Egg - T & C Loophole? 0%for 12 month BT/3mth purchases to Existing Customers?

OllyB

Hi,

I thought existing customers of the Egg Card may be interested in this (ie those past their introductory offer)....

In Eggs Terms and Conditions, Clause 4.1, it lists the rates of interest payable on the card, but doesn't make a distinction between those rates which apply to new customers (presumably on their 0% for 12 month BT/3 mth purchase intro offer), and those rates which apply to existing customers.

Seems to me that the offer is open to everybody :beer: however on contacting their customer services, unsurprisingly they said it was for new customers only.

So I've done the only honourable thing and sent a secure msg to their customer services, explaining my reasons for expecting my recent Balance Transfer to be 0% for 12 months and we'll see what happens... (I'll let you all know of the outcome of course!) [The BT is covered by an anniversary offer of 5 mths at 0%, so not too reckless]

The Clause:

4. INTEREST

4.1 We will charge interest:

• on Purchases put on the Account until 1 October 2007 at a monthly rate of 0% fixed until 1 October 2007, and thereafter at a variable annual rate of 16.9%;
• on Transferred Balances put on the Account until 1 July 2008 at a monthly rate of 0% fixed until 1 July 2008, and thereafter at a variable annual rate of 16.9%;
• on Cash Advances at a variable annual rate of 22.9%; and
• otherwise, at a variable annual rate of 16.9%.

The full T & C are at http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,,3_11087--View_1068,00.html

tom188

Yes but are these not the terms and conditions for new accounts? You will have had your own set when you applied for your particular account.

OllyB

These are the same T&Cs that I am directed to when logged in and viewing my card details.

Also the T&C's in several places refer to customers who joined before such and such a date (being more than a year from now), so IMHO it is unlikely that the T&Cs is applicable for just new customers

Good point though - I need to be prepared for similar arguments if it comes before the Financial Ombudsman..., so keep them coming!

Time2Go_25

You need to refer to your T&Cs not those that currently exist on a website.

OllyB

Hmmm - went back to the website, and once logged in saw that I have links to two sets of T&Cs - the general one available to anyone (at the link which I quoted above), and one specifically recording the Agreement that I signed.

The one that I "signed" (ie electronically accepted) has different dates in clause 4.1 (Decemeber 2005, not July 2008), so if they pull me up on that one, then most of the argument has gone.

However, they saw fit to charge me a minimum interest fee in this month's statement - the original reason which got me looking at the T & Cs - a clause which is not in the T & Cs that I accepted, but is in the new T & C. So, still plenty of comeback...

YorkshireBoy

OllyB wrote: »

However, they saw fit to charge me a minimum interest fee in this month's statement - the original reason which got me looking at the T & Cs - a clause which is not in the T & Cs that I accepted, but is in the new T & C. So, still plenty of comeback...

No comeback at all I'm afraid. You will have been notified of the change to your T&C's by secure message/e-mail to your registered address.

Whether you chose not to read the notice of variation, read it and then forgot it, or have changed your e-mail address and not informed them is of no consequence to them.

You're wasting your time, and theirs on this venture.

OllyB

The response from egg...

I can confirm that the 0% offer for 12 months on Balance Transfers only applies to new customers. The Terms and Conditions you have quoted regarding this particular matter only apply to customers who are applying for an Egg Card at this point in time.

As I don't seem to be eligible for the good things in the new T & C's (0%/12 mth BT offers and the like), I am interested in why I'm being caught for the bad things which are in the new customer T & Cs, but not in the the T &Cs that I originally "signed", (and which don't appear to have been updated) - eg Minimum interest charge and uncapped BT fees (at 2.5%, not 2%)...

Cue a letter to their Customer Relations dept me thinks...

OllyB

Sent a nasty letter off to their Customer Relations people today...

youknowwho

OllyB wrote: »

Sent a nasty letter off to their Customer Relations people today...

Amazing, do u really think they will give u the offer again? u have had ur introductory offer, now your nit picking at t&c's to get another one. And as for the nasty letter, y? u r just wasting yours and their time, nothing will be gained from this. It really does amaze me!

OllyB

Received a response from the letter by phone.

Eventually the Customer Releations person saw my point of view (ie I may have received updates to my T&C, but I could not see these updates on the website, however could access two different sets of T & Cs from my secure area, neither of which reflected the way in which my account was run).

She conferred with the Product Mgr, who stated that as I have been sent email updates of the changes I therefore have the full set of T&Cs applicable to me. Customer Relations person will forward on copies of these updates, and I'll wait to see what they say.

Interestingly the way the customer relations person relayed what the product manager had said suggested she didn't agree with the solution (ie "don't shoot the messenger"). She also agreed that the situation was not clear cut, and the (new) set of T&Cs could have been worded better with clause 4.1

So, while I may not have gained anything yet (the fight is still not yet over), I certainly have not wasted my time, and at least one person in their Customer Relations team agrees with me that they could improve on several points.

Next stop, the Financial Ombudsman Service, via Consumer Advice just to see if there is anthing illegal in them relying on me to collate a series of updates to my T&Cs and being unable to supply the upto date copy in full.

realaledrinker

There again you could get a life.