@TESCO 19p cost me £12.00!!!!!!

JANET666

So as like every month I made my monthly payment to Tesco credit card 3 days before the payment was due. So was gob smacked to receive a Notice of late payment charge of £12.00. I phoned up and asked customer services why I had received this and they informed me that I had failed to pay the full amount due. It turned out that I paid £75.00 when in fact the amount due was £75.19. So they issued me with a £12.00 fine. I tried to reason with them, but they said that it was set in stone in the T&C's. I apologised and said that surely it was reasonable of me to request an appeal as the outstanding balance couldn't even be rounded up to the nearest £1. They then notified me that they do not have a appeal or complaint process. They were happy to raise a notice of dissatisfaction but then followed it with "but that won't change anything, you will still have to pay us the £12.00". I then asked them why when I dealt with another credit card, I found that I had over paid them by 22p on the final payment - the credit card company informed me that anything below the sum of £1 could not and will not be considered for refund as it was minimal. And yet Tesco want to charge me £12.00 for 19p?? Very angry!!!!
:mad:

BugsyBrowne

It's your fault don't have a go at Tesco's because of your mistake.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

The £12 fee would be for paying late, not for paying 19p short. Either you or the call centre person must be confused.

exel1966

JANET666 wrote: »

Very angry!!!!
:mad:

.....With yourself I assume ?

Tixy

This doesn't make sense.

If you paid the £75 after the statement date but before the due date then you had made a payment that month. You are not required to pay off in full. If you had paid off £75 and left 19p all your would be charged is a small amount of interest.

What date was your £75 payment credited to your credit card account on the statement?

Or do you mean that you paid £75 one month, but paid nothing the following month despite having the small balance still owed -and it was in that subsequent month that you incurred a late payment fee? If it is this - then surely when you opened your second month statement you would have seen the balance and the minimum payment due? But just decided not to pay?

exel1966

I get the feeling the minimum due on the statement was £75.19 and therefore it's been underpaid.

Costly mistake by the OP !

bengal-stripe

JANET666 wrote: »

I tried to reason with them, but they said that it was set in stone in the T&C's. I apologised and said that surely it was reasonable of me to request an appeal as the outstanding balance couldn't even be rounded up to the nearest £1. They then notified me that they do not have a appeal or complaint process. They were happy to raise a notice of dissatisfaction but then followed it with "but that won't change anything, you will still have to pay us the £12.00". I then asked them why when I dealt with another credit card, I found that I had over paid them by 22p on the final payment - the credit card company informed me that anything below the sum of £1 could not and will not be considered for refund as it was minimal.

If you had been sweet as pie and apologized for your mistake (particular if you haven't had previously any charges for late or underpayments) the operator might have scrapped the charge. But it appears you went in all 'how dare you' guns blazing.
Can you blame the operator that s/he didn't want to help you?

“Gently Gently Catchy Monkey”

dalesrider

JANET666 wrote: »

They then notified me that they do not have a appeal or complaint process. They were happy to raise a notice of dissatisfaction but then followed it with "but that won't change anything, you will still have to pay us the £12.00".Very angry!!!!
:mad:

No complaint process......... :eek:

FOS will love that :rotfl:

We have to guess that this was the min payment you had to make and not full balance.
If its the 1st time you have done it, then raise a complaint. (Dissatifaction. In their lingo). I would guess when it goes to the complaints team they will refund it to you.
If its not, then perhaps double checking the amount payable or setting up a min DD is the way forward.

opinions4u

Pretty poor show if somebody can't be bothered to make sure they pay the contractual payment when they can afford to.

chattychappy

Sounds like there was a mutual rant on the phone which got nowhere. So first off, I'd call again - try to build a rapport, keep it friendly and see if you can some progress. It might be different next time around.

Else I would do a written complaint.

Whatever the T+Cs say, penalties should be in line with the cost to the other party of the breach. £12 has become a defacto standard because the OFT said that above this level it would presume unfairness. But it does come down to individual situations - sometimes a CC could legitimately charge more, sometimes even a lower figure would be unenforceable.

So I would complain on the basis that a £12 penalty is disproportionate for a 19p shortfall unless they can justify it by reference to the costs they incurred.

jojo57_2

Unfortunately you can be charged the £12 penalty if your payment is late or if the required payment is not met in full (even if it is only pennies) I would call again and reason with them,especially if its the first time its happened.