MBNA bait-and-switch scam.. then says "read the fine print"

bad_mbna

After years of paying large amount of interests (18%) to them... I decided to pay in full. I thought to myself, I will save this card for big ticket items later...

Then, ONE day after I paid my balance in FULL, they closed my account. Citing that I had a bad standing or some sort (apparently I was late once or twice for minimum payments in those years). I moved once and might've sent in the payment late.

But the real frustration is that they ALSO cancelled my travel reward points... accumulated over couple of years, enough to give me free travel to other side of the world...

After being bounced back and forth, back and forth, and more between CC representative and Reward representative... finally wrote to BBB and got someone from MBNA to talk to me.

Then she came back after couple of weeks with a scripted sentence: "We are unable to proceed. Your contract will show that we have right to terminate your account any time if we don't see fit" (para-phrasing, I was very frustrated, but kept my anger down and politely said ok...)

What is wrong with MBNA? After giving them interest money for years AND THEN paying the balance in FULL... MBNA pays you back by cancelling your account then reward point is automatically gone as well...

I never been screwed this bad by a company... glad it's just a crappy MBNA credit card..... but my trip to Asia is gone...

Frustrated MBNA ex-customer from Canada

chattychappy

bad_mbna wrote: »

Frustrated MBNA ex-customer from Canada

Are you saying it was a Canadian agreement?

You might have a case if it was a UK agreement.

chrisjw37

As a principle, I always have avoided this 'Bank.

Too many dodgy APR rises and nasty surprises.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

chattychappy wrote: »

Are you saying it was a Canadian agreement?

You might have a case if it was a UK agreement.

Yes, the OP refers to the BBB (Better Business Bureau) so it's not a UK thing.

bad_mbna

It is a Canadian agreement...
The manager/rep called me right before I went to work... and out of frustration first MBNA + forum search I found was this... (Apologize for venting all the way to UK )

Well, I am overly optimistic person and will hate to have this thing tie me up for any moment. I will definitely report negative point with Better Business Bureau. Then perhaps vent more on forums to tell of this tale.

Who knew if you pay the balance in full, they will spit you out?

pelirocco

bad_mbna wrote: »

It is a Canadian agreement...
The manager/rep called me right before I went to work... and out of frustration first MBNA + forum search I found was this... (Apologize for venting all the way to UK )

Well, I am overly optimistic person and will hate to have this thing tie me up for any moment. I will definitely report negative point with Better Business Bureau. Then perhaps vent more on forums to tell of this tale.

Who knew if you pay the balance in full, they will spit you out?

I believe it has happened a a few posters on here too

Cell

It's the reason why Martin's article on 'paying off your debt with savings' article needs to be re-written.

All things being equal this made sense, but it was written at a time when companies weren't reducing credit limits and closing accounts on a regular basis.

If you have £5k of savings and £5k of debt on a card you could easily be left with no savings and no credit facility within a couple of months if you pay it off.

dzug1

bad_mbna wrote: »

(apparently I was late once or twice for minimum payments in those years). I moved once and might've sent in the payment late.

Sounds like they didn't like your casual attitude to paying

It could happen here too

Apart from ranting (a waste of time really - people just sigh and ignore) nothing much you can do.

Rupert_Bear

Not much help but I always set up a direct debit as a kind of insurance. The reason I say that is because if I forget to make the payment I know the direct debit will take care of it.

bad_mbna

Cell wrote: »

It's the reason why Martin's article on 'paying off your debt with savings' article needs to be re-written.

All things being equal this made sense, but it was written at a time when companies weren't reducing credit limits and closing accounts on a regular basis.

If you have £5k of savings and £5k of debt on a card you could easily be left with no savings and no credit facility within a couple of months if you pay it off.

I agree on this. Interestingly enough m balance was about $10k (~£6k), I had a big hole in my savings and was tight with money for 6-9 months...

nctmum

Not really sure why losing your reward points is bait and switch. Also, 18% is a standard APR in the UK, so i don't think you'll get much sympathy from the people here on 39.9%. And thirdly, MBNA Canada isn't owned by the same people as MBNA Europe. Sorry I can't be more supportive but I don't really see what your reason is for posting this thread.