Barclaycard Platinum 0% purchase rate not given despite successful application

cjmac0909

Hello,

I am new to these forums so please forgive me if this is not the right place to post this.

I recently used the credit card comparison tool on the website as well as the eligibility calculator and applied for a Barclaycard Platinum card with 0% on purchases for 24 months and 0% on balance transfers for 22 months. I was successful in the application and recently received my card. 

However, upon registering my card, it appears that I am only being offered the 0% on the balance transfers for 22 months and I have not received the 0% on purchases. 

I have just spent over an hour on the phone to Barclaycard, just to be told that even though my application was successful, I still may not receive the 0% on purchases and it appears that this has been the case. 

Forgive me if I am incorrect, but surely this is false advertising? I specifically only applied for this card because I was 100% pre-approved for it and wanted to use it for the 0% purchase promotion. If I wanted a balance transfer card, I would have applied for one of their balance transfer cards that offer a longer promotional period. 

Can anyone explain if Barclaycard are allowed to do this and withdraw the 0% purchase rate?

I received my card on Saturday 19th March and activated it today (22nd March). Also wondering if I have not received the 0% rate that I wanted the card for, is there any opening period of 14/15 days that I can cancel the card within so it doesn't affect my credit score? 

Many thanks.

[Deleted User]

Yes, they're allowed to do it, if you don't meet the criteria. It's not false advertising. 

You can withdraw from the agreement within 14 days. It'll still affect your credit score but that doesn't matter as no one but you will ever know. All that will show on your files is a search.

Ebe_Scrooge

Similar questions get asked time and again on this forum.  The advertising refers to "representative" rates and offers (admittedly this fact is usually hidden away in the small print, but it always pays to read the small print when dealing with any financial product).  What you as an individual will be offered will not be known until your application is made and they've churned your data through their systems.

cjmac0909

I am still confused as to why I was 100% pre-approved and then received an email stating that my application was successful, then I received an offer totally different to what I applied for. 

Or is that the small print doing its thing again?

Ta

cx6

0% balance transfer is still not to bad - can you make use of that and use a different card for purchases?

[Deleted User]

cjmac0909 said:

I am still confused as to why I was 100% pre-approved and then received an email stating that my application was successful, then I received an offer totally different to what I applied for. 

You were 100% approved for the card, which you got.

Rate and offers are subject to risk and acceptance.

cjmac0909

cx6 said:

0% balance transfer is still not to bad - can you make use of that and use a different card for purchases?

I was about to ask this. I assume the answer is yes? I have an old Halifax card that I've not used for years, but the account is still open. I guess I could make the purchase on this and move it to the balance transfer?

Just slightly annoying as it's 2 months less than the purchase period would have been, plus I'll have to pay a balance transfer fee.

Ebe_Scrooge

cjmac0909 said:

cx6 said:

0% balance transfer is still not to bad - can you make use of that and use a different card for purchases?

I was about to ask this. I assume the answer is yes? I have an old Halifax card that I've not used for years, but the account is still open. I guess I could make the purchase on this and move it to the balance transfer?

Just slightly annoying as it's 2 months less than the purchase period would have been, plus I'll have to pay a balance transfer fee.

Yes, there's no reason you can't do this - though, as you rightly point out, you'll need to factor in the BT fee.

The alternative would be to delay the purchase until you've saved up the money, or else buy it from savings you already have.  Whilst the availability of interest-free credit is certainly attractive, it would be foolish to let that tempt you into buying something you can't really afford.  This is not meant to be "preaching", merely the voice of caution :-)

cx6

yes buy using the old halifax and BT to the new card would work !

[Deleted User]

cjmac0909 said:

I am still confused as to why I was 100% pre-approved and then received an email stating that my application was successful, then I received an offer totally different to what I applied for. 

Or is that the small print doing its thing again?

Ta

100% pre-approved on this site is different to 100% pre-approved on Barclays. Sites like this do their best but they are driven by a commission for a successful referral, and do not have access to Barclay's systems, so 100% on here may be 50% in reality (extreme but you get the idea)

Ebe_Scrooge

cjmac0909 said:

I am still confused as to why I was 100% pre-approved and then received an email stating that my application was successful, then I received an offer totally different to what I applied for. 

Or is that the small print doing its thing again?

Ta

Yup, it's the small print.  You were 100% pre-approved, and you were given a credit card.  QED.

@Deleted_User has pretty much hit the nail on the head, though.  The thing with any credit card - or indeed, credit of any kind - is that they need to see your credit file before they can make a final decision.  The comparison sites will know the general things that lenders are looking for, and can give you a reasonable indication of your likely success rate.  But the minutia of each lender's acceptance criteria are confidential and commercially sensitive.  It's not until they've accessed your credit history data and run it through their algorithms that they'll make the final decision on whether to lend to you, how much, and at what rate.

The advertising is no different to an advert for shampoo claiming that it'll make your hair more shiny.  If you look at the small print, it'll say "74% of 136 people agree" or some-such.  So for 26% of people it was rubbish, and didn't work.

(My personal favourite that I see on TV from time to time, for an anti-dandruff shampoo - "removes up to 100% of visible dandruff".  Well water does that, as indeed does not washing your hair at all.  That'll remove zero % of dandruff - which falls in the category of "up to 100%" lol.  It's meaningless, statistically speaking, but they're not actually making any false claims.).