Sainsbury's Credit Card: Balance transfers. TLDR You will get the worst rate. Avoid!

SimonsPlace

I have just applied for, and got, a Sainsbury's credit card. I have an immaculate credit rating but I still got the worst rate. Moreover the way this has been done leaves a bad taste. It seems like sharp practice to me. Sainsbury's offers three cards with balance transfers for 29, 26 and 18 months. These have associated charges starting at 3% for the 29 month card and going down to 0% for the shortest time period. I applied for the 26 month card with a rate of 1%. I was accepted, but with a period of 18 months only. At this point my assumption is I will pay the lower rate (so 0% to 0.5%), however I cannot find this anywhere on the documentation. After much searching, I find in the documents the rate is variable and I must call Sainsbury's bank to find the rate. Do they give their number? They do not. After searching the Web I find a number to call and find out I am paying 1% for 18 months. They say I will not get the 18 month/ 0% as that is a different card. I can cancel the application, but that will impact my credit rating. If this is not sharp practice, why do they make it so hard to find out what rate you are paying? Once you find out the (poor) rate you are committed. If you do not take the card you damage your credit rating. AVOID SAINSBURY'S CREDIT CARDS. 

[Deleted User]

Your immaculate credit rating has no bearing on the rates you're offered for credit,  That's down to a lender's assessment of your risk.

There is also no damage in not accepting the card. So if you don't want, don't have it. But you did in fact get the best rate for the card you applied for.

y3sitsm3

You applied for a card with "up to" 29 months and a 1% fee.  You got a card with the same fee you applied for and 18 months (which qualifies as "up to" 29 months.)  I'm not sure how this is sharp practice.

Sainsbury's are right, the different "up to" rates are different cards, you made an incorrect assumption that you being offered a different rate meant you were being offered a different card.

Ebe_Scrooge

Strange that.  A couple of years back I applied for a Sainsbury's card for a BT.  Got accepted straight away with the longest advertised period, 0% APR and zero fee.  And a £15K limit to begin with.  I guess that my credit rating must be better than immaculate :-)

OP, your credit rating, as dished out by the CRAs, is meaningless tosh.  Clearly, you do not have a "perfect" rating in Sainsbury's eyes.  And I'd be mightily surprised if the precise T&Cs, including the APR you'd been allocated, were not clearly stated on the offer letter which you would need to sign.

It's not sharp practice at all.  Standard industry practice.  Only after they've run your data through their systems will they decide how much and at what rate they will lend you.

WillPS

I do find this talk of 'immaculate credit records' fascinating, as if there is a level after which you can just have any offer/limit/rate available.

Smacks of unwarranted self importance.

onlyfoolsandparking

I wouldn't call 18 months at 0% interest with a 1% fee the worst rate, in fact in current climate it's a pretty decent deal.

FWIW I applied for the Sainsburys card quite recently and was given 26 months at 0% with the 1% BT fee but even if I had been offered 'only' 18 months I could have made that timescale work. You don't like the deal, don't take it.

MalMonroe

I applied for a Saino's card for a BT a couple of years ago and was accepted for 18 months - even though my financial status was just starting to recover at that stage. In other words, my credit score was pathetic - but as others have said that means nothing as nobody else can see it.

But you are asking us to boycott Sainsbury's bank and according to the forum rules, that's not allowed, viz -

"We appreciate emotions can run high should you experience poor service from companies, but we cannot accept active calls to boycott organisations as we are unable to verify the service you received."

I also think the information on Sainsbury's website is very clear -

https://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/credit-cards

All with disclaimers such as 'depending on your individual circumstances' and 'The charge will depend on your current offer thereafter'.

Alex9384

So if I decide to apply for this one, it says a transfer fee 0% or 0.5%. It definitely will be one of those, right?
Only months are "up to" so it can be less than 18 months.

jay1804

Alex9384 said:

So if I decide to apply for this one, it says a transfer fee 0% or 0.5%. It definitely will be one of those, right?
Only months are "up to" so it can be less than 18 months.

Yes, fee will be 0%b or 0.5% but BT period will be 18 or 12 months.

https://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/credit-cards/summary-box/cca-summary-box-lowfee18

born_again

SimonsPlace said:

I have just applied for, and got, a Sainsbury's credit card. I have an immaculate credit rating but I still got the worst rate. Moreover the way this has been done leaves a bad taste. It seems like sharp practice to me. Sainsbury's offers three cards with balance transfers for 29, 26 and 18 months. These have associated charges starting at 3% for the 29 month card and going down to 0% for the shortest time period. I applied for the 26 month card with a rate of 1%. I was accepted, but with a period of 18 months only. At this point my assumption is I will pay the lower rate (so 0% to 0.5%), however I cannot find this anywhere on the documentation. After much searching, I find in the documents the rate is variable and I must call Sainsbury's bank to find the rate. Do they give their number? They do not. After searching the Web I find a number to call and find out I am paying 1% for 18 months. They say I will not get the 18 month/ 0% as that is a different card. I can cancel the application, but that will impact my credit rating. If this is not sharp practice, why do they make it so hard to find out what rate you are paying? Once you find out the (poor) rate you are committed. If you do not take the card you damage your credit rating. AVOID SAINSBURY'S CREDIT CARDS. 

Yes, but how many other credit cards do you have & what is your debt in income ratio?

cymruchris

Alex9384 said:

So if I decide to apply for this one, it says a transfer fee 0% or 0.5%. It definitely will be one of those, right?
Only months are "up to" so it can be less than 18 months.

No you won't 'definitely' get it. It depends on your risk profile in the bank's eyes. This is one of several products they offer - and it might be the one you want - but there's no guarantee you'll get that exact deal. You may (or may not) qualify for it - and if you don't they'll likely offer you a similar product more matched to your circumstances from their point of view.