Balance Transfer CON with John Lewis

cheers27

Okay - I have had a credit card with John Lewis (because of the Waitrose vouchers) for several years.  For the first time I accepted a 0% balance transfer for £1200 in January supposedly until 2023.  I then used my card for a retail purchase (a holiday) which I cleared in full by the agreed statement date.  I was charged interest on the next statement.  I thought perhaps I had made an error and left some retail balance.  I hadn't.  It transpires that because I have a balance transfer balance, this counts as a balance unpaid so this entitles John Lewis to charge me interest on anything that comes on or through my card until my 0% balance is cleared.  This is not my experience with previous balance transfers elsewhere, they are considered 2 independent amounts. So that if I clear my retail balance in full, I don't incur interest.  The representative said you should not mix a balance transfer with retail purchases.  In my experience other card companies do not charge interest on the entire balance including their 0%.  It makes the 0% a farce. What a con!  

molerat

The same as just about any credit card,  there are very few that keep spending and BTs separate, you obviously got lucky last time.  You only paid interest on the spend, not the BT amount. The mantra on here has always been "never mix spending and BT/MT on the same card".

[Deleted User]

cheers27 said:

 What a con!  

It's your misunderstanding, rather than a con. It's standard on most cards that you need to clear the balance in full to have interest waived. 

You'll find it detailed in the terms you agreed to.

cymruchris

I haven't used a balance transfer card as I've not needed to transfer a balance - but I am aware from multiple posts here that if you have a balance transferred - then don't use that card for anything else until the balance is cleared or the offer ended. Muddying it with purchases results in interest being charged. It appears that's how the majority of transfer cards work. As above you might have been lucky with a previous card in times gone by. 

penners324

You've paid before the statement was issued, therefore the payment goes to the BT debt. You needed to wait until after the statement was produced and then paid the purchases 

eskbanker

penners324 said:

You've paid before the statement was issued, therefore the payment goes to the BT debt. You needed to wait until after the statement was produced and then paid the purchases 

That doesn't look to be the case - OP did make an ambiguous reference:

cheers27 said:

I then used my card for a retail purchase (a holiday) which I cleared in full by the agreed statement date. 

but then clarified the end result, thereby implying that they meant 'statement payment date' rather than 'statement generation date':

cheers27 said:

I thought perhaps I had made an error and left some retail balance.  I hadn't.

Edi81

Not a con - standard with credit cards. Expensive lesson for you but you won’t mix transactions again.