Need New Card Advice

Kenneth131

Any help would be appreciated from experience please,

I Have just received my Amex card and its great. Customer service is awesome as well. :money:

However like you already know Amex is not accepted everywhere like google wallet (unless your in the US)

So i need another card for online use mainly.

the purpose of this card will be to use rather than a debit card so that in the event, as has happened in the past, an item is damaged or faulty I can get it replaced without the charges effecting my bank account and having the additional cover of purchase protection.


Eg

I bought a nexus 4 from the Google Play Store.
TNT destroyed the parcel.
I phoned Google who said they would send a new one, pre authorize the charge £289 then refund when the old one was received back.


So i now have £578 out my bank account and this went on for 2 weeks for tnt to loose the return parcel. Luckily Google were good enough to cancel the pre auth and not charge anything further due to me retaining the tracking number and lo of all contact with tnt.


I wish I had used a credit card though.



So I need either a visa or mastercard.
Cashback or incentives would be nice.

Customer service is a priority. Amex have set the bar high but its what i expect from a provider.



I called round Barclay, capital one and M&S all of whom were not that helpful

I was hoping someone out there with genuine experience of using a provider could let me know of any recommendations.


I swear these days companies forget you chose to use their services and instead treat you like a starving dog begging for food. What happened to good service.

Tixy

When you say you called barclaycard, capital one and M&S - was that calling to apply for a card or calling to discuss a card benefit or what?

In what way did you feel they were not very helpful? As that might help people make suitable recommendations.

I've fairly recently taken out a new Sainsbury's card and have been very impressed and found the customer services on the phone very helpful.

Kenneth131

hey tixy

I didn't call the new app lines as they are always based in the UK and told to be as nice as nice to everyone.

I called CS and asked them a few non specific questions relating to cashback and points etc.

Capital one seemed to be based overseas although english was ok from the reps they struggled to keep up pace and string together coherent sentences to explain what they were trying to convey.

Barclay again overseas and failed to really answer the most pedestrian of questions and then transferred me to a UK call center but it was the wrong dept and i was left on hold and gave up waiting to speak to someone.

M&S reps sounded american (to me anyway) and although ok wouldn't answer anything with a definitive answer without me having an account and refereed me to their website.




Basically if I have a card its for benefits and protection.

What good is the protection if you dont have a 24/7 customer service line or someone who can grasp the issue you are calling about.

If a company acts wrongly or charges my card incorrectly I want to know I can call when I am free and that I dont spend 20 mins trying to explain what the problem is to someone.


Really thus far the only down side and its a big one is Amex not being accepted everywhere otherwise It would be my go to card.


Which Sainsburry card did you opt for

Tixy

I went for the nectar card with a 0% period, because I wanted to spread the cost of a specific purchase over a few months

I have spoken to CS twice since getting it but only on straight forward issues. Each time I spoke to someone in the UK who was friendly and seemed clued up (both times were in normal office hours so that is all I have experience of).

I also felt they went out their way to explain certain things (not complex things but the type of thing people fall foul of and then complain on forums about) e.g. warning about double checking that the DD I had just set up was showing on the statement and if not to make a manual payment and explaining about mixing 0% on transfers and on purchase spending once the 0% on purchases deal has finished.

Kenneth131

I checked them out and they seem ok again not perfect seems they only have CS 8am–Midnight, Mon–Fri and 8am–6pm, Sat - Sun.

Would be nice to have 24/7 but maybe a small sacrifice.

Are sainsburrys cards underwritten by anyone else, I dont think they are.

Also was looking at the tesco one. Am i right in thinking they are not anything to do with RBS any more?

Sorry for sounding like a stuck up !!!!!! about all this but I used to work for morgan stanley CC so I know how good service can be. I was there before and during the Goldfish take over and I saw an amazing company slipping down to its eventual doom where customers really did not get the service they should have.

Im trying to limit the chances of coming up against woeful service.:eek:

Jarbuhu

Hey, have you thought about purchasing the pre-paid VISA cards? I know they're usually for younger people, but you can easily put the money on the card that you want to spend and it won't cause problems with your bank if there is an issue with store you buy from.

Kenneth131

its not so much an issue with stores its just peace of mind should things go pear shaped.

Many companies work in an american fashion like google, amazon etc whereby if you need a replacement item sent out etc they pre auth your card, send out the new one and wait for the return to roll in. Should it not be received they charge you for the item "not received back" but at least with a credit card you can query this or at lease not have the money out your bank while you argue with the company.

You just feel a bit better buying things, should it go wrong, that its not your money and companies are less likely to withhold money from say Sainsburry bank than you with a personal bank account

darrenpete

It's a little more than you price ranged, but the 2GB will prove more powerful when it comes to newer games where the ram will be needed for textures. And as an incentive, you'll be getting Tomb Raider and Bioshock infinite as a package deal for the time being! So it's definitely worth the extra few bucks on the card with two games and the extra ram