Beware Sainsburys

SuperAllyB

callum9999 said:

SuperAllyB said:

HoolyNI said:

maisie_cat said:

We had the same thing with a Tesco card a few years ago, you need to clear the balance a full month ahead or something and we were stung for £7. We fell for the same "estimated interest" line but it only happens once.
Our Sainsburys 0% ended 4th March but the payment would have been 15th, triggering an interest charge, so we paid it off in early February and no interest was charged.
They all do it, but £90 is not that much for 2 years borrowing.

My deal was only for 12 months so £95 is steep enough. I have had maybe half a dozen balance transfer cards over the years and have never paid a penny in interest on any of them. My deal ended on the 12th March and the first card wasn't cleared until the due date of 9th April, the 2nd card I attempted several times to clear it early via online banking but was prevented from doing so, rather than wasting time in a phone queue I let it run thinking no interest would be charged until after the due date.

If the deal ended on 12th March then you should have cleared it by then rather than waiting for the following due date. Obviously you'll be charged interest from then on. You're nowhere near as smart as you think you are.

Several cards set the end date as the first statement after the transfer expiry date - it's what my Virgin cards do. If they've only had those cards before now then no, it's not "obvious" - perhaps you're also not as smart as you think you are?

The OP is clearly being ridiculous in their accusations, but I always wonder whether they'd keep up that tone if they were politely told why they are wrong instead of the usual smart-alec, aggressive responses you get on here that just make people feel like they're under attack and presumably trigger a "fight or flight" reaction.

Slightly off topic, but I feel like people should be forced to answer a short "quiz" about the financial product they're taking out before they get approved. I know the consensus from people on here is generally "f*ck the stupid/lazy, they deserve what they get", but that's obviously not the attitude of the financial regulators etc. It would help avoid so many problems you see on here where people misunderstand a fundamental, basic aspect of credit cards etc.

I've never (knowingly) had a card that works the way you say that Virgin do.  I've always kept an eye on end dates and cleared deals in time.  To me, it seems the obvious ways to do things.

According to the post I quoted, the OP was aware of the deal end date but didn't act on it.  If pointing that out makes me smart then I apologise.  What's your excuse?

Tigsteroonie

HoolyNI said:

On one of the cards I attempted four times to clear the card early rather than have the money sitting in my current account but kept running into "technical difficulties". 

May I just say, I have this problem with their website too - generally I find, if I get the error, I have to wait about 48 hours before trying again and being successful with making a payment. Don't know what it is about Sainsbury's card website, it just doesn't seen to want to continue after validating the card.

kaMelo

The expiry date of a 0% offer is wholly independent of payment due dates, payment taken dates or any other dates.
For example, a 0% balance transfer for 18 months will, not surprisingly, expire 18 months from the opening date of your credit card. The payment due date, or date DD's are taken may or may not tie in with this, it's dependent upon the company. Some offer you a choice when your DD will be collected and some don't.

Ultimately the information about when the 0% offer expires is not hidden, it's displayed prominently on page 3 of each and every statement produced as show below. 



This is not unique to Sainsbury's, each and every time I've made use of a 0% offer the expiry date is always displayed and is the date from which interest will be charged on the uncleared balance. 
As to payment problems, I assume you've had DD's set up to pay the monthly payments so why not just use these to make the payment from your own bank in time to avoid the interest. 

For fear of sounding like a know it all, all the problems mentioned in this thread are more self inflicted than a problem with the company and all easily avoidable with a little reading and some foresight.

HoolyNI

kaMelo said:

The expiry date of a 0% offer is wholly independent of payment due dates, payment taken dates or any other dates.
For example, a 0% balance transfer for 18 months will, not surprisingly, expire 18 months from the opening date of your credit card. The payment due date, or date DD's are taken may or may not tie in with this, it's dependent upon the company. Some offer you a choice when your DD will be collected and some don't.

Ultimately the information about when the 0% offer expires is not hidden, it's displayed prominently on page 3 of each and every statement produced as show below. 



This is not unique to Sainsbury's, each and every time I've made use of a 0% offer the expiry date is always displayed and is the date from which interest will be charged on the uncleared balance. 
As to payment problems, I assume you've had DD's set up to pay the monthly payments so why not just use these to make the payment from your own bank in time to avoid the interest. 

For fear of sounding like a know it all, all the problems mentioned in this thread are more self inflicted than a problem with the company and all easily avoidable with a little reading and some foresight.

That was part of the problem, Its the first time I've juggled credit cards using online statements, and only looked at the "estimated interest" to decide when to clear it.
I was wrong to single out Sainsbury's as shysters, there's none of them any different really. Hoping that the slow-witted mess up their expiry dates is written into their very T&C's...

phillw

All my 0% cards have had end dates that don't correspond to statement or payment due dates. Some will clearly tell you the date, others wait until the end date is approaching before they mention it (in which case I phone and find out what it is and stick it in my diary).

