Argos Store Card - Massive Fee

Yellabowley

When we moved into our new house last year we bought around £550 worth of furniture from Argos. If we opened an Argos Card at the time it was 9 months interest free and no payments for those 9 months. We took up the offer which ended on 12th September this year.

Anyway the 12th September was our last payment free month. We had to pay a minimum of £0.00 by the 12th. I'm sure you can guess what's coming next!!

We have recently had a baby and the Argos card got pushed to the back of our minds. We rang today, 17th September, to pay off the whole £550 but we were told that interest has now been applied as we have had the card 9 months and that the interest was around £150!!

How can this be right? We are being charged £150 for going 5 days over the 9 months.

We have not missed any payments (as none were required) they have just said that as we didn't pay off the amount owing by the end of the interest free period they have now applied the interest.

Can they apply all of the interest retrospectively? I'll be going through the documentation with a fine toothed comb but for now I'm wondering if anyone has experienced anyhting similar?

Cheers.

recovering_spendaholic

Almost the same thing happened to me when I bought a PC from PC world on a similar deal. I missed the deadline by 1 day and got stung with all of the interest which was over £300. I tried everything to get it cancelled but failed, and ended up just having to pay it and learn the lesson. I was furious with myself though, and also furious with them for not showing any flexibility, but at the end of the day I hadn't paid up in time I suppose.

Yellabowley

I know my card was interest free for 9 months, but it would appear that it's actually only interest free for 9 months if you pay it off within 9 months.

I was expecting that I would have paid interest for all of the time after that 9 months had expired, which would have been a few quid, not for the whole time I'd had the card.

YorkshireBoy

What is Buy Now Pay Later?
A Buy Now Pay Later plan allows you to have what you want now and pay for it later when it's more convenient. You don't need to pay anything during the Pay Later period, although you can if you wish, it's entirely up to you. Simply pay the cash price before the Pay Later period is up and we won't charge you any interest (we will remind you when payment is due). If you don't pay in full at the end of the Pay Later period, interest from the date of purchase will be added to your account and you can then choose to pay as much or as little as you wish until the balance is paid off, subject to a minimum monthly payment of 4% of the balance or £2, whichever is greater. Our most popular plan is 6 months Buy Now Pay later when you spend over £195, but there are even longer periods available, e.g. up to 12 months on selected products. We will tell you when you can take advantage of these offers.
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What is deferred interest?
Deferred interest is interest which is due from the date of your purchase. It can be avoided by paying off the Argos Card credit plan by the due date. So if you have a 6 month BUY NOW PAY LATER deal and you pay off the cash price any time up to the 6th month, then the interest won't be charged and all you will pay is the cash price. We'll even send you a letter with about a month to go to your payment date, to remind you of the amount you need to pay to avoid interest. If you choose not to clear the balance by the date it is due, then this interest, from the date of purchase, will be the same as if you had bought the item on the normal credit plan which attracts a typical 27.9% APR variable.
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http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ArgosFSCardFaqView?langId=-1&storeId=10001#faq8

Yellabowley wrote:

I was expecting...

'Expecting', 'thinking', 'assuming' are best avoided where credit is concerned.

Yellabowley

Yeah you're right.

They reminded me of what I had to pay but (unless there's some small print I haven't seen as yet) not that that would be to avoid the interest.

I'll check it out.

Still a bit sly and harsh though.

YorkshireBoy

Yellabowley wrote: »

(unless there's some small print I haven't seen as yet)

That'll be the one with your signature on it.

Think positively...once bitten, twice shy!

Yellabowley

I know.

I still wish companies would be more transparent.

I also want to see pigs fly.

wayoflife

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

'Expecting', 'thinking', 'assuming' are best avoided where credit is concerned.

I agree with you totally, you need to be very suspicious when it comes to ALL credit and you have to make sure you understand and ask the right questions

otherwise you will end up screwed in a word! As long as you ask the right questions then you will always be ok