Barclaycard extorsion

notahappybunny1

I've recently discovered that Barclaycard have been charging me 26.9% APR ! I'm an ex Eggcard customer sohad no choice in becoming a Barclaycard customer.

I've tried to complain and after being pasted from department to department, the upshot was, they are not prepared to do anything to reduce my rate.They also told me that allegedly it'sthe same rate that I was being charged by Egg, which I don't beleive but have no Egg documentation to prove otherwise.

I asked how they can possibly justify charging 26.9%, needless to say they couldn't answer that. I also asked how they can justify it in relation tothe rates of interest they pay out on savings accounts, typically nomore than 3%, 800% less !?

Credit card fraud is often talked about but in my opinion card companies getting away with this form of legalised theft is the real fraud.

Sadly I have no room on other cards which totransfer the balance but as stated to Barclaycard I will now find a way to pay off my balance and cancel my card with this bunch of crooks.

As you can tell, this really makes my blood boil, so I just thought i'd vent my spleen on here !

Tixy

Why have you only recently discovered it? does each statement you have had from them since they took over from egg not show the interest rates you are being charged?

Don't you have any documentation from egg to prove what rate you were paying to them? Don't you have any of your last few egg statements at all?

Whilst 26.9% isn't a very competitive rate, its also not unusally high either.

notahappybunny1

No, I don't have any old Egg paperwork. My Barclaycard statements are online and I've not looked for some time.

It's just daylight robbery. I asked how they can get away with charging 26.9% when I have other cards that are charging as much as 10% less !? Needless tosay they didn'tgive a [EMAIL="s$@t"]s$@t[/EMAIL] what others were charging.

I find it a disgrace that this type of extorsion is all legal and above board. How can there be such a huge disparity between interset charged and interest payed out, it's a total con.

rb10

notahappybunny1 wrote: »

I've recently discovered that Barclaycard have been charging me 26.9% APR ! I'm an ex Eggcard customer sohad no choice in becoming a Barclaycard customer.

I've tried to complain and after being pasted from department to department, the upshot was, they are not prepared to do anything to reduce my rate.They also told me that allegedly it'sthe same rate that I was being charged by Egg, which I don't beleive but have no Egg documentation to prove otherwise.

If at any point the bank increases or decreases the rate they are charging you, they have to write to you to inform you of this.

So, on the assumption that you haven't received such a letter, then yes, your rate has always been at 26.9%.

notahappybunny1 wrote: »

I asked how they can possibly justify charging 26.9%, needless to say they couldn't answer that.

There is significant risk to lending on credit cards. They are unsecured products, so if you default, in many cases the bank will lose all that money. This is different to a mortgage, which comes with a much lower rate because in the event of a default, the bank repossesses and sells the house - making most, if not all, of their money back.

Additionally, you can very quickly increase the size of your credit card debt. Again, this is the opposite end of the scale from a mortgage, which will reduce in size over time. So even if your balance is only £1k today, it could be much higher tomorrow - leading to a much greater risk.

And then finally, they look at people who are statistically similar to you. How many of them have defaulted? How much has the bank lost through customers that look like you?

They then charge you accordingly.

meer53

They don't have to justify it, or give you an explanation why their rate is 26.9%

You've not looked at your statements for some time ? Seems to be your error really.

grumbler

notahappybunny1 wrote: »

...
I asked how they can possibly justify charging 26.9%, needless to say they couldn't answer that. I also asked how they can justify it in relation tothe rates of interest they pay out on savings accounts, typically nomore than 3%, 800% less !?

Ask Aqua how they justify 49.92%.
Ask Capital One about their 34.94%.
Ask Vanquis about 39.9% representative (i.e. not the highest possible).

The interest rate reflects the risk that any particular customer bears. Those who make only minimum payments for many months and don't bother to check their statements are not the most safe ones.

rb10

notahappybunny1 wrote: »

No, I don't have any old Egg paperwork. My Barclaycard statements are online and I've not looked for some time.

You mentioned credit card fraud in your first post, but leave yourself totally exposed to it. By not checking your card statements 'for some time', do you really know exactly what transactions are on there?

notahappybunny1 wrote: »

It's just daylight robbery. I asked how they can get away with charging 26.9% when I have other cards that are charging as much as 10% less !? Needless tosay they didn'tgive a [EMAIL="s$@t"]s$@t[/EMAIL] what others were charging.

Different providers have different pricing models.

When it's all based on statistical analysis, there are going to be differences.

One bank thinks you look like Person A, who defaulted, costing the bank a lot of money. But a different bank thinks you look like Person B, who was a good customer. So you get a lower rate at this bank.

There's no robbery or con involved. They offer you borrowing at a certain rate, which they believe will cover their costs and make them a little profit on top. You can choose to take them up on it, or go elsewhere for a cheaper rate.

Tiddlywinks

It is your responsibility to check your statements - so how can you only just have discovered the interest rate they are applying to the account?

They are not crooks they are money lenders and have lent you money based on a legally binding contract.... if you didn't like the terms then why did you enter into the contract?

It's no excuse that this is an ex-Egg account as they migrated to Barclaycard with the same T&Cs and, where changes were made, an opt-out was offered to customers at each stage.

Stop whining and blaming others, man up and take some responsibility for your situation...

Tixy

It isn't extortion. You might feel it is expensive, but it is not extortion.

The interest rate for borrowing is never the same as the rate for saving. With good reason, not only are banks in business to generate a profit, but also they have to cover massive staff costs and overheads, and they have to cover the cost of bad debtors. Unsecured lending is relatively high risk.

Best to check your statements more regularly. If you haven't checked your statements in all this time, then I'd guess you probably didn't check your egg ones either - so probably have no idea what rate egg were charging you. So its more than likely that barclaycard are correct and that is the rate you were paying to egg.

R_P_W

Don't really see what your complaint is? Don't like the cost borrowing money on credit cards? Don't borrow it then.

topcat9

You haven't looked at your Barclaycard statements for an extremely long time because the transfer was over a year ago! My husband and I had Egg cards with different rates and they were transferred to Barclaycard correctly.

I can't see the point in raging about rip-off interest rates and extortion - either Barclaycard made a mistake or they didn't - the ethics of money-lending are irrelevant. From what I've read on this thread, it seems likely there is no mistake and you have either forgotten the rate you paid or have only just started to take any interest in your outgoings. From your reference to having other cards with no available credit, is it possible that money is starting to get tight? If so, you're on the right website.