Argos card paid 2 days late.... credit score dropped!

mrsmoneypenny90

Hello, 

hoping someone might be able to put my mind at ease. I have an Argos card which I took out to pay for a large appliance on 0% over 6 months. Never missed a payment before but stupidly last month I took my eye off the ball and suddenly remembered I had not paid my bill so paid it 2 days late. 

I phoned Argos customer service, who were awful by the way, not understanding at all, and although they refunded the £12 late fee they said there is nothing they can do with regards to the missed payment mark on my credit file.

i appreciate this is my fault and to stop it happening again I have set up a direct debit. 

I am just really upset and worried because I have never ever missed a payment on any credit account before and I am working really hard to pay off debts and save up a house deposit with a view to buying my first home in 12-18 months. Has this silly mistake now scuppered my chances of getting a mortgage? 

Any help or similar stories of success appreciated 

AnotherJoe

No it wont scupper you chances, one late payment, it was dumb though,  why on earth didnt you set up a DD in the first place?Have you done it for your other cards now?

And you say Argos were "awful" but they waived the £12 fee so in what way were they awful? You DID miss a payment. And no doubt this is in many cases the sign of someone getting into financial trouble i'm sure they hear sob stories like this every day,

mrsmoneypenny90

Thanks @AnotherJoe
I referred to Argos as being awful just because the First advisor I spoke to was really rude and dismissive and say there is no way they could refund the late fee, it was a “computer says no” moment. But I asked to speak to the complaints team and they instantly said they could refund the fee but couldn’t do anything with the credit report because as you have quite rightly pointed out it was my own stupid fault. But hey, we are all human and not robots. Lesson learnt though 

yksi

It might not even report. I've missed a payment on a credit card (I set the DD too late and didn't realise I would need to make a manual payment). It never showed up in my credit reports, probably due to the fact that on the day of the month they report, everything was up to date. Odds are good that it will be the same for you.

mrsmoneypenny90

@yksi unfortunately not, I’ve checked my report and it is on there as a missed payment 🥺 hoping that next month when they will see the account is back up to date things will look better

Ebe_Scrooge

The late payment marker cannot be removed, it's a true reflection of the facts.  However, one late payment in an otherwise solid credit history will make just the teensiest bit of difference - if any - to your chances of securing future credit.  If you have lots of late payments, that would be a different matter.

Be grateful that Argos refunded the late payment fee - they were under no obligation to do so.

And ignore your credit score - it's neither seen nor used by any lender.  They look purely at the data contained within your file.  They will see the one late payment, but as I said, it'll have close to zero impact for you if it's the only one.

D3xt3r5L4b

How were they not understanding? You missed the payment so were liable for the late payment fee. They have no right or grounds to remove or correct anything.

Pay no attention to the score drop - lenders don't see or care about them.

Ebe_Scrooge

One other thing to bear in mind.  If you miss a payment, most cards will immediately remove the 0% promotional rate and put you straight on to their standard APR.  If this is the case with your Argos card, you can phone them up and ask very nicely if they'd be prepared to reinstate the 0% rate.  You may get lucky, but remember that they are under no obligation to do so - whatever the rights and wrongs and whatever your personal feelings, end of the day you breached the T&Cs.

Yahoo_Mail

mrsmoneypenny90 said:

Thanks @AnotherJoe
I referred to Argos as being awful just because the First advisor I spoke to was really rude and dismissive and say there is no way they could refund the late fee, it was a “computer says no” moment. But I asked to speak to the complaints team and they instantly said they could refund the fee but couldn’t do anything with the credit report because as you have quite rightly pointed out it was my own stupid fault. But hey, we are all human and not robots. Lesson learnt though 

Maybe there was indeed no way that they could refund it?  Front line customer services have very little authority in most circumstances, in the case of fee refunds this will be largely to stop them refunding everyone and anyone to make their day a bit easier.

Probably worth bearing in mind in future when you think someone is being "rude and dismissive" just because they're not doing what you want them to do. Rarely is it because they don't want to, it's far easier to give the customer what they want than sit there arguing with them for 10, 15, 20+ minutes.  More often than not it's because they don't have the tools and/or the authority to do what is being asked of them.

mrsmoneypenny90

@Yahoo_Mail not really sure what input this gives ? But thanks for taking the time to share your views 

Yahoo_Mail

mrsmoneypenny90 said:

@Yahoo_Mail not really sure what input this gives ? But thanks for taking the time to share your views 

A bit of advice next time you want to go off at some poor sod on minimum wage who you think is being "unhelpful."  You might even get a better response if you understand that even though you think they can do anything you want them to, they probably can't and act accordingly.

Or you can ignore it if you want, up to you.