MBNA gone bad on balance transfer offer!

Oli_Gee

jamesjustin said:

gwapenut said:

How did this show up, was the balance transfer option no longer available online, or did you click the button to go ahead, only to be told it was refused?
Asking as it's something I'd like to monitor myself .... I was hoping that having got back a button to press on the website would guarantee me acceptance, after a few months where they withdrew the original selling point of my credit card.

The offer remains on my app and on the website it's only after submitting the request and verifying it by telephone that an error page comes up (with no explanation whatsoever); this is what is so annoying is they haven't told me about any changes and they haven't actually withdrawn the offer - just I am no longer eligible for it. All madness! None of it makes any sense as I've got a pre-approval for another balance transfer card come up on my ClearScore today! 

I’ve exactly the same situation currently happening with me, very frustrating! 

Have plenty of time on my hands due to me being furloughed and having to shield, have undertaken lots of work on the house. 

Re-mortgage is up early next year so thought to use this time well and take advantage of what would seem a great 0% interest card on the balance transfer.  Used a third of the credit on a balance transfer upon application, continued to use old card for building materials Yesterday tried to transfer over to mbna, only to have the message “unable to complete” after the security phone call through the app. 

There was and would still be plenty of available balance on the mbna card. What a pain in the !!!!!!.

Justin, what steps did you take in raising the complaint ? Not sure I can bear another phone call or the 20 minutes or so in the queue!  

Was it via email, if so could you share it please?
I’ve no expectation, and my offer will expire by the 25th of July but need to make a noise about it. 

gwapenut

Oli_Gee said:

Justin, what steps did you take in raising the complaint ? Not sure I can bear another phone call or the 20 minutes or so in the queue!  

 

My own complaint was by phone. I was trying to get them to put my transfer through manually - the normal customer service helpline was no good, they said they were entitled to change terms and conditions without notifying me. This fired me up and I went for the complaints line, who turned out to be a very helpful super-service customer agent. She really tried her best, and was on the phone to her colleages (she was on hold for almost an hour too, no preferential treatment).

In the end she got hung up on, and that made her so angry that she raised a complaint on my behalf without me pushing.

So - to summarise my waffle - you could try phoning their complaints team. But it took 6 weeks for them to come back to me, so no good if time is of the essence. I did very well out of it in the end though, but again time was not of the essence so it was a stress free wait.

gwapenut

> Re-mortgage is up early next year so thought to use this time well and take advantage of what would seem a great 0% interest card on the balance transfer
Just bear in mind that as a condition of the remortgage next year, they may insist that you repay and credit card debt, whether the extra credit card debt pushes you close to your mortgage / debt limit or not. I've seen it in a few mortgage offers as an itemised entry in the customer-specific terms and conditions.

Oli_Gee

Thanks very much for your help and positive comments. 

CRISPIANNE3

We managed to swap our MBNA card with another MBNA card.   It enabled us to finance our kitchen and we got a 22 month deal.  However we do have the savings behind us to clear this debt. 

kaMelo

gwapenut said:

MBNA also let me down. I wanted to arrange a money transfer and they could no longer do it for me. It was nothing to do with the 30K I already have on credit cards, but some strange problem with their computer system.

They are not in a good shape since they were acquired by Lloyds.

Yes, the strange problem of "Computer says no" (because you have 30k already on credit cards)


Back on topic,  I know there will be an amount that can be used for balance transfers but this is usually much higher than 50%,j maybe 80-90% or something like that. There is also a timeframe within which to use balance transfers, usually 90 days but again these vary. I have never seen anything that limits how many transfers are allowed, as long as they keep within the timeframe and allowable balance.
The OP mentions a kitchen so I'm assuming it's a sizeable sum. Would this amount added to the total you already owe put you over the total amount allowed with balance transfers?   If it's not over the allowable amount and within the allowed timeframe and there is nothing in the t&c that say "we can make our mind up on a whim with balance transfers" then I don't see how they can refuse it.

A bit late now for the OP but you should have made the purchase on an interest free purchase card rather than relying on a balance transfer.

phillw

I would personally have thought they would offer balance transfer based on your existing debt, not so you can take out new debt.
Isn't that what 0% purchase cards are for?

MalMonroe

gwapenut said:

It's a shame that people can't discuss issues with credit card providers, or even post stunning stoozing opportunities, without preachy know-alls coming out with an incomplete picture of someone's personal finances and subsequently spouting a load of judgmental and potentially ill informed off topic "advice".

I so agree with you. Even though this forum says please be kind to others, I've noticed so many spiteful and sarcastic comments when people have been asking for advice. What makes them so superior? It's really becoming quite tedious on this forum seeing how some people sit in their ivory towers and think they can just belittle others. As if nobody ever made mistakes! Nothing wrong with having credit, most of us do and that's how lenders decide whether we are suitable candidates for them, too. I wish people would stop being so very judgemental. It's not necessary.

gwapenut

kaMelo said:

gwapenut said:

MBNA also let me down. I wanted to arrange a money transfer and they could no longer do it for me. It was nothing to do with the 30K I already have on credit cards, but some strange problem with their computer system.

They are not in a good shape since they were acquired by Lloyds.

Yes, the strange problem of "Computer says no" (because you have 30k already on credit cards)


Back on topic, 

It would only be off topic if it was because of my existing credit (which is fully offset by savings, although of course they would not know that). As I said at the time though, it was nothing to do with my existing credit, as confirmed in the discussion with my complaint handler.

My issue was caused by unresolvable computer problems, which is very much on topic with what I'm picking up in this thread as a likely root cause. These computer problems have started occurring since the acquisition by Lloyds. Problems which seem to be shared with their sister bank Halifax, judging by other threads in this forum.

Your other points are certainly valid. With hindsight a purchase credit card would have been  a "safer" option, but until recently I don't think there have been any(?) precedents of credit card providers reneging on agreed deals so quickly and there should have been no need to play it safe. Particularly if that meant losing the ability to pay off other cards, and perhaps earn a few extra reward points on the purchase before transferring the balance.

Lala69

They did the a similar thing to me in January this year: issued a BT offer then withdrew it again two weeks later, before the deadline and without telling me. Crucified my cashflow for the next six months, and when I queried it they had the audacity to blame my personal credit rating, which was, and remains, in the 990s and hadn’t changed at all during that fortnight. I put in a complaint which got rejected and I really can’t be a***d to pursue it. I suspect they might be struggling, plus their app and online facilities have recently suffered with multiple IT issues so I’m in the process of closing my accounts and taking my custom elsewhere.