Sainsburys offered me a no fee on balance transfers - Now charged a 2% fee

indierocker85

Hi there

I applied for a no fee balance transfer card at the beginning of the month with Sainrburys bank. The amount of months was likely to be variable based upon circumstances. In the end, the screen put to me a 0% on balance transfers for 21 months with a 0% balance transfer fee. I accepted, and proceeded with the application, and received my card. I made the transfer of £5665, safe in the knowledge there was no fee and I was at 0% until June 2024. I decided to install Sainsburys banking app today, and I see the balance is £5778.30 - I had been charged a 2% of £113.30. I tried to phone Sainsburys bank, and I was simply told I must have applied for the wrong card, and I must have applied for a "low transfer fee" not a "no transfer fee". I stated I was adamant I had applied and accepted it based on no fee, as it was recommended in Martins email. The lady was very unhelpful, and made me feel rather silly. I would never have proceeded if there was a fee, as I already had a card with a fee I could have moved it to, instead of applying for another one. I have looked at my credit card terms, but they are very generic, and don't mention the specific offer. It states "to find out what your promotional offer is - please call us". I have raised a complaint but literally within 40 seconds, she said "would you like me to close the complaint?" - Rather baffling. She asked what I would like the outcome to be, I said "to refund the fee which I don't believe I should have been charged". She told me she would leave the complