Confused over Barclaycard payment

Elvisia

I booked onto two courses a few months ago for £600, so my last statement came to £600 odd and I assumed I would be paying this on my payment date, which is 10th August. I was panicking about spending so much money and felt quite relieved when the university contacted me to say they had been cancelled due to lack of students, and I would be refunded. The money is now back on my card and I have a balance of about £80 odd, so I rang up Barclaycard to ask how much I will actually be paying on the 10th August, ie do I have to pay the £600 which is my statement amount, then my card is in credit. He said I will have to pay £80 on the 10th August as that is my balance.

Is this right because I am sure in previous months when I've got my statement through that's the amount I pay, regardless of whether I've returned anything and so I've got a credit on my account.

I just wondered if anyone had any ideas before I try ringing them up again. I previously had an Egg card which was great because you'd get your statement then you had a window of opportunity to get refunds on things to try to take the balance down before you actually got to the payment date!

InsideInsurance

Presumably you are asking in connection with avoiding paying interest?

Ultimately if you explicitly ask the question to them and they tell you that if you pay £80 then there will be no interest applied then note the date/ time of the call and do what they say and if they do apply interest then register a complaint and they can listen to the call.

InsertWittyName

In my experience with Barclaycard, any payments you make between your statement being produced and your payment date will reduce the actual payment taken.

So yes, £80 seems rights.

Elvisia

It's not about avoiding interest as I always pay off my card, it's just if I have to pay the £600+ this month then I need to dip into the money I had set aside for these courses, if not then I won't. I have the £600 in literally loose change that I saved up, it's a pain in the bum going to my bank as I am busy working for the next two weeks so it would be nice to know I don't have to pay it in and I can do it when my busy workload is over!

I've just realised I have an overdraft facility on my account that I have never used, I guess if I do get charged the full amount I can dip into that for a few days as I only pay interest on it, not fees.

It all felt so much easier with my Egg card, when I rang up Barclaycard I didn't feel they knew what I was talking about.

Elvisia

Thanks for the response - does a £600 refund count as a payment? I often make payments early if I have the spare cash to do it as I get 0% interest on my current account and I thought only that would be taken off?

InsideInsurance

It normally wouldnt count as a payment in terms of avoiding your need to make any other payment but again Barclaycard are the authoritative source for the answer

Elvisia

I think I will try ringing them up again, maybe another advisor will be a bit clearer. It's just a pain making phone calls from work.

I really should just use my debit card, I don't know why I don't, then there wouldn't be this mad rush end of month credit card payment hassle.

pqrdef

I wouldn't trust anything they told me. But Barclaycard are notorious for not counting refunds as payments. If you don't pay the £600, don't be surprised if you get charged interest.

Elvisia

It's a direct debit so I wouldn't get charged interest on the card, it's a matter of putting my saved up £600 in five pounds notes (!!) into my bank account, or risk going into my overdraft and getting interest charged on that. I think I will have to find time to go and pay it in, just in case.

Serves me right for not getting organised earlier and paying off the Barclaycard as soon as I paid for the courses, which is what I intended to do but I didn't realise I'd be swamped with work at the crucial point.

zerog

If you have set a direct debit to pay off the full balance, and have been paying in full at least since May, why are you worrying? The DD will take £80, because that is the balance on the card. There will be no interest.

InsideInsurance

Depending on timescales, log into the BC website a few days after the refund has been processed and it will show you what DD will be taken. Certainly when I have made early part payment it has - would assume it deals with refunds in the same way.