Vanquis Mystery Charges

Twisted_Cherry

Just had my second statement from Vanquis and noticed two charges added the day the bill was produced - 10th October.

One charge is called 'Billed Referred Finance Charges' for £4.68 and the second is 'Purchase Interest' at £3.05.

This is only my second statement and the account was paid in full, so I do not understand what these charges are for.

Surely there should be no interest charged when I cleared the balance in full the previous month - although used the card again after it was paid off.

Is this a sneaky way of stealing extra money from people?

YorkshireBoy

Did you make a cash, or pseudo cash, type transaction in the first month?

For example...

ATM withdrawal
Cash transfer into your current account
Foreign currency purchase
Gambling deposit

Twisted_Cherry

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Did you make a cash, or pseudo cash, type transaction in the first month?

For example...

ATM withdrawal
Cash transfer into your current account
Foreign currency purchase
Gambling deposit

No, not at all.

YorkshireBoy

Twisted_Cherry wrote: »

No, not at all.

You'll need to ask Vanquis what the charges relate to then.

SnowTiger

Twisted_Cherry wrote: »

Just had my second statement from Vanquis and noticed two charges added the day the bill was produced - 10th October.

One charge is called 'Billed Referred Finance Charges' for £4.68 and the second is 'Purchase Interest' at £3.05.

This is only my second statement and the account was paid in full, so I do not understand what these charges are for.

Surely there should be no interest charged when I cleared the balance in full the previous month - although used the card again after it was paid off.

Is this a sneaky way of stealing extra money from people?

This suggests your previous Vanquis statement wasn't paid in full. Even a shortfall of 1p will cause interest charges to be added.

Deferred Finance Charge is the interest that has been applied to your first statement and Purchase Interest is the interest for the second statement. Vanquis is one of the few, perhaps only, credit card company that lists the two separately. Most (all) simply add the two together and call it interest.

As YorkshireBoy suggests, contact Vanquis to find out why you've been charged interest.

Twisted_Cherry

Yeah I will telephone them tomorrow to see what this is about. There was absolutely nothing outstanding when the payment was due - except what had been purchased after the first statement was issued. As I understand it, as long as that balance is paid off in full by the time the next payment is due, there should be no charges added.

I shall keep you posted tomorrow when I call them!

Twisted_Cherry

Ok I phoned them but I am unhappy with there very complicated 'around the houses' response.

First off I found a previous post / thread on the subject here!

Now I understand the 'Purchase Interest Charge' I mentioned in my previous post, since I made an error and failed to pay the balance of £389.27 - I only paid £366.00 (Quite unsure how I did that, as was keeping an eye on!)

So the interest on this months statement 'Purchase Interest Charge' is £3.05

I am still querying the 'Billed Deferred Finance Charges' of £4.68, this does not make sense.

The man I just spoke to made it sound very confusing, first blaming it on last months interest charges - there was none. Then making the error of blaming there billing system - I said that was not my fault and he seemed to retract what he was then telling me.

He is apparently sending me a letter which explains it, but I have requested to complain further about the issue. Told it could take up to 56 days to be resolved!

Also informed the man that I will clear the remaining balance this month (£469.74) and then close the account.

Thought I was doing myself a favour getting this card - clearly I wasn't!

opinions4u

You've been charged interest because you didn't clear the balance in full.

It's no more complicated than that.

YorkshireBoy

Conditions 3.9 and 3.12 explain why you've been charged interest...

http://www.vanquis.co.uk/upload/legal/PD10312_VBL_SECCI_CCA_39.pdf

You have no grounds for complaint. However, being polite (and that doesn't include threatening to close your account because of your own failure* to pay the statement total!) may bring about some goodwill.

All credit cards work the same way, so bear this in mind if you do decide to close the account.


* If you struggle with numbers, then maybe a full payment direct debit would help?

BrookesAndrew

What would you be making a complaint about? I know what you mean about the customer service and I am not suprised at how they gave you a confusing response. They did to me when I rang them first of all asking about the interest rates. I would just keep the card open, use it for six months just to get your credit rating up. Maybe don't spend so much on it and just keep a closer eye on it. Even though you were doing that in the first place but because the amount was quite big it is easier to get confused with the full amount you needed to pay. I wouldn't even bother making a complaint though it is just not worth the hassel.

SnowTiger

Twisted_Cherry wrote: »

Also informed the man that I will clear the remaining balance this month (£469.74) and then close the account.

Thought I was doing myself a favour getting this card - clearly I wasn't!

As with most credit cards, if you don't pay the statement balance in full you're charged interest on purchases from the day they're made.

If you do pay the statement balance the interest is, effectively, waived.

When Vanquis produced your very first statement they didn't know whether or not you would pay its balance in full, so they didn't added any interest to your account. You didn't pay it in full. That's what deferred interest is: interest that wasn't added to your first statement.

Look at it another way. If you don't pay your statement balance in full you lose the 'up to 56 days interest free credit' that credit cards typically offer.