POST OFFICE MASTERCARD - sending offers to everyone, only taking certain people!!

go4it

Sent offer by Post Office Mastercard - 0% for 9 months.

3.5K clear on my card - great I'll do a balance transfer.

On the phone - 'Let me stop you there Mr X, we sent offers out to everyone but not everyone will get them, and there are no offers on your account'.

Small print on leaflet says that they have the right to refuse any BT, but this looks very sneaky and misleading.

I said I would just pay off the card and close it, to which they said 'I understand, fair enough'.

Anyone else had this leaflet?

chattychappy

Thanks for the thread, meant to start one myself but didn't get around to it.

Yes I got one too. I rang them up to enquire.

Quite frankly I was impressed by the operator who, I would guess, departed from the script. She said it was a "terrible mistake" (her words). They had only intended to send the offer out to selected customers but it seems it went out to pretty much everyone. She said there were no offers on my account and that they were relying on the "subject to status/lending criteria" thing to decline people. I said so really it is really a marketing mess-up and said "exactly". She'd been taking calls all day, poor girl.

I can understand people complaining - but I won't. The operator was refreshingly candid and I wouldn't want to get her into trouble.

She looked at my account and "guessed" there would be an offer on the account soon. She also said there had been a long standing offer which had only been removed a couple of weeks earlier. I didn't know about this or had forgotten about it.

go4it

chattychappy wrote: »

I can understand people complaining - but I won't. The operator was refreshingly candid and I wouldn't want to get her into trouble.

I appreciate them being honest but it is them at fault. I for one have been paying off lumps sums off my card since I received the offer, in order to free up some space to do some BTs. I am now going to have to rethink everything! The bottom line, mistake or not, is that they have been misleading - and I'll wait to see what response I get from them otherwise Mr Ombudsman will be getting a letter.

jonesMUFCforever

It's called marketing!
Hundred of thousands of mail and emails sent.

If they get 3% of applicants as accepted they will think it good business.

chattychappy

go4it wrote: »

I appreciate them being honest but it is them at fault. I for one have been paying off lumps sums off my card since I received the offer, in order to free up some space to do some BTs. I am now going to have to rethink everything! The bottom line, mistake or not, is that they have been misleading - and I'll wait to see what response I get from them otherwise Mr Ombudsman will be getting a letter.

I'm sure you'll get nowhere. The offer was clearly subject to "lending criteria" so they can still say no.

My reference to "honesty" was the particular operator I was speaking to rather the PO (aka Bank of Ireland) themselves.

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

It's called marketing!
Hundred of thousands of mail and emails sent.

If they get 3% of applicants as accepted they will think it good business.

No, pretty certain it was a mistake here. From what the operator said, they intended to send the promotion out to existing cardholders who hadn't used their accounts for some time but instead the flyer went with every statement generated over a particular period.

Saints2011

go4it wrote: »

II for one have been paying off lumps sums off my card since I received the offer.

Why only since you have got the letter have you been paying of lump sums?

chattychappy

Because after the OP got the letter he thought it would pay down PO so that he could do a BT?

The lump sums might have cost something (ie borrowed monies or monies that could have been applied to debt elsewhere) but were worth it in the context of freeing up balance on PO in order to BT.

go4it

chattychappy wrote: »

Because after the OP got the letter he thought it would pay down PO so that he could do a BT?

The lump sums might have cost something (ie borrowed monies or monies that could have been applied to debt elsewhere) but were worth it in the context of freeing up balance on PO in order to BT.

My Post Office card had interest around 18%. My other two cards have interest around 21%. With a lump sum of money it is better to pay off one card, get that to zero then reborrow at 0%, paying off parts of the other cards. Otherwise I would pay off one card, but still be left with 18-21% on the other card. And my other cards are Santander, who already gave me a massive 0% offer a couple if years ago and I know will not repeat it for a long time to come.

Saints2011

chattychappy wrote: »

Because after the OP got the letter he thought it would pay down PO so that he could do a BT

The point is why only pay now & not before, happy letting it build up at 21%apr when the balance could of been reduced earlier reducing the interest.

But I see the logic now.

scott_lithgows

I got the flyer plus I also got an email to me offering the deal,never took it up though.

chattychappy

By way of update, I've just passed a statement date so called them up. The offer is now available on my account: 0% APR 9 months, 2.98% fee.