Virgin credit card misleading

Gandborne

I’ve got a credit card with Virgin. The credit limit is £5000. I’ve been using it to do some home improvements. When I was logging on to my account it was saying my available balance was fine. So I kept spending. When I got declined I went on my account again. It was still saying I was fine. So I called up. The lady on the phone said I had gone over my credit limit. But wouldn’t tell me how much for. She just said “I recommend you make payments ASAP”. So I got off the phone and worked it out. £1700 I went over my credit limit. How on earth did Virgin no decline my card sooner? How did they let me know this much over? I know it’s my fault for going over my credit limit. But the balance made me think I was ok. I’ve had to borrow money off different family members. But my balance online is still saying I’m ok to spend £1700. Outrage :mad:

[Deleted User]

It depends on their over limit policy and the types of transaction you were making.

Always rely on your own calculations and stay within your limit. £1700 is a huge overspend on a vmodest limit.

jimbo26

You should take responsibility for going over limit. Just spending and spending until declined is not a good way to manage finances.

Put it down to experience, and make sure you keep track of your spending.

I appreciate that taking personal responsibility isn't fashionable these days, but try to get into the habit and it will save you hassle in the long term.

PRAISETHESUN

Not all payments are immediately processed so there is always the potential to go over your limit inadvertently. I appreciate that your checked your balance online, but some lenders often state that charges can take up to 24-48 hrs to appear on your account - could this be the case with Virgin?

Gandborne

I understand that. But there are still transactions that haven’t added to the balance from the beginning of August. I really think it’s awful service and a very sly way of getting customers to over spend and loose 0% bonuses. A lesson learnt indeed

Willing2Learn

I agree, it is a harsh lesson. But that does not diminish your individual responsibility to spend money according to your budget. You should only spend on a credit card for stuff that is already in your monthly budget. Then you should pay off the card in full each month after receiving the statement. Spending more than your budget is not the fault of Virgin.

SnowTiger

Gandborne wrote: »

I understand that. But there are still transactions that haven’t added to the balance from the beginning of August. I really think it’s awful service and a very sly way of getting customers to over spend and loose 0% bonuses. A lesson learnt indeed

I'd guess the transactions haven't been added to your Virgin account yet because the merchant(s) hasn't/haven't passed details on to Virgin yet.

Allowing you to go £1,700 over your £5,000 limit is unusual. I think they usually allow an extra 5% or 10% extra spend before declining transactions.

This is probably, again, due to a merchant passing transaction details on to Virgin late.

What should Virgin do if your balance is, say, £4,500 and they're suddenly presented with a six week old transaction for £2,200 from a merchant?

BoGoF

Ever heard of a calculator......I'm sure your phone will have one.

Only person you should be outraged at is yourself. Couldn't you tell when you went online that some transactions hadn't came off.....those bits of paper you get at the checkout come in handy sometimes.

Novice_investor101

I have a virgin 0% card & although transactions don't show on my Balance immediately, they do show under the transaction summary as pending.

My NatWest cards do the same - instantly. Today I went & did some shopping, then scanned my contactless credit card to pay for the bus ride home. I sat down on the bus & logged into the mobile app to see how much I'd spent in total. Both shop bills & the bus fare were showing as pending, so a timescale of seconds! Incidentally, the balance is still zero, but the pending transactions are there to see.

Maybe look at that rather than the balance?

Ben8282

Gandborne wrote: »

I understand that. But there are still transactions that haven’t added to the balance from the beginning of August. I really think it’s awful service and a very sly way of getting customers to over spend and loose 0% bonuses. A lesson learnt indeed

I have always found Virgin service to be good and I don't really believe a word of what you are saying and think you are just having a rant against Virgin for some reason.
Regarding these transactions from August. If authorisations had been obtained and they were showing as pending then the value of the transactions would have been deducted from your available credit until they dropped off/ If they had not been authorised and were not showing as pending Virgin would know nothing about them. Either way, if they have not yet been billed Virgin would not be accusing you of exceeding your credit limit!
Also when you log on to your account it shows the actual available balance. It does not say fine'.
It is your responsibility to keep track of your spending. If you were near your limit and went over by a few pounds that could be understandable, but by £1700 ....

OliverJames85

sorry to say, but you only have yourself to blame. It is your responsibility to keep track of your spending...I would advise you to stay away from credit cards until you learn to keep track of your finances