Aqua Reward Credit Card - 3% cashback up to £100/year

neilsedaka

KaasutiiKitty, take a close look at your recent statements. Do they say "Direct debit amount" and "Direct debit payment date"? If yes, then the amount owed should be taken by direct debit automatically as usual if there were sufficient funds to cover it.

The automated message that you received, by what method did you receive it? Was the telephone number quoted an official Aqua telephone number? Have you checked the telephone numbers against those listed at saynoto0870.com ?

KaasutiiKitty

Hi neilaedaka, yes looking at my most recent statement the date for the DD payment was 5th feb for the full outstanding amount so it should(!) all be paid and sorted.
The message was an automated phone call, it asked by name for me then i had to confirm certain details DOB etc. It gave me the option to make a payment over the phone, I chose no and it gave me the number of collections team. I then hung up(important i know as thats how some scammers get you) and dialled the number, they then asked me to imput details again and I then spoke to a bloke who asked me to confirm different details. when i finished my conversation with him i then tried the number he gave to me for the rewards team which didnt work so in my fury I called the customer care no on the back of my old card and confirm details again so im confident it wasnt a scam. the number i was given for the rewards team wasnt an 0845 no as all the aqua ones are, it was a local code number, google doesnt show anything up for it. the number the automated message was an 0845 no

neilsedaka

Did you phone someone else, a relation or a friend, in between phoning Aqua to be certain that they were not holding the line?

KaasutiiKitty

no, tbh I though just making sure you hang up was enough.
Oh gosh I really hope I haven't been scammed :S
Even if I have, they wont be able to do anything as the account was closed 22nd Jan.
Im going to ring aqua as soon as they open tomorrow and check it was them and if its all true I'll have it out with them. They haven't been particularly great since I got the card.

Herbalus

Have you checked your bank account to see if the direct debit has been taken? If I had strange calls from a company about non payment when I was sure there was a direct debit set up, the first thing I would do is check my current account to see if any money had been taken.

lisyloo

yes looking at my most recent statement the date for the DD payment was 5th feb for the full outstanding amount

I think you are confusing two issues here which is not helping the resolution.

Firstly they should have taken the direct debit and if they haven't then they are 100% responsible. There is no way you should pay late payment fees or get a marker on your credit file. If you don't get swift satisfaction on this issue then raise a formal complaint which will get dealt with formally.
Personally I would probably pay it in the meatime, because you owe the money anyway and your life will be easier if you don't have to try to get late payment fees refunded or credit file markers removed.

The cashback is a seperate issue.
By your own words they said approx 2 weeks.
That mean they are entitled to pay it later if they want and you have no rights to have it in exactly 2 weeks.
If they haven't got round to crediting the cashback yet then that is a completely seperate issue and not related to you operating the account correctly in the meantime (I appreciate this is their error not yours but cashback being late doesn't alleviate it in any way).

It a shame and it's poor they haven't done cashback but before they do everyone has to operate their accounts in line with the normal Ts&Cs even if that means paying £100 and getting £100 back. The risks otherwise are fees and late payment markers and hassle getting it sorted.

The difference is that you are obliged to pay the minimum payment on time (their fault in this case) but they are not obliged to pay the cashback to any timescale.

[Deleted User]

KaasutiiKitty wrote: »

First time I've used this forum but I'm so angry I felt I had to try and find out if other people are in the same situation.

Im with Aqua and had a rewards card. I chose not to get the new card with 0.5% as Im going to try and find a better deal. I had my last statement on 17th jan and has 40 quid oweing, I have earnt £70 in cash back and the letter sent in November to advise of the account closure had a leaflet to supposedly answer and questions and it said 'if you choose not to transfer your account and your account is closed, any cashback you've earned so far this anniversary year will be paid into your account approx 2 weeks after closure. If this payment moves your account into credit, the difference will be paid to you by cheque.'
Ive had a direct debit set up throughout having my account to pay it off in full on the last day of the payment being due and as far as I was concerned it would be paid off by direct debit as per usual. None of the literature sent has said I had to anything different and so I assumed it would all be taken care of and I would get a cheque sometime for my cashback. I had an automated message yesterday to say I was overdue payment so I immediately phoned the number quoted and got through to the 'collections' team. I tried explaining all this to the bloke and that even if my DD wasnt taken then surely atleast the cashback would be used to pay off the balance as per what the leaflet advised! He said he couldnt see any cash back and need to speak to the rewards card team and gave me their number. I checked the number with him then he had the cheek to ask if I was going to make a payment today! I then said no! - It should have been taken care of and Im going to speak to the rewards card team and get to the bottom of this and he advised me theres a £12 something late payment fee. I ended our conversation then tried to call the rewards team - the number didn't work - didn't even ring. I tried it once more then rang the number on the back of my card for the customer care team and had to go through the whole stupid explanation again and once again she said I need to speak to the rewards team I triple checked the number with her and it still wont work.

Has anyone had trouble like this with Aqua??? Im sooo angry!

Your statement on the 17th Jan with £40 owing - did it say that would be collected in full by Direct Debit? Was it?
You will receive another statement 17th Feb showing the new balance (which if it was fully paid off in January, and no additional transactions or charges added will have a balance of £0.00 - but maybe the cashback is added by then)

It does sound most strange that a credit card company would be hitting the phones chasing you for a payment so soon, especially if you have not had any previous late payments. You indicate in a later post payment was due 5th Feb - and you had a phone call chasing you just 24 hours later? Most strange. And you say it was automated? Again most odd.
How can you be certain it was a genuine call from Aqua??? :huh:

neilsedaka

You don't have to wait until 17th February to find out what has happened. Just log in to your Aqua account online and view it there.

KaasutiiKitty

thank you all so much for your help and advice - I checked my bank account last night there was and is defiantly money in the account to pay off the outstanding and there is no DD payment showing.
I finally managed to log into my aqua account online (didn't seem to be working yesterday). They have credited me the £70 cashback on the 20th and it has lowered the amount outstanding as there were some last minute payments on my card on the 20th and 22nd so wouldn't be on my statement so only £14 outstanding(without late fee).
I rung them this morning and he said it was very strange that the DD payment didn't go through, he asked if I had spoken with my bank, I said no but I checked my account online and no money has been taken and there is defiantly funds there and were there on the 5th. He said he is going to look into why it didnt get taken. He asked re payment and I said I would pay the outstanding minus the £12 late fee, he said thats fine and because he can see I had a DD set up and that I've always paid in full on time he could refund the late fee so I paid and I asked re the automated call I had on thursday and he confirmed they do do that and he confirmed I spoke with two advisers as well. I asked when I will hear back re the DD non payment investigation and he said I should call next week. He said they will look to see if a payment was requested from their end and if not why not. I said this has been very stressful for me and he said he will let the customer care team know and they will look into perhaps making a goodwill gesture.

so not a complete resolution yet but some acknowledgement to the stress it has caused me and that they are perhaps in the wrong.

Will let you guys know what happens.

A little bit unrelated but they also owe me compensation as last month they took my DD twice and caused my bank account to go into unplanned overdraft and incurring £15 over draft fees. I bought it up with them at the time and said I should write in with my a copy of my bank statement to get the fees refunded. I haven't written in yet as my printer unhelpfully broke but all this hassle has reminded me I need to do that also.

boobbby

On the 22nd January I was no longer able to use my card. Since that date I have received a refund from goods I returned putting my account £190 in credit plus I also have £92 cashback. I wonder when I might be getting this money as I have not renewed or re registered the credit card !! I have sent them secure messages through their site but so far have not had a reply !