Tesco Credit Card fined twice for exceeding credit limit

nanasitasue

Over Christmas we exceeded our limit on Tesco Credit Card by just over £300 without realising it. Our bill arrived 8 Jan (online) with a £12 surcharge and we had to pay by 21st january. We paid off the account in full on 11th January. Our February bill has just arrived and we have been charged £12 again. When ringing to ask why we were told that, because we used our card on 10th to buy petrol it created a new balance which was still over the £3,000 limit and the £12 was added again even though we paid in full the next day.

We have read the appropriate clause in our credit agreement and, unless you have a degree in dobbledegook, you would not know that was the case.

Surely, if given until 21st, there should be a warning not to make any more purchases until your balance has dropped down below your limit. Tesco agreed to waiver the fee this time and we definitely won't get caught like that again.

I feel this is money by deception. Your average person like my husband & me would not know this even if we had read every bit of small print. I thought the finance industry were not allowed to use these stealth methods any more.

jo-bo

Why did it not occur to you to wait until it was under the limit? And who goes over their credit limit by £300 without realising it?

YorkshireBoy

nanasitasue wrote: »

We have read the appropriate clause in our credit agreement and, unless you have a degree in dobbledegook, you would not know that was the case.

It seems very clear to me...

Tesco_Credit_Agreement wrote:

1.2 Fees and charges

We will charge you:

£12 if you go over your credit limit or stay over your limit at any time during your statement cycle

The first £12 was for going over during the statement period Dec/Jan, and because you stayed over your limit during (part of) the next statement period of Jan/Feb they charged you another £12.

Gromitt

Indeed, it would seem obvious to me as well that if you exceeded your credit limit in 2 separate statement periods that you would get 2 separate charges of £12.

What is puzzling is why you used your card a second time, knowing you were already over your limit.

meer53

You used your card on the 10th when it was still over the limit. You didn't reduce your balance until the day after. Seems fair enough to me. Keep a closer eye on your balance from now on because they won't be refunding any more fees for you.

It's not deception or stealth, it's the same for all credit cards, spend over your limit and you will get charged.

nanasitasue

I wasn't expecting sarcasm from this forum!

The kind of person who goes over their limit is someone who moved house on 14th December and didn't get the internet at the new house until 8th January. I had an online account.

Secondly the statement date was 8th january and the item showing on 10th was actually purchased on 7th , the day before we knew we were overspent.

Hope that goes someway to showing I am not a complete imbecile

jo-bo

No one is calling you an imbecile, I just find it hard (for me) to not know when I'm close to my limit. Not being mean, just wondered how you'd not know.

McKneff

Nobody is saying you are an imbecile.

Why would you expect a warning though.

The card and the finance on it is your responsibility. Full stop.

izools

Just have to chalk this one up to experience I'm afraid. Tesco have acted within the terms of the agreement and you haven't, through no fault of your own or otherwise, that is irrelevant.

The charges are contractually correct as the over limit scenario spanned two statement cycles.

All you can do now is take it on the chin and know to check your balance by phone more regularly next time you move.

You could try calling and being very "cap in hand" with your approach. Apologise, promise you will not do it again, and ask if the would consider a goodwill gesture.

Card companies are often sympathetic with apologetic first offenders

meer53

No-one is calling you anything. If you didn't have access to your account then, to me, it would have been even more important to make sure i knew exactly what my balance was before i used my card. You could either make a note of your balance and then write down what you spent, or you could have phoned for a balance, saying you didn't have access to the internet is irrelevant really, there are other ways to monitor your account.

dalesrider

nanasitasue wrote: »

I wasn't expecting sarcasm from this forum!

Secondly the statement date was 8th january and the item showing on 10th was actually purchased on 7th , the day before we knew we were overspent.

Hope that goes someway to showing I am not a complete imbecile

So yes, it will have been on 2 statements, as it is the debit date that counts. not the date it is made.

This forum lives on sarcasm

Imbecile. No.
Learnt a lesson Yes.... Make sure you get the internet sorted faster next time :rotfl:
:beer: Sorry could not resist :beer: