Virgin Money failed to close account on request

Lunaloe

At the beginning of April, I paid off my Virgin credit card so that I could then apply for a better 0% interest credit card and so I could also have a settled payment within my credit report to help improve my score.

I phoned Virgin on 10th April and I was told over the phone that the account had been cleared and that I would receive my closure documents through the post (I received my final statement last week). After being accepted for my new credit card, I have come to find out that Virgin never cancelled my card, it is still active as it appeared on my Experian credit report. Following this, I rang Virgin for them to inform me that the assistant on the phone had failed to properly cancel my account and that they will ring me back by the end of the day as they have escalated the situation. Since cancelling my card, an Amazon prime payment has been taken out of my 'closed' account on April 27th. Luckily Amazon are refunding this as it was an error, however, it will take up to 7 days for them to refund me and so Virgin can't cancel my account before then as my balance is no longer on zero.

I have 2 questions following this:
1. Could having 2 active credit cards affect my credit score at all?
2. Should I expect to receive any form of compensation from Virgin for not fulfilling a request even though I was informed that it had been done? What sort of request would make this situation better?

BoGoF

1. Maybe, but bearing in mind your credit score is meaningless then largely irrelevant.

2. No

With regards the Amazon payment, if this was originally done as Continuous Payment Authority it would have still been paid from the closed account.

stevenhp1987

Lunaloe wrote: »

1. Could having 2 active credit cards affect my credit score at all?

Having two credit cards, using both and paying them off in full, will look better than using just one (not open long) active and one closed.

Why do you want to close the first card? Having a card open for a long time is also a good factor and closing your first card, if anything, will hinder your credit history.

Lunaloe wrote: »

2. Should I expect to receive any form of compensation from Virgin for not fulfilling a request even though I was informed that it had been done? What sort of request would make this situation better?

No.

Even if the account was closed, it can take a month or two to appear on your credit reports.

NCC-1701

Experian is as far as I know updated on a monthly basis not instantly. No to both questions.

Lunaloe

It was updated yesterday. Virgin have already told me that they failed to cancel the card.

Lunaloe

Having two credit cards, using both and paying them off in full, will look better than using just one (not open long) active and one closed.

Why do you want to close the first card? Having a card open for a long time is also a good factor and closing your first card, if anything, will hinder your credit history.

Because i was being charged an high amount of interest on the virgin credit card which I didnt want to pay when I could get a 0% card.

BoGoF

Lunaloe wrote: »

It was updated yesterday. Virgin have already told me that they failed to cancel the card.

And you have been given the answers to your questions....so your point is?

eskbanker

Lunaloe wrote: »

At the beginning of April, I paid off my Virgin credit card

Lunaloe wrote: »

i was being charged an high amount of interest on the virgin credit card which I didnt want to pay when I could get a 0% card.

Is there perhaps a trailing interest issue at play here? If the balance you paid off a month ago had been incurring interest then you'd still owe a residual payment to cover interest arising from the period between March statement generation and your early April payment - for a credit card account to be properly zeroed it needs to be paid in full for two consecutive statement periods. Was a statement issued in April, after your payment of what had been on March's statement, or did you make an extra payment over and above what was on your March statement?

jonesMUFCforever

OP you do understand that even if they closed the account as per your instructions then the CPA to Amazon would have meant they would have reopened the account?
Please make sure that you have not got anymore CPA's such as motor insurance etc.

maxximus75

Keep both accounts open and active as this will have a positive effect on your credit history.

dresdendave

Lunaloe wrote: »

Having two credit cards, using both and paying them off in full, will look better than using just one (not open long) active and one closed.

Why do you want to close the first card? Having a card open for a long time is also a good factor and closing your first card, if anything, will hinder your credit history.

Because i was being charged an high amount of interest on the virgin credit card which I didnt want to pay when I could get a 0% card.

Just make a nominal purchase on the card each month with a pay in full DD set up and it would help build a positive credit history, no interest to pay, regardless of the APR.