Can't cancel my Barclaycard or get new one

crazyshady

My 3 months interest free period with my latest Barclayard ended in February so I ended up waiting till last week to cancel it because they are doing one now which is 6 months interest free.


So I phone up and was half an hour on the phone, I get told there are new rules in place and that if you have one Barclaycard you can have 2 and that i should apply for the 14 month interest free card despite being told in the Eligable page that I am not eligable for it. Of course they gave me no decision and it can take 5 days for them to look for further information before making a decision. I still haven't recieved a reply even though it was a week ago.

On Tuesday I phoned again this time wanting it cancelled and was again on the phone a while after constantly asking for it to be cancelled to be told that my interest rate will be cut down to 28.9% and that in late April I should try again and they might be able to give me another 3 months interest free on the card I have.


I then tried to go for the 6 month card which is the same card I have but only it has a 6 month period on it and again the message says we haven't made a decision yet, it can take 5 days and I'm sure come next week I still wont have had any reply.


First of all. What is the best way to get this cancelled? Also I tried for a capital one card which is for people with bad credit and got refused for that too so i don't know how it all works or do they speak to each other or was I told lies and I really shouldnt have applied for another card despite already having one. I don't think they really understand the reason for it. The whole point of the interest free period is so i can my credit rating up. I only bought one thing with the card I have now and had it paid off by the end of the month. I know I could do the same with their 28.9% charge but it's always good to have in case of emergency and if an emergency does come I want to know that all i'm paying off is what i've spent, not what they've added on in credit.


I feel as if i'm stuck now. I can't use my card without stress of paying it off within 4 weeks. It just gets tiring on the phone to them too.

pathtofreedom

It all depends on your credit history really. You probably don't want to keep trying for deals because it will keep registering lots of searches in a short time which will make you look like a risk. You could check your credit record and see how many times barclays have checked you in the past few months. If it has been a few times you might have to wait 3-6 months before trying again.

If you spend small amounts and pay it off each month, this will help show your good at paying regularly and build your credit up.

Might be worth having a read of this as well http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards#poorer2 and maybe trying on here to see if any other banks might give you a card with a lower rate or not . https://creditcards.moneysavingexpert.com/

crazyshady

I thought I was doing the right thing taking 3 month and 6 month cards, paying everything off, closing them when the interest free period was up then getting a new card.

How would i check my credit to see how many times they have checked me?

grumbler

check your files for £2

Check Credit Files For Free

pathtofreedom

You might be but you can't normally get the same deal with the same banking group back to back unless they really want you as a customer. So if you've just had a barclays one you'd be better off looking at a different banking group next and trying for longer deals each time.

If you go on quidco you might be able to get cashback for free trials with experian, expedia, call credit. You can also sign up to noddle which is free. Different banks use different credit registers. If you sign up you can see recent searches so that's what you're checking for. If you have a lot of searches with different banks in a short period it worries banks so they offer worse deals. So see when the last few searches are, keep this card for the time being and just use it for petrol or something and pay it off each month in full. Then in 3 - 6 months have a look again for a different bank with a longer interest free.

If you've ever had payday loans that can count against you too but if you stop using them and build up some time since the last one that can also help. Don't miss any payments either as that will also count against you.

TheEffect

3/6 month 0% deals aren't great (for example, you can get 3 year 0% balance transfer deals). Have you checked your credit file to see if there's anything negative?

How much debt do you currently have?
What's your employment status and income?
What does the MoneySavingExpert pre-check give you?

crazyshady

Not yet. I do have a Bank Of Scotland credit card which i havent used in a few years and am paying that off but with me not able to work just now i can only do a few pounds over the minimum payment.

I know here in Scotland Halifax and Bank of Scotland are one in the same and part of me was going to try and go to Halifax and try get them to take the debt from the Bank of Scotland card but I don't know if they would do that since it's basically the same bank.

That was really how it all started. When i stopped working it started to mount up and because i'm not working my credit score obviously isn't going to be good but I only started the Barclay cards last year and barely used them but I thought if i keep doing it then eventually i'll get a decent card with a good balance transfer on it and a decent interest free period.


This is the situation i'm in and i'm getting by but i'd love to clear it.

Previous balance £2,477.76
Payments received £65.35 CR
Your new balance £2,460.44

Minimum payment due £53.03

Next months interest. £43.17

So you pay £65 and you really only pay £15 to your debt


For Cash Withdrawals, Balance or Money Transfers and all other amounts payable under my agreement since must be 2008 now.

25.95%


That's the reality of it. The reality is I'm not going to be accepted for many cards because i'm not working. The reality is I can't pay a lot more than the minimum. People tell me about credit union loans and they are very low interest rates and I'd be better off going with them, getting a loan, paying off my credit card debt but I don't know how it all works.

pathtofreedom

Ah tricky, I don't know enough about credit cards to know if you can get one just on benefits. Have you checked on http://www.entitledto.co.uk/ to see if there is anything else you might be able to claim?

It might be worth posting on the debt free wannbe board as well and doing an soa http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php to see if people can help with your budget.

Also maybe try stepchange or some of the other charities talked about on there as they are free but might help you figure out your options on paying off the card.

TheEffect

crazyshady wrote: »

Not yet. I do have a Bank Of Scotland credit card which i havent used in a few years and am paying that off but with me not able to work just now i can only do a few pounds over the minimum payment.

I know here in Scotland Halifax and Bank of Scotland are one in the same and part of me was going to try and go to Halifax and try get them to take the debt from the Bank of Scotland card but I don't know if they would do that since it's basically the same bank.

That was really how it all started. When i stopped working it started to mount up and because i'm not working my credit score obviously isn't going to be good but I only started the Barclay cards last year and barely used them but I thought if i keep doing it then eventually i'll get a decent card with a good balance transfer on it and a decent interest free period.


This is the situation i'm in and i'm getting by but i'd love to clear it.

Previous balance £2,477.76
Payments received £65.35 CR
Your new balance £2,460.44

Minimum payment due £53.03

Next months interest. £43.17

So you pay £65 and you really only pay £15 to your debt


For Cash Withdrawals, Balance or Money Transfers and all other amounts payable under my agreement since must be 2008 now.

25.95%


That's the reality of it. The reality is I'm not going to be accepted for many cards because i'm not working. The reality is I can't pay a lot more than the minimum. People tell me about credit union loans and they are very low interest rates and I'd be better off going with them, getting a loan, paying off my credit card debt but I don't know how it all works.

How much debt, in total (all credit cards, loans, overdrafts, etc) do you have?

As an unemployed person that owes at least £2400 and is barely making the minimum payments, I'd say you've got no chance of getting another credit card. It would be irresponsible on a banks part to lend you anymore money.

Instead of looking to another credit card, overdraft or loan, I recommend you start looking at paying off what you owe.

Is there no way you can get a job?

I'd head over to the debt-free-wannabee board, rather than posting here for a new credit card.

crazyshady

That is the only debt I have.

My local credit union charges 13% once you take out a third loan which they say will take 5 years to clear at the mimum payment i picked which was £53.

TheEffect

crazyshady wrote: »

That is the only debt I have.

My local credit union charges 13% once you take out a third loan which they say will take 5 years to clear at the mimum payment i picked which was £53.

I think you need to face this problem from a different route. You need to increase your income, rather than looking at ways to shift the debt elsewhere.