurred about £1500 of unexpected expenses which I charged to the credit card which I use for purchases and pay off in full each month. To avoid a situation where I would have to start paying interest on all my purchases, I have used my overdraft to pay the credit card in full for the last couple of months but this situation is not really sustainable as my current account overdraft facility is now being used almost up to it's limit which I don't like.
I need to spread the repayments of these unexpected expenses which I had not bugeted for. After thinking about the best way to do this, I came up with the following plan:
1. Use cash facility on Selfridges card to fully repay bank overdraft.
2. Use the balance created on the Selfridges card to take advantage of a 0% balalce transfer offer from my existing credit card (at the moment I don't have any other balances so cannot take advantage of the 0% balalce transfer offer).
3. Repay the Selfridges card in full with the balance transfer.
4. Make maximum use of the 0% balance transfer and then repay when my budget allows.
As I do not have a pin number for the Selfridges card (it is not chip and pin) I called Creation initially to ask if I now need a pin to use the card in store. I was told no, I only need a pin if I planned to use the card in an ATM. I asked to be sent a pin. The man asked me if I intended to use the card for cash in an ATM and I told him yes. I was told pin would arrive in 7-10 days.
No pin arrived. I called Creation again this afternoon. They were a bit evasive about the pin, initially saying it had been sent out on the same day as I asked for it (unlikely as I called them at about 7.30 in the evening) and then avoiding a direct answer by counting off the days since my call to make sure 10 working days had actually elapsed.
I then asked him about the Cash Advance facility as detailed on my statement; quote 'Cash Advance. Could put cash in your pocket or directly into your bank account subject to your having a cash facility'. This is written on the back of my statement. The statements are Selfridges specific; they are not some sort of generic Creation statements.
Initially he said that I was not entitled to a cash advance as I had not yet made any payments to the account (?) but then changed his mind and decided that I had made payments after all so I was entitled.
After some discussion about whether it was better to take cash via ATM or by thier transferring the funds directly to my account, I decided to go ahead and ask them to transfer the funds. He said he could transfer up to £2000. I mentioned that my cash limit was only £1720 but he said he could temporarily increase my cash limit. I told him thanks, but I had only planned to take £1700 and asked him to transfer £1700. He took the details and said that the money would be in my account within 7-10 working days. We even calculated together the latest date by which the funds should be expected.
After a few minutes, he called me back on my mobile number. He was sorry but his manager had not approved the transfer as the cash facility was not available on the Selfridges card. If it had been any of their other store cards there would not have been a problem but unfortunately my Selfridges card did not allow it. He also told me that I would not be able to use the card to take cash from an ATM either as that was also not permitted with this type of card. I asked him what I could do with the pin number when I eventually received it. He said I could use the pin in the Selfridges store at the bureau de change if I wanted to purchase foriegn currency. This sounds like nonsense to me; if I don't need a pin to make purchases in the store, why should I need one to use the Selfridges bureau de change?
He then went on to say that the only way I could get cash on the card was to go to Selfridges bureau de change in store and use the card to purchase foriegn currency.
I went on to explain that as I no longer worked near Selfridges it was rather unlikely that I would be making much use of the card in the future and asked if I could exchange this card for one of Creation's credit cards but was told no, would have to apply.
The problem is that I don't really believe any of this but how can I question this 'refusal' when it is not a refusal but a statement that what I want is not available with this card type, which is contradictory to both what is written on my statement and to what the Creation staff were originally saying? When I access my account online the cash limit and available cash limit are still showing as £1720.
This has messed up my cash flow for this month as well; to get through the month I will now have to take a credit card cash advance to cover my cash needs until next pay day due to the large overdraft.
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Comments
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I wonder if anybody could give me some thoughts about something that has just happened with Creation Financial regarding a Selfridges store account card.
This account was opened back sometime in the 1990's when I used to work near to Selfridges. I stopped using this card for purchases back in 2001 when I changed jobs. The account was fully repaid in 2003 but used again for some substantial purchases in 2005, paid off in full October 2010. Since then the account has been about £4 in credit due to my overestimating the interest which would be charged on the last statement.
My credit limit shows as £4300 including a cash facility of £1720. The account has always been on direct debit and there have never ever been any payment problems.
