MBNA late payment fees

WillJW

In August I registered for an MBNA credit card to take advantage of the long 0% money transfer. Once setup (3rd August) I promptly setup a standing order for the correct amount on 1st of each month (starting 1st September) in order to pay it off in full at the end of the term. Then I left it, assuming everything was ok.

I've just logged in to my account to double check what the remaining balance was, and was shocked to see I had been charged £12/month late payment fee and almost £50/month in interest.

It turns out the payment date was 20th of each month.

I spoke to someone there end and found out they'd also removed the 0%, so I was now on 29% rate. After a few exchanges I managed to get them to put me back down to the 0% rate and remove the current month's charges, but I still have almost £300 in extra charges remaining.

They sent me an email each month with a link to view the statement, which I admittedly ignored, assuming everything was fine. They made no effort to contact me and let me know I was being charged late payment fees and interest, and that they'd removed the 0%.

Do I have a leg to stand on here? The guy I spoke to on the phone said they did everything they legally have to do. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

kimbers84

Unfortunately not. The statements would have advised you of the late pyts/int - as they're emailed you cant really argue it as you have to take responsibility for actually looking at them!!

To be honest they've put you back on the 0% deal which was more than they had to as you broke the t&cs. Im sure many other c/c companys wouldn't have done that. I'd be grateful & learn ftom thr mistake!

[Deleted User]

Agree - you've been incredibly lucky.

WillJW

I argued that they could easily see that I was making the payments each month, so it was obviously a genuine mistake. And that as a matter of courtesy they could have let me know at least that they had removed the 0%. I know they weren't legally obliged to, but it just stinks of a CC company trying to get as much money as they can out of me.

I will learn from this though, and will be checking my statements in the future! I've also changed my DD to come out on 15th, so there's plenty of time!

[Deleted User]

They told you about the loss of the promo and the late fees every month in your statements. The trouble is, you didn't read them.

WillJW

I'm just saying, as human beings, they *could* maybe go that extra mile and give me a call/text to just make sure I'm aware. I know they didn't legally have to. I don't legally have to say thanks to a barman when he serves me, but I do.

Tixy

WillJW wrote: »

I will learn from this though, and will be checking my statements in the future! I've also changed my DD to come out on 15th, so there's plenty of time!

If you have set it as a DD then you shouldn't have any issues.
But if you still have a SO then you could still end up with your payment arriving late (around bank holidays for example).
Also its possible that your due date could change at some point so do ensure you always check the statement each month.

wwtrend

MBNA have some of the rudest staff when it comes to trying to sort out a problem. I was paying down my card and hadn't used it for a while. I had a hiccup with payments when I was waiting for some monies to come through and a few payments were late but not more than about a week and I paid the late fees. I subsequently found out that as I hadn't used my card for a while they had cancelled it without any notice to me. As it was cancelled they couldn't reinstate it again and told me to apply again. Right!

Calling up I was given one story when I got a supervisor next time she told me I had been refused credit to have it reinstated and contradicted what I had been told originally. I told her I hadn't applied for new credit just a new card she then went onto lecture me because a year ago I had some late payments and if I made an agreement I had to stick to it.
I did when I was late, I incurred the late charges. I was ill which was why I had to wait for some monies to come through. I have had the card for years and sorry I wasn't aware that some 10 years later I would become ill I couldn't believe what this woman was saying to me. I was so angry with her I told her to see how she felt when it happened to her and I meant it.
I then got a letter and there was nothing to do with what she was saying merely that they can't reinstate an account once they've closed it for lack of use. I have ordered a credit report just in case to check. Meanwhile I have a complaint in. I won't be asking them again for credit. I'm seething just looking at your complaint it's just plain greed. It's clear there was a mixup and any company would have waived those fees in good faith. I know that credit card terms and conditions usually say that if you fail to make payments on time you lose preferential rates. Usually once you have a substantial amount on the card they up the interest rate. It's disgraceful. Put a complaint in then notify Financial services. They are going to be looking into the actions of credit card companies shortly and maybe introduce new regulations. Clearly they are going to squeeze as much as they can out of errors before that date.

WillJW

Tixy wrote: »

If you have set it as a DD then you shouldn't have any issues.

Sorry yes, I meant standing order!

meer53

Just set up a DD, don't mess about with standing orders. Some companies will allow you to set up a DD for a fixed amount.

bengal-stripe

meer53 wrote: »

Just set up a DD, don't mess about with standing orders. Some companies will allow you to set up a DD for a fixed amount.

Set-up a DD for the minimum and make additional payments, either by SO or, probably better, by Faster Payment transfers.

MBNA will take the DD regardless of any additional payments, so you can send extra monies whenever it suits you.