John Lewis Have Charged Me Interest

treble777

Hi All. I recently took out the John Lewis Partnership credit card to make a purchase from JL themselves, having seen (and been told countless times by the salespeople in-store) that it carries a 6-month interest-free period. The timeline is as follows:

05/06/17 - went to JL and got the credit card. Made a purchase that day for £689.05.
27/06/17 - first statement provided, showing balance outstanding, minimum payment, and due date. Minimum payment listed as £20.40, to be made before 22nd July.
28/06/17 - paid £69 off the card.
04/07/17 - paid £115 off the card.
18/07/17 - paid £5 off the card.

So, at this point, I have received a statement asking for £20.40, and I have paid a total of £189 before the due date.

I checked the account last week, and saw that I have been charged £13.59 interest. I sent an email to them immediately questioning this (on every card I've had that carries an interest-free period, provided you make the minimum payment by the due date, you are not charged interest.) A week later, they have replied with the following:

Dear Mr ****, thank you for your message. As for your query, we have investigated into your account and we can confirm that your June bill of £689.05 was not paid in full, therefore billed finance charge has been applied. Please note in order to avoid interest charges we advise our customers to pay their bill in full. Please be assured that you're not receiving any extra charges on your Partnership Card. We wanted to be more transparent with any charges, where you'd previously have seen one charge on your statement titled 'Interest', you'll now see this broken down into the two categories. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Kind Regards, John Lewis Financial Services.

Now, forgive me, but if one is expected to repay the entire balance each month to avoid incurring interest charges, how exactly is this an interest-free credit card? I haven't used it to make any other purchases at all, I paid well in excess of the minimum they asked, and they have still charged me interest on the entire balance.

Am I losing my mind, or are they totally wrong here?

MallyGirl

you just need to push back and say that you should be on 0% promotional period

Candyapple

My guess is it's an admin error and they perhaps think your card isn't a new one / not entitled to the 6 months 0%.

Contact them again and ask them to double check their records.

https://www.johnlewisfinance.com/partnership-card/faqs.html#question-10

What does 0% on purchases for 6 months mean?

This is an introductory offer for new customers. It means that for 6 months from the day your account was opened you will enjoy an interest-free period on purchases, whether you pay back your balance in full or not. At the end of the 6 months your interest rate will revert to the standard variable purchase rate (currently 16.9% APR).

antrobus

treble777 wrote: »

..Am I losing my mind, or are they totally wrong here?

It would certainly appear that the JLPC is offered 'interest free for 6 months'.

https://www.johnlewisfinance.com/partnership-card.html

And their FAQ states;

What does 0% on purchases for 6 months mean?

This is an introductory offer for new customers. It means that for 6 months from the day your account was opened you will enjoy an interest-free period on purchases, whether you pay back your balance in full or not.

I'd suggest that you respond to JL and quote that back at them.

Silvertabby

It does sound like JL aren't treating this card as '6 months interest free' despite the assurances of the salespeople.

What does your contract say?

YorkshireBoy

treble777 wrote: »

27/06/17 - first statement provided, showing balance outstanding, minimum payment, and due date. Minimum payment listed as £20.40, to be made before 22nd July.

Is there also an "estimated interest next statement" figure showing? Anything other than "£0.00" means they haven't applied the 0% rate to the account.

treble777

Thanks everyone for your replies - it certainly seems like this is a mistake on their part, I just wanted to be absolutely certain before speaking to them (although, judging by their email reply they don't seem to acknowledge any issue with this charge.)

And their FAQ states;

What does 0% on purchases for 6 months mean?

This is an introductory offer for new customers. It means that for 6 months from the day your account was opened you will enjoy an interest-free period on purchases, whether you pay back your balance in full or not.

I'd suggest that you respond to JL and quote that back at them.

This directly contradicts what their email support told me - that I'd been charged interest because the balance hadn't been repaid in full. So this is very useful - I'll make sure to tell them!

Is there also an "estimated interest next statement" figure showing? Anything other than "£0.00" means they haven't applied the 0% rate to the account.

There's no estimated interest figure, only Current Balance, Available Credit, Credit Limit, Total Rewards Points and Minimum Payment.

Interestingly, I made a payment of £100 yesterday (taking the balance down to £400, or £413.59 including their charge) and the minimum payment says "£0.00 before 21st August 2017." I'm concerned that if I take them at their word and make no further payments, then they'll slap another interest charge onto the account.

YorkshireBoy

treble777 wrote: »

There's no estimated interest figure

That surprises me. It's a long, long, time since I had a JLP card, but every single one of my cards' statements (the 12 I have at the moment, and all others I've ever had) quote such a figure. I even think it's a regulatory requirement?

anythingbutordinary

treble777 wrote: »

Interestingly, I made a payment of £100 yesterday (taking the balance down to £400, or £413.59 including their charge) and the minimum payment says "£0.00 before 21st August 2017." I'm concerned that if I take them at their word and make no further payments, then they'll slap another interest charge onto the account.

They will charge you more interest if you don't pay the full amount and don't resolve the issue. Minimum payment only avoids late charges, not interest on the full amount if it's not paid off by the due date.

chattychappy

anythingbutordinary wrote: »

They will charge you more interest if you don't pay the full amount and don't resolve the issue. Minimum payment only avoids late charges, not interest on the full amount if it's not paid off by the due date.

Well, not really "more" interest on the full amount. Interest on the full amount as already been applied and is showing on the statement. The OP is now (albeit apparently wrongly) only being charged on the balance remaining, and it is this interest that will show up next time unless all this is reversed.

anythingbutordinary

chattychappy wrote: »

Well, not really "more" interest on the full amount. Interest on the full amount as already been applied and is showing on the statement. The OP is now (albeit apparently wrongly) only being charged on the balance remaining, and it is this interest that will show up next time unless all this is reversed.

Apologies, I should have been clearer... full statement amount