In June of this year I incurred about £1500 of unexpected expenses which I charged to the credit card which I use for purchases and pay off in full each month. To avoid a situation where I would have to start paying interest on all my purchases, I have used my overdraft to pay the credit card in full for the last couple of months but this situation is not really sustainable as my current account overdraft facility is now being used almost up to it's limit which I don't like.
I need to spread the repayments of these unexpected expenses which I had not bugeted for. After thinking about the best way to do this, I came up with the following plan:
1. Use cash facility on Selfridges card to fully repay bank overdraft.
2. Use the balance created on the Selfridges card to take advantage of a 0% balalce transfer offer from my existing credit card (at the moment I don't have any other balances so cannot take advantage of the 0% balalce transfer offer).
3. Repay the Selfridges card in full with the balance transfer.
4. Make maximum use of the 0% balance transfer and then repay when my budget allows.
As I do not have a pin number for the Selfridges card (it is not chip and pin) I called Creation initially to ask if I now need a pin to use the card in store. I was told no, I only need a pin if I planned to use the card in an ATM. I asked to be sent a pin. The man asked me if I intended to use the card for cash in an ATM and I told him yes. I was told pin would arrive in 7-10 days.
No pin arrived. I called Creation again this afternoon. They were a bit evasive about the pin, initially saying it had been sent out on the same day as I asked for it (unlikely as I called them at about 7.30 in the evening) and then avoiding a direct answer by counting off the days since my call to make sure 10 working days had actually elapsed.
I then asked him about the Cash Advance facility as detailed on my statement; quote 'Cash Advance. Could put cash in your pocket or directly into your bank account subject to your having a cash facility'. This is written on the back of my statement. The statements are Selfridges specific; they are not some sort of generic Creation statements.
Initially he said that I was not entitled to a cash advance as I had not yet made any payments to the account (?) but then changed his mind and decided that I had made payments after all so I was entitled.
After some discussion about whether it was better to take cash via ATM or by thier transferring the funds directly to my account, I decided to go ahead and ask them to transfer the funds. He said he could transfer up to £2000. I mentioned that my cash limit was only £1720 but he said he could temporarily increase my cash limit. I told him thanks, but I had only planned to take £1700 and asked him to transfer £1700. He took the details and said that the money would be in my account within 7-10 working days. We even calculated together the latest date by which the funds should be expected.
After a few minutes, he called me back on my mobile number. He was sorry but his manager had not approved the transfer as the cash facility was not available on the Selfridges card. If it had been any of their other store cards there would not have been a problem but unfortunately my Selfridges card did not allow it. He also told me that I would not be able to use the card to take cash from an ATM either as that was also not permitted with this type of card. I asked him what I could do with the pin number when I eventually received it. He said I could use the pin in the Selfridges store at the bureau de change if I wanted to purchase foriegn currency. This sounds like nonsense to me; if I don't need a pin to make purchases in the store, why should I need one to use the Selfridges bureau de change?
He then went on to say that the only way I could get cash on the card was to go to Selfridges bureau de change in store and use the card to purchase foriegn currency.
I went on to explain that as I no longer worked near Selfridges it was rather unlikely that I would be making much use of the card in the future and asked if I could exchange this card for one of Creation's credit cards but was told no, would have to apply.
The problem is that I don't really believe any of this but how can I question this 'refusal' when it is not a refusal but a statement that what I want is not available with this card type, which is contradictory to both what is written on my statement and to what the Creation staff were originally saying? When I access my account online the cash limit and available cash limit are still showing as £1720.
This has messed up my cash flow for this month as well; to get through the month I will now have to take a credit card cash advance to cover my cash needs until next pay day due to the large overdraft.
The Selfridges account card does not have a cash facility.
It may say so on your statement but phone and ask then report back;)0 -
If you are correct then the statement and online account information is grossly misleading to the point where I think they should be reported for misleading customers and the staff incompetant and completely untrained in their products!
You say phone and ask. Ask who? The staff member who said I can take cash from an ATM and promised to send a never-received pin or the staff member who offered me the 'temporary cash limit increase' that I declined and then took all the details to sent up the transfer?0 -
"subject to your having cash facility" doesn't seem to be misleading to me, except the staff didn't know how to look for this facility. Inconvenient as that is, but card issuers can really reject any transactions when they feel like it...
