Next statements - Two different interest rates

Dominic_star

I am just looking for a little advice here - and I have a sneaking suspicion that Next are a little worried themselves due to how they handled my contact.

TLDR… People with paper statements from Next will have received information stating one way of how interest is charged. People with online statements will have been told a completely different way. People who have both setup will have received statements with both methods. Does this invalidate the interest charges?

I have had a Next catalogue account for a number of years and receive statements both online and a paper copy by post. Many people will have received only online versions.
Online, the statements clearly stated that if the balance was not cleared, then interest would be charged at the rate of 1.98% per month on the outstanding balance at the beginning of the previous statement period and the APR was 25.99%.

Usually, this happened, e.g. if there was £600 at the beginning of a month and I paid off £100, then the next statement would show previous balance £600 + interest on the £600, minus the £100.
However, as I have become older, I have become more suspicious of creditors. So I began to check the interest was being charged correctly according to the online statements I was receiving. Usually they were correct, but occasionally the interest rate did not tally. So sometime last year I contacted Next through their online form and said it wasn’t correct and asked them to look at it. I received a reply saying they could see it was incorrect and refunding the difference I had pointed out. I then received another statement some months later, which again had more than 1.98% interest and contacted Next again. They replied that they are sorry I felt the interest rate to be wrong and refunded all of the interest for that month with no further explanation.
In August of this year, the same thing occurred again so again I contacted them and said I want it looked at and that I want a proper response to the complaint explaining why it kept happening. This time I received a phone call saying they had received the complaint and it needed looking in to by technical staff and I would receive another call in a few days to advise me of the outcome.
A couple of weeks later, I noticed that Next have now amended their online statements so that the information and it now reads:

“Interest Charge
Each rate of interest which has been used to calculate the amount of interest applied on this statement will be provided to you on request together with an explanation of the manner in which we have calculated interest applied. The rate and explanation can be found in our Frequently Asked Questions.”

The FAQ explains that when purchases are made, interest is charged from the date of purchase, which explains why the interest rate was sometimes higher than 1.98% per month.
I checked this and it is what has been printed on paper statements, but as the online version was available a good week before, I never noticed it. But either way I have been receiving statements with two conflicting interest rates.

So it seems that Next have changed their online statements in response to my complaint. They also made an “attempt to call back” which consisted of them ringing for 2 rings until I answered and said hello, then call dropping. They have made no further attempt to call in over two months. They are clearly (imo) hoping I will go away and they will have gotten away with anything with other customers too.

Any advice on how to handle the complaint from here would be appreciated. I can go to the Ombudsman I know, but what to say?

TLDR… People with paper statements from Next will have received information stating one way of how interest is charged. People with online statements will have been told a completely different way. People who have both setup will have received statements with both methods. Does this invalidate the interest charges?

grumbler

After reading this 'TL' I still don't see what difference in way of calculation or what "conflicting interest rates" you mean. Any example?

If they refunded some 'difference' this doesn't mean anything as it could be easier for them to refund a few pounds than to spend time on explaining how their figure was calculated. Time is money.

Tixy

Sounds like all they have done is added some additional clarification to the online statements as to how interest is calculated (which will have been detailed in the original T&Cs).

This may have been to try to reduce the number of people not understanding how interest is calculated and calling up for an explanation.

.1xp

Not sure if it's related or not, received a letter yesterday from Next with a variation to the T&C's .... simplifying the terms.

Also stating that they will have different rates of APR dependant on credit reference agency feed and how accounts are managed.

Dominic_star

Tixy wrote: »

Sounds like all they have done is added some additional clarification to the online statements as to how interest is calculated (which will have been detailed in the original T&Cs).

This may have been to try to reduce the number of people not understanding how interest is calculated and calling up for an explanation.

If they have people with online statements only, it isn't simply a clarification. It's a correction of an incorrectly stated interest rate and how it is calculated on a statement. It was explicitly stated on the statement that a flat 1.98% interest would be charged on the balance at the beginning of the previous month. Anyway other than their contempt for customers through a lack of customer service, I'm over it. Just thought I would mention it in case others found it useful, though obviously not