Argos Card (not CC) - Yes or No

Simon7685

I am currently financing a new bedroom for my daughter and it's costing a fortune, you know what kids are like, anyway that's not the point. She has seen the furniture and bed package she would like, all told just under £500.:eek:

Now my options for this are use plastic paying it off over 3 months but of course that will incur dreaded interest at 30% using my cheapest APR card Cap One. So I was wondering about the Argos Store card which will offer me 6 months interest free. The only snag is whether or not my credit file is going to be clean enough yet to get it. So I thought I would canvass some opinions from the knowledgeable people on here:D I would prefer not to incur interest, just because I have never paid a penny interest on any of my cards, always paid in full, on time since I've had them but £500 in one month is not doable (is that even a word?)

My file on Experian gives this snapshot:

Other important items that could affect your credit rating


Number of credit accounts (including those settled)8
Amount of available credit (excluding mortgages)£3,006
% of your total credit being used (excluding mortgages)1%
Amount of outstanding debt (excluding mortgages)£44
Number of accounts overdue0
Number of missed or late repayments in the last year0







Added to this there are 3 searches in the last 3 months
and the big one, which is what I think is holding me back more than anything else, 1 default 5 years old.:o

So is it worth the gamble on applying or am I just adding a new search for no point???

scott_lithgows

I would try for a new purchase card,Tesco or M+S or a Creation 9 month deal

Simon7685

I wasn't really thinking about a new CC because of the default, I was thinking mainstream cards might still be out of reach yet. Hadn't thought about Creation, are they a bit easier to get than say Tesco or other mainstream?

I'm not that worried about the APR of a new card if it has 6 months grace on purchases as I know I would clear any balance in that time. A low APR would be nice though:D

jo-bo

I agree, creation purchases card would be worth a gamble and gives you other options apart from argos, not that I've a problem with argos

sharpy2010

I'd agree with Creation also, one default 5 years ago hasn't stopped me getting two creation cards.

Simon7685

If I go for the Creation card, will I get an automatic decision on a Sunday? Or will it automatically refer me because it's the weekend. Does anyone know? I sometimes that happens on a Sunday because it's not a working day, or at least I read it on here a few times.

Also the Creation website for the 0% purchases card says on the FAQ's that you must not have any defaults! So has anyone with a default got one any time recently?
Thanks guys

chanz4

Default will stop the argos card

obay

argos didn't decline me with default..

PhenoM

Answer to your question:

No.

chanz4

obay wrote: »

argos didn't decline me with default..

you must of been lucky then, as they are strict

Simon7685

After a lot of deliberation and just not being sure which way to go, I decided on the following;

a. I applied for the Argos Card - got the we will be in touch, so took that as a decline on the way.

There was an article in this weeks MSE email about a Capital One Balance Transfer Card for people with poor credit ratings, Martin reckoned it was easy acceptance. So I have just applied for it, it gives 6 months at 0% but will incur a 3% fee.
I got the three green ticks and an agreement number. Says they just need to carry out some further checks and will be in touch in a few days. It got me to sign an electronic agreement, so I suppose it might be given or might not.

I got this far with a Progress application at the beginning of May and after not hearing for nearly 2 weeks, I rang to find out they had turned me down, so I will not get my hopes up this time.

It also asked me for the details of the card I wanted to balance transfer, so I gave that as well. The only thing is I haven't spent the money on the card yet, so technically there isn't anything to transfer. I don't want to load that card up with £600 on it @34.95% if I don't get the balance transfer. Hopefully I will find out I've got the Cap One card and then buy the furniture from Argos and it will all go swimmingly well.

If Cap One authorise the card and do the balance transfer before I have used the other card for the purchase, will it just get rejected? I've never done anything like this before so not sure how it works or what to expect.

Just hope it all works out for me;)