Based on other sygma topics here, it looks like they are not really keen on improving their offers to existing customers, and instead really expect you to apply for another of their cards to find new deals. That is, if your current one doesn't have cash advance (or not big enough), you'll need another one. If your credit report shows any signs of your debt stress, then that may be out of the question too, I'm afraid
Although as recently as last year, Sygma was really doling out several cards for people who were already a customer of theirs, some reported getting three new cards in 3-4 months, and they are one of the issuers who relied only on Equifax for credit checks, which makes it desirable when some or all of the "nasties" show up on Experian only :cool:Enjoy the silence...0 -
"subject to your having cash facility" is not misleading in itself. The misleading part is that the statement/online system says that I DO have a cash facility of £1720.
I have no 'nasties' to show up anywhere ... 100% sure not so much as even a single late payment anywhere in the last 6 years ... and the only 'financial stress' I am under is having paid off my credit card balance in full by using my overdraft and now finding this cash facility to be non-existant so that I will now have to draw the cash back again from the paid off credit card that I want to transfer the balance that I am trying to create onto at 0%. If I had known this I would have taken a different course of action.0 -
If you are correct then the statement and online account information is grossly misleading to the point where I think they should be reported for misleading customers and the staff incompetant and completely untrained in their products!
You say phone and ask. Ask who? The staff member who said I can take cash from an ATM and promised to send a never-received pin or the staff member who offered me the 'temporary cash limit increase' that I declined and then took all the details to sent up the transfer?
Phone and ask customer services to transfer the funds into your account, they won't be able to do it because the Selfridges account card does not offer that service.
On my online account page it also mentions balance transfers :rotfl:
I phoned and got the same answer as the cash facility.0 -
Phone and ask customer services to transfer the funds into your account, they won't be able to do it because the Selfridges account card does not offer that service.
On my online account page it also mentions balance transfers :rotfl:
I phoned and got the same answer as the cash facility.
I think you are rather missing the point here. I'm not saying that you are wrong ... in fact I hope you are right ... the point is that if this card does not in fact offer this facility why do my statements and the online system both say that I have this cash facility and why do the Creation staff not know that the Selfridges account card does not offer that service?
If my statement says I have a cash facility of £1720 and I am told by a member of the customer service staff that I can use the card in an ATM and he offers to send a pin number which I will receive in 7-10 working days and I then base my financial planning for the following month on what I have been told, then I have been misled. If I had been told at the time that I could not use the card to draw cash, then as I said I would have taken a completely different course of action a few weeks ago.
I was also similarly misled by another staff member offering to increase this non-existant limit. How can something that does not exist be increased? Remember, I didn't ask him to increase the limit ... he offered, I declined! I was also misled when the same staff member took all my details and told me the funds would be in my account after 7-10 working days.0 -
Yep, I see you mentioned going through all this that Cash Flow missed - still, it's probably one of those weird cards that the phone staff don't see often, so can't tell how it is different; and even the web site can have errors, all programmers make mistakes Enjoy the silence...0
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I think you are rather missing the point here. I'm not saying that you are wrong ... in fact I hope you are right ... the point is that if this card does not in fact offer this facility why do my statements and the online system both say that I have this cash facility and why do the Creation staff not know that the Selfridges account card does not offer that service?
The cash facility is not available on this card, the end of it.
The set up of statement might be common to all cars.
Get a loan or something0 -
thegoodman wrote: »The cash facility is not available on this card, the end of it.
The set up of statement might be common to all cars.
Get a loan or something
Thats as may be I completely agree with OP - no cash available, don't say there is on the statement.
There's no other word for it - it's a lie to put it on the statement, and therefore misleading.Cashback Earned ¦ Nectar Points £68 ¦ Natoinwide Select £62 ¦ Aqua Reward £100 ¦ Amex Platinum £48
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Thats as may be I completely agree with OP - no cash available, don't say there is on the statement.
There's no other word for it - it's a lie to put it on the statement, and therefore misleading.
I thinks it's something to do with Selfridges, maybe they would prefer the card to be used in store as opposed to a piggy bank.0
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