Super balance transfers

toneyridge

I want to transfer part of the balance on a cahoot flexible loan, thought virgin card was the best bet, but they tell me there is a transfer fee, though the I picked this one because there supposed to be no fee.

cronshd

Bearing in mind the responses to a similar post earlier this afternoon, I wonder if the customer service agents are just confusing an SBT with cash withdrawals. As this is perhaps an unusual type of transaction for them, maybe it is not adequately covered in their training.

Wouldn't it be easier for them (and us) if this were all automated with total visibility of any fees at the point before your press the ENTER key to do a transfer. (I hate calling these call centres - even First Direct who are supposed to be the best).

toneyridge

Hi,
Thanks for your comments, in two phone calls to Virgin this afternoon, iI had conflicting information,in the first I was told exactly what to do online and that if I made known my requirements there would be no fee. After a failed attempt on the internet another phone call was entirely different and I would have to pay a fee.

Jeppo

I phoned Virgin up yesterday to enquire about doing a BT to my current account. I was told very clearly that Virgin do not charge any fees for any kind of Balance Transfer during the intial 9 month 0% offer. That included SBTs - though this should not be confused with cash advances.

The operator told me that there had been a lot of confusion about fees and it would seem by your experiences that some of the operators at Virgin are also confused.

I'm delighted with my fee-free SBT & very glad I cancelled my MBNA card before they were able to charge me £190 to transfer the same amount of money. Another good thing about Virgin is the minimum monthly payment of £5.

It's a stoozer's dream!

toneyridge

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, I have phoned Virgin this morning and have been told the free transfers finished yesterday.

toneyridge

It has to be said havng had three conflicting phone calls with Virgin, all telling me different things, I think I am going to look elsewhere.

YorkshireBoy

toneyridge wrote:

It has to be said havng had three conflicting phone calls with Virgin, all telling me different things, I think I am going to look elsewhere.

Don't give up so easily!

I was being given conflicting information by the *MBNA* agents dealing with the Virgin applications. It was about 40/60 split on yes "there's a fee"/"no there's no fee".

I took the names and extension numbers of the two people I spoke to regarding my fee-free SBT, and noted the date & time of the phone call.

I then wrote a covering letter detailing the conversations and highlighting the apparant confusion that MBNA staff seemed to have with their administration of the Virgin card, and enclosed this with my signed credit agreement (obviously keeping a copy ).

My covering letter clearly stated that my overdraft BT request was being made based on (and subject to) information given to me by two (and I named them) MBNA/Virgin staff members.

I've since been told that my (rather large ) SBT is going through with no fee.

From the Virgin summary box...
========
2% handling fee (min. £2, max. £35) for credit card cheques and *some* balance transfers.
========

I believe (verified by Virgin call centre staff and Martin Lewis) the *some* includes BT's made outside the 9 month offer period.

It has to be said though, that even with a £35 fee, a £10K stooze (with ING) should still generate a rather healthy £265 profit over 9 months, due in no small part to the £5 minimum payments.

Do you still want to "look elsewhere"?

HTH
YB