Post Office Money Card / BOI - Large Transactions - BEWARE

Big_Al_1973

OK - for those looking for a credit card with a long IFC period just beware of using PO Money - who's cards often turn up on the best buy lists - their customer service is lousy.

Wife and I decided on a new kitchen (bought from Magnet who were very good) and decided to pay for the units using a couple of IFC cards - one HSBC, one PO Money.

Both cards turned up and activated - interestingly with PO Money you actually have to speak with somebody to get it activated, so I took the opportunity to check a large transaction would be no problem - was assured no problem.

A couple of days later (Saturday morning) head to Magnet to pay - HSBC card all went through with PIN no problem. PO Money card declined..... try again..... declined.

Phone PO Money to be told a block had been put on that transaction as they though it was fraudulent.... OK, well I'm on the phone now, can we sort this? Not until Monday as the fraud team only work Mon - Fri 9-5........ So a fundamental support service doesn't work during the busiest times of the week in retail......

Following a couple of phone calls the following week it all got sorted - Magnet were very understanding - but unhappy with the service and embarrassment PO Money had caused me I wrote to them..... and got a reply from a "Tom Collins" who is an "Investigator" in their "Customer Care Team". The gist of his reply was a bog-standard "it's in the T&Cs" type of response.

Not particularly happy with this I re-wrote, pointing out all the salient facts again and the inconvenience that I'd been put to in resolving - a further letter ensued with a derisory £ 15 compensation and a bog-standard rehash of "it's in the T&Cs" again.

Having spoken with Mr Collins it was clear that PO Money really don't give a damn that their service is poor, that they cannot support customers on the busiest days of the retail week.


Had the sale been from an unknown website at 2am on a Sunday, I'd have accepted that it couldn't be resolved then. But this was a sale from a reputable retailer, local to my home address, within the credit limit, PIN correctly entered during normal retail trading hours.


Post Office Money / BOI are a bunch of cowboys.

Moral of the story. If you want a kitchen - Magnet are great. If you want an IFC card use HSBC, Virgin or anyone other than PO Money.

agrinnall

It's really not news to anyone who frequents this board.

[Deleted User]

I think "Tom Collins" who is an "Investigator" in their "Customer Care Team" is real.. and also £15 compensation is more than generous as you're weren't really entitled to any compo.

Do you work for Magnet by any chance?

mab3000

Big_Al_1973 wrote: »

OK - for those looking for a credit card with a long IFC period just beware of using PO Money - who's cards often turn up on the best buy lists - their customer service is lousy.

Wife and I decided on a new kitchen (bought from Magnet who were very good) and decided to pay for the units using a couple of IFC cards - one HSBC, one PO Money.

Both cards turned up and activated - interestingly with PO Money you actually have to speak with somebody to get it activated, so I took the opportunity to check a large transaction would be no problem - was assured no problem.

A couple of days later (Saturday morning) head to Magnet to pay - HSBC card all went through with PIN no problem. PO Money card declined..... try again..... declined.

Phone PO Money to be told a block had been put on that transaction as they though it was fraudulent.... OK, well I'm on the phone now, can we sort this? Not until Monday as the fraud team only work Mon - Fri 9-5........ So a fundamental support service doesn't work during the busiest times of the week in retail......

Following a couple of phone calls the following week it all got sorted - Magnet were very understanding - but unhappy with the service and embarrassment PO Money had caused me I wrote to them..... and got a reply from a "Tom Collins" who is an "Investigator" in their "Customer Care Team". The gist of his reply was a bog-standard "it's in the T&Cs" type of response.

Not particularly happy with this I re-wrote, pointing out all the salient facts again and the inconvenience that I'd been put to in resolving - a further letter ensued with a derisory £ 15 compensation and a bog-standard rehash of "it's in the T&Cs" again.

Having spoken with Mr Collins it was clear that PO Money really don't give a damn that their service is poor, that they cannot support customers on the busiest days of the retail week.


Had the sale been from an unknown website at 2am on a Sunday, I'd have accepted that it couldn't be resolved then. But this was a sale from a reputable retailer, local to my home address, within the credit limit, PIN correctly entered during normal retail trading hours.


Post Office Money / BOI are a bunch of cowboys.

Moral of the story. If you want a kitchen - Magnet are great. If you want an IFC card use HSBC, Virgin or anyone other than PO Money.

Out of interest, how long did it take the Post Office to deal with your complaint?

It took them the full 8 weeks to "investigate" my complaint before giving me a response that just quoted terms and conditions that did not answer the questions related to my complaint. I have since re written a letter to them to give them the opportunity to rectify this and awaiting a response, but I'm not sure how long to give them before I just take my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman instead, as its been a good few weeks now.

Big_Al_1973

Nope - no connection with Magnet beyond buying a new kitchen from them.

Have never worked for them, don't know anyone who does.

So it's personal experience about their staff, the quality of the design and the help they offered when we had a problem with one item. The builder we used - who has used Howdens extensively in the past - told me he was really impressed with Magnet both in terms of the quality of the products and the fact they sorted the one issue we had with no argument, no quibbling.

Big_Al_1973

Probably 4 weeks to reply first time. I e-mailed a response, didn't hear anything until this week - which I reckon was another 4 weeks.

I've used several Credit Card companies over the last couple of years - the only one I've was completely unimpressed with before this was Amex - who's card I no longer have.

Barclaycard have generally been good, Tesco fine, Virgin Money fine, HSBC no prob.

Halifax had a billing problem a couple of months back which they finally sorted after pestering and provided a credit on the account for.