Virgin took away my 0%!!!!

shoeaddict

Hi there

The same thing happened to me with Virgin... well, sort of. I thought I had made a payment online in time, but it arrived at my c/c a day late.

The first time I noticed was when I checked my acc - ironically to check the payment had gone through - and I noticed that they had charged me a late charge (fair enough!) and also reinstated the interest rate.

I called them up, and explained what had happened and, of course, they didn't want to know.

I then asked the guy if he thought that charging me a late fee AND reinstating the interest rate was fair for having just one payment at one day late? He said that he would see if he could get the 0% reinstated - I told him that, if not, I would be transferring my balance elsewhere.

On the next statement I see that my 0% has been reinstated, so it's probably worth you giving them a call to explain what happened.

Please note, I am not condoning continuing late payments, or saying that those who continue to pay late/miss payments should not expect consequences, but for an honest - and one off - mistake I think a little leniancy could be in order.

Hope this helps!

taless

Hi Kcmatt79, you mentioned that you have 4 days before the payment due date. Was it 4 working days, or 4 days, including working & non-working days? And was it 4 more working days till the payment due date, not including the day you read your statement?

If it's 4 more working days till the due date, and the back of your statement suggests that 4 working days is sufficient for online bank transfers to reach your Virgin account, I believe you could argue that they have not processed the payment on time. On my LTSB credit agreement it says there "You must make all payments on time. You won't break this term if a payment is late because we've failed t process it as soon as we get it"

OCDOCD

Moggles wrote: »

Virgin has excellent online services. Why don't you register? Then there's no need to rely on paper statements. Payment is faster too. Provided that you pay by 5.00pm on a working day, it's all done and dusted the next day

Fingers crossed you get your 0% restored.

That's changing in the new year too, says that new T&Cs mean you must allow 3 days for online payments.

shoeaddict

I always pay my Virgin c/c bill online... and it never appears until at least 3 days later. I wonder what I'm doing wrong...!

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by shoeaddict
I always pay my Virgin c/c bill online... and it never appears until at least 3 days later. I wonder what I'm doing wrong...!

Provided that you pay via the Virgin website using your debit card by 5.00pm on a working day, payment reaches your account the following day. It appears on your statement the day after that

Sleepy_2

I didnt have a Virgin Card, but a Ryanair card which is also from the MBNA stable.

My experience was that I went a couple of pound over my limit. I lost my 0% when the APR went to 15% - I phoned and explained that this was my first mistake in a few years. Next month APR jumped to 29%. :eek: .

I found another card and when I went to transfer the balance and close the card I was told by MBNA Customer Retention that had I spoken to them, they would have removed the "fine" and had the 0% reinstated.

Squirrel29

I had made a payment on time but had got in a muddle and paid £5 under the minimum payment, therefore they revoked my 0% interest. I rang to apologise profusely and pointed out it was the first time I had done this. They reinstated my 0% and I set up a direct debit. I think it helps if you are pleasant to the CS person it helps.

kcmatt79

Thank you for all your replies.

The lady from Virgin rang me back (due to their systems being down). She was really lovely and said they would re-instate my 0% as a goodwill gesture, and reimburse the interest I was charged. I'm well chuffed. I wonder whether it was because I did as someone else suggested, put my hands up and said it was an honest mistake and that if they looked back at my record, I normally paid early, if anything.

Anyway, that's one HUGE weight off my mind. Thanks for the support - you guys are great!! :beer:

Clariman

kcmatt79 wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies.

The lady from Virgin rang me back (due to their systems being down). She was really lovely and said they would re-instate my 0% as a goodwill gesture, and reimburse the interest I was charged. I'm well chuffed. I wonder whether it was because I did as someone else suggested, put my hands up and said it was an honest mistake and that if they looked back at my record, I normally paid early, if anything.

That's great news. Yes, I am sure how you approach them makes a difference. When a card company has legitimately charged you for something (annoying though it is!), it is generally better to acknowledge that it was your fault but explain it as an oversight and ask to do you a favour by fixing it.

A word of warning. An "act of goodwill" is kind of code for "we'll let you away with it once - even though we don't have to - but if you do it again, we'll not be so kind!"


Clariman

heppy23

Just a suggestion (works for me as I get paid weekly) - this is what I do instead of a monthly DD to pay the minimum amount.

Work out the minimum payment (in advance if you can) then pay that. Then take that figure and divide it by four. Round the new figure up to the nearest £5 or 10

(so say your minimum was £48 - that would be £12 - round that up to £15 or £20).

Pay that by standing order weekly. This will mean you always pay at least the minimum (meaning you keep within the rules for 0% offers) and it also means you nibble away at the balance.

All my 0% cards are on this. It keeps them all happy and lets me pay off a bigger chunk to whichever one is near to the end of the offer.