Vanquis - Sticky Situation Currently

T-G-C

For some who know me, I have in the past made fun of their limit increase ratio, as I never bow down to interest on the card nor push balances into further statements.

To my surprise, I received an email on 5th March telling me I'd be increased from £250 to £1000 (quite a shift I know) provided there are no overlimit / missed payment breaches. I have never done both of such breaches with Vanquis before.

As I was new to credit from August 2017, this limit increase would be the first time I've been granted a credit line above £450 with anyone. Although I would never use £1000 with Vanquis due to the interest rate and my income ratio, it would only benefit my outlook to lenders.

Unfortunately however, Uber, who have reportedly done this in the past, decided to charge my Vanquis credit card instead of the debit card I had selected before taking the trip.

As I said above, I never carry a balance, however, I always max-out the card and then pay it off in full, hence the massive increase in the credit limit most likely. I am at the stage of the month where the balance is maxed out and due to Uber deciding to charge my £10 bill to Vanquis, my available to spend went to minus £9.16.

After being horrified (since this has never happened before on Vanquis) at what had happened, I immediately went onto my online banking and transferred the overspent amount to my card via Faster Payments.

I then called Vanquis customer service, to let them know what had happened and that I'd paid the amount via FP. The transaction itself was made by Uber around 15:00 on 9th March and I hadn't realized until Saturday morning at about 10am.

The agent confirmed that their system hadn't mentioned a decline of the credit increase nor was my account showing as overlimit, since thankfully the transaction wasn't posted yet. He advised that should my payment be applied before the transaction was posted, the account would be normal again and there wouldn't be a problem. However...

Since it is a Saturday and unlike Capital One & Aqua, Vanquis never apply payments (at-least not visually) on the weekend. This would mean that the transaction along with my payment will not officially process until Monday night.

If this is the case, the transaction from Uber and my payment would actually apply together at the same time. I did ask the agent this, however he could not confirm nor deny whether I would actually be classed as overlimit when the system updates.

If Vanquis were friendly like the others, they'd apply the Faster Payment on the same day, regardless of time & date and everything would be cushty. However, due to how Vanquis operate, there is a chance that I'll be thrown out into the cold with the following:

• £12 Charge
• Withdraw from Increase
• Mark on Credit File

I am honestly praying that the system operates in my favor and when both transactions clear together on Monday night, it will not officially flag me as overlimit, which would auto-decline my limit increase in April.

Has anyone been in this situation before? Would you estimate events turning against me?

I do accept liability for having the payment card linked to Uber, but I never consented to charge the card for that trip and have notified them as such. Since the bill has already been charged, it is beyond my control.

I will update with the outcome on Monday night. There is quite a lot at stake for me here, as I would've wrecked all the months of working to increase my credit line and receive a OL mark on my credit file.

PeacefulWaters

If you've not authorised the payment request an immediate refund from Vanquis.

Then sort out what you owe Uber separately.

T-G-C

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

If you've not authorised the payment request a chargeback.

Then sort out what you owe Uber separately.

It is not a solution which would correct this issue.

Unless Vanquis were able to reverse the transaction and reverse the funds taken instantly, which they cannot and will not do, then it wouldn't work.

Even if I did chargeback after going overlimit on Monday, it wouldn't reverse their charge; limit increase cancellation and credit file strike.

I appreciate your suggestion, however the concern is more the punishments impending & the potential overlimit status than the fact I have been billed to the card itself.

I did send a message through Uber, however their customer service are not live therefore I am awaiting a response from them to assure this will not happen in future.

Under current law and Uber terms of service, the fact I linked the card allows them to bill it and be classed as made under the holder's authorization.

jonesMUFCforever

OP if Vanquis are willing to quadruple your limit your credit files must be improving so why not try the credit card finder to see if you qualify for another card?

T-G-C

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

OP if Vanquis are willing to quadruple your limit your credit files must be improving so why not try the credit card finder to see if you qualify for another card?

No mainstream companies will offer me their products at the moment and I’ve already subscribed to subprime.

I won’t have a quadrupled limit if their system puts me down as overlimit despite the mitigating circumstances and fast payment correction

If anything I’ll be back to square one, especially if / when they report the overlimit to the CRAs. I am introducing new measures to ensure this never happens again. Once in 8 months is enough for me.

A4445

Why not call and ask them if you can have the increase now instead of waiting and that should solve your issues!

T-G-C

A4445 wrote: »

Why not call and ask them if you can have the increase now instead of waiting and that should solve your issues!

Their approach is to send an email explaining the increase, with a date of around one month in advance for it to take effect.

It states in the email that the new credit limit cannot be applied before 7th April and should I go overlimit or miss this month’s payment, the increase will not be granted.

In other words, a new limit has been proposed but I could still lose it before 7th - and it’s 50/50 for me right now.

As Vanquis state that payments made before 5:30 PM are applied the same day, I am hoping that the FP is applied before the Uber transaction, even if not visually shown, which would mean the account doesn’t go into OL mode.

T-G-C

UPDATE:

Vanquis agreed to amend my current balance to reflect the payment I made through Faster Payments, as they can see it as unprocessed on the system. The agent advised this was a "one-time courtesy" adjustment to my account. I am now solely "responsible" for any similar occurrence in the future.

I made about £11 for free on my account now, unless they remove the funds I sent once it clears on Monday, but he never mentioned that he would do so. The amount was registered as a care credit so I am not sure.

Uber have responded with canned nonsense, therefore I have removed the credit card, as clearly I cannot trust them not to do it again in future.

I am pleased with their efforts to stop me being penalized, however I am still annoyed at Uber for charging something to a card that I never asked them to.