Sainsburys CC changed 0% interest mid way

max635

Hi,

I signed up to a Sainsburys early 2018 with a 0% interest free period until October 2020. This was confirmed and appeared on statements. Less than a week ago i received an e-mail to say my 0% interest rate is due to end in August of this year and will revert to 29%. I'm ever so confused as i never received correspondence in the first instance to say it had changed to from October 2020 to August 2019.

The account has been setup to make the minimum payment via direct debit since the beginning. As such I've never missed a payment nor made a payment late, nor have i ever gone over the limit.

In March of this year, i wanted to clear the balance, so called up Sainsburys bank and enquired that if i were to pay the balance off, would it affect my promotional rate or term in anyway. I was advised it wouldn't and proceeded to pay the balance of £8k off.

I then noted that the account was in credit as despite me paying off the balance, the direct debit for the minimum payment circa £180 was still taken - this i understand happens. I duly called up Sainsburys bank and enquired if this affects my promo rate/term and they said no and confirmed that it can either be refunded to the original bank account or used on future spends. I decided to use it for future spends.

I've since checked my statements and it seems after paying off the balance in March, the promo rate was not mentioned on my statements for 2 months and only on June's statement does it show the term has changed to August.

I'm truly perplexed as even when i phoned up Sainsburys bank a few days ago, they said the can see the account has been operated correctly and can't understand why the term has been reduced where there have been no breaches.

In June i spent around £5000 and my concern now is, based on this new email advising me the rate is changing, i may need to pay off £5000 with pretty much 2 weeks notice, else have a near 30% interest rate applied.

Has this happened to anyone else?
I intentionally called them for confirmation before paying off and when in credit and both times was advised it wouldn't affect the rate or term. Do they record phone calls? I hope so.

Any advise / suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks

[Deleted User]

If you believe a mistake has been made, escalate a complaint.

But try to check the details of the original offer if you can. Some offers have a spend window which is less than the 0% window, so it's possible that your new spend has gone into a separate promo bucket, with a different end date.

max635 wrote: »

Do they record phone calls? I hope so.

As a rule, no. Lenders record a handful for training and audit purposes, but they're not generally kept for any length of time.

Sncjw

Have you got copy of the stammers from when you first opened the account. It will show the date of 0% ending on there.

Sncjw

Have you had any late payments or missed minimum payments