Another thing to watch out for is that you shouldn't put any new transactions on the card in the last month either, as you don't get the usual month interest free as you had an outstanding balance that hadn't been cleared (even though it was at 0%). If you do use the card in the days before the 0% ends then you have to pay it off before it ends (no matter what the last statement said), use the card after the 0% ends but before the next statement and you're probably going to be charged interest.

You can sometimes talk your way out of interest if you phone up and ask why you got charged interest, you need to be polite and get them on your side though. It can also help to offer to setup a direct debit for the full amount each month.

GeordieGeorge

HoolyNI said:

Hello all, 
I had a couple of credit cards from these shysters to manage balance transfers and cleared them both on the 12th statement within the 12 month deal or so I thought. Turns out they charge interest from the date the account was set up but neglect to point that out on the statement, so I've ended up being stung for interest charges of £48 & £47 respectively. On one of the cards I attempted four times to clear the card early rather than have the money sitting in my current account but kept running into "technical difficulties". I can see why now but thought nothing of it at the time.
Avoid.

If you struggle to understand the terms and conditions, how interest is charged etc, is there someone who may be willing to help you?

Pretty much every credit card company works in the same way, so if you have any other cards you may have the same issue.

HoolyNI

Just a little update. Have been in contact with Sainsbury's regarding my attempted payments via the app and online and surprisingly enough they have no record of the attempted payments and wont budge on the interest charge.
Have definitely cleared both cards now and it will be a cold day in hell before I knowingly spend 2d in Sainsbury's again.
Thanks to those of you who offered practical advice.

eskbanker

HoolyNI said:

it will be a cold day in hell before I knowingly spend 2d in Sainsbury's again.

It's already been over fifty years since you could do that

callum9999

SuperAllyB said:

callum9999 said:

SuperAllyB said:

HoolyNI said:

maisie_cat said:

We had the same thing with a Tesco card a few years ago, you need to clear the balance a full month ahead or something and we were stung for £7. We fell for the same "estimated interest" line but it only happens once.
Our Sainsburys 0% ended 4th March but the payment would have been 15th, triggering an interest charge, so we paid it off in early February and no interest was charged.
They all do it, but £90 is not that much for 2 years borrowing.

My deal was only for 12 months so £95 is steep enough. I have had maybe half a dozen balance transfer cards over the years and have never paid a penny in interest on any of them. My deal ended on the 12th March and the first card wasn't cleared until the due date of 9th April, the 2nd card I attempted several times to clear it early via online banking but was prevented from doing so, rather than wasting time in a phone queue I let it run thinking no interest would be charged until after the due date.

If the deal ended on 12th March then you should have cleared it by then rather than waiting for the following due date. Obviously you'll be charged interest from then on. You're nowhere near as smart as you think you are.

Several cards set the end date as the first statement after the transfer expiry date - it's what my Virgin cards do. If they've only had those cards before now then no, it's not "obvious" - perhaps you're also not as smart as you think you are?

The OP is clearly being ridiculous in their accusations, but I always wonder whether they'd keep up that tone if they were politely told why they are wrong instead of the usual smart-alec, aggressive responses you get on here that just make people feel like they're under attack and presumably trigger a "fight or flight" reaction.

Slightly off topic, but I feel like people should be forced to answer a short "quiz" about the financial product they're taking out before they get approved. I know the consensus from people on here is generally "f*ck the stupid/lazy, they deserve what they get", but that's obviously not the attitude of the financial regulators etc. It would help avoid so many problems you see on here where people misunderstand a fundamental, basic aspect of credit cards etc.

I've never (knowingly) had a card that works the way you say that Virgin do.  I've always kept an eye on end dates and cleared deals in time.  To me, it seems the obvious ways to do things.

According to the post I quoted, the OP was aware of the deal end date but didn't act on it.  If pointing that out makes me smart then I apologise.  What's your excuse?

I was simply pointing out the irony in your flippant "perhaps you aren't as smart as you think you are" comment when you yourself were saying something wrong...

What's my excuse for what exactly?

Scrounger

HoolyNI said:

Just a little update. Have been in contact with Sainsbury's regarding my attempted payments via the app and online and surprisingly enough they have no record of the attempted payments and wont budge on the interest charge.

So, to summarise:

1. you tried to make payment several times but their online system kept crashing
2. the estimated interest on their previous statement was wildly inaccurate and hence misleading
3. this has caused you much stress and anxiety

Why not raise a Complaint?  (go via online banking, messages)

I would keep it brief, mention the above points and request a refund of the interest charges plus £50 goodwill.

Bear in mind, If you decide to escalate to FOS it will cost them up to £750 so it is much cheaper for them to resolve in-house. 

Scrounger