Caught out by nationwide CC!

seraphina

Just got my latest Nationwide bill - which I pay off (Or I thought I did!) in full every month. Surprised to see a £3.00 interest charge on there so phoned up to query it.

I pay my CC bill by online banking - last time I didn't have my bill to hand so entered the amount in a round number. I was 32p short and so Nationwide charged me interest on the whole balance amount from the date of each transaction (not just the date of billing). So for the sake of 32p I have a £3 interest charge:mad:

I had a frank discussion with a bloke at the call centre which finished with him saying "I was going to refund you the £3 but saying you interrupted me I don't think I'll bother!"

Nationwide - just as bad as all the rest.

I know it's technically my fault but it doesn't half make me angry!

jazzyjustlaw

seraphina wrote: »

Just got my latest Nationwide bill - which I pay off (Or I thought I did!) in full every month. Surprised to see a £3.00 interest charge on there so phoned up to query it.

I pay my CC bill by online banking - last time I didn't have my bill to hand so entered the amount in a round number. I was 32p short and so Nationwide charged me interest on the whole balance amount from the date of each transaction (not just the date of billing). So for the sake of 32p I have a £3 interest charge:mad:

I had a frank discussion with a bloke at the call centre which finished with him saying "I was going to refund you the £3 but saying you interrupted me I don't think I'll bother!"

Nationwide - just as bad as all the rest.

I know it's technically my fault but it doesn't half make me angry!

Glad you got through. Took me 30 minutes yesterday to speak to a customer service adviser as their phones were going round in circles tried at least three numbers. I only used their CC once and think I am not going to bother if its that diff to get through. Call them again you will speak to someone else and youll be calmer might get your 3 quid back!

GlennTheBaker

You incurred interest which was, by your own admission, your fault and then blew the chance of any goodwill from Nationwide by tearing a strip off the customer service bloke. Remind me again why Nationwide are the bad guys here?

YorkshireBoy

seraphina wrote: »

I had a frank discussion with a bloke at the call centre which finished with him saying "I was going to refund you the £3 but saying you interrupted me I don't think I'll bother!"

Sounds like you broke the golden rule of not upsetting the CSA. Think of it this way...you wouldn't tell the taxi driver (at 2am) he had BO until you were safely at home and getting out of the cab would you?

In future, when you call, ask the CSA "how are you today?"...first of all, that's their line so it completely throws them. When they then say "fine, and you?" that's your cue.

You say "my day has gone from bad to worse. The car wouldn't start this morning, so I was late for work and missed a meeting, and my boss wasn't best pleased at all. The bus ride home took an eternity, and then when I got home I found my son had had another bad school report. And to cap it all off, I've now realised that I was 32p short with my last credit card payment and been charged £3 interest".

Now show me a CSA who won't, if he has the authority, refund you and I'll show you a hard man!

seraphina

I know that the golden rule is not to upset the CSA - that's why I did (and always) ask them how they are, and am polite and courteous. However I see no reason to be anything less than frank when the CSA is rude and unhelpful - as he was from the get-go.

I phoned up merely to query why I had incurred what I thought was a large interest charge on an outstanding balance of 32p - I was not particularly expecting a refund as I have found it rare for Nationwide to make mistakes. It is entirely at their discretion as to whether they give a refund or not; but for the CSA to inform me that he was not going to refund me when he could have done so smacked of point scoring, not least because he had interrupted me throughout the conversation.

I appreciate that we all have off days and that a CSA job can be at times trying - but that's no excuse for the attitude I got from the CSA. I did admit that it was my fault in the original post.

Perhaps I was not sufficiently clear in my original post - it was not the principle of the interest charge that I objected to, rather the manner in which it was occured - an interest charge on the full amount of the last bill, rather than the outstanding 32p.

Mozette

That is in the T&C of most credit cards - they charge interest on the full statement amount, not just the amount you leave owing. They all do it.

Milarky

You could, I suppose ring Nationwide again and disarm them with your courtesy and just say how disappointed you were with the response you received (stressing that it's not the interest at issue but the attitude struck by the other party)? Go on. Do it. Probe their defences with the pointy ends of your softest cushions and say it's all because when you called them up the first time... "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!"