M&S &More card

dadoronron

Some time ago when M&S brought out there &More card I was given one without their asking if I wanted it or not. I did have one of their Chargecards previously. The credit limit they gave was quite a lot and I soon maxed out and got into debt over the repayments which are now being recovered by a collection agency. Do I have any legal rights against M&S for this?

LittlePiskey

I'm no legal authority on this but from what you've said I wouldn't have thought so as you didn't have to use the card - it's money you've spent so....

Lavendyr

You spent the money. They didn't force you to spend it. You could at any point have asked them to reduce the credit limit. While you could perhaps argue that they gave you the card without you having requested it (though I find it hard to believe that they would just have "given" you it without giving you any way of saying "no, thank you"), I very much doubt you will be able to get out of paying off any part of your debt.

Credit isn't there to be spent, you didn't have to max it out. Next time try and spend a bit more responsibly rather than looking to pin the blame on the people who gave you the credit in the first place.

lesdew

I have heard it all now! unbelievable!

Karl.H_2

Yes, just to agree, you have to pay it back. If you didn't want the card you shouldn't have activated it; I assume you activated the card.

Now, you MUST, MUST balance transfer your store card onto a lower rate credit card, as Martin often suggests. Read his articles on balance transfer. In fact, I am feel generous, here's the link: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cut-credit-card-interest

CopperPlate_2

M&S Money got into trouble with the FSA over this - they sent out &More credit cards to their Chargecard customers. The cards were unsolicited, and AFAIR, were marketed as an 'upgrade' with the proviso that if you didn't want it, you phoned to return to being a Chargecard customer.

That all said, the OP didn't HAVE to spend on the card, and there was an obvious alternative to retaining the card - phone and cancel it. Simple. But then, it's always the credit card company who's at fault...

Karl.H_2

dadoronron might not reply, as the collection agency have already taken the PC.
Can I just say: there is no law saying you have to max out your card each month. How much do you owe in total?

YorkshireBoy

sav4it wrote: »

Took out this card for its 0% deal and am paying the minimum. I don't want to be caught out and pay interest.
When the time comes, can I make a manual payment for the difference to top up the minimum amount?
The first transaction was 26/01/07 so does the 12 months start from then? The minimum payments are around the 11th of the month so if I did a manual top up on 11/01/08, should I be ok?

Rarely do 0% end dates coincide with statement or payment due dates. From memory, the M&S end date is x months from account opening (which may be the date of application, the date you signed the credit agreement, or the date they received and processed your signed credit agreement).

Your penultimate intro period M&S statement will clearly show the precise 0% end date, but if you want to know before then ring them on 0800 997996.

Re the min payment DD, I can't remember (despite paying off two of their cards ) if they take the min payment DD based on your statement balance or the balance 5 days before the payment due date (when they initiate the DD). Hopefully someone with more recent experience can answer that.

marksandsparksgal

Can I just add that all Chargecard customers (myself included, and it was a very clear letter), were written to giving them the option to opt out of the &More scheme, also if you didn't want it, why didn't you just call or come into store and they would have cancelled the &More for you!

Not trying to be smarmy here, but it just annoys me how people take credit etc when it's offered and when they get into trouble, they blame everyone but themselves!

youknowwho

my signature says it all.

Karl.H_2

youknowwho wrote: »

my signature says it all.

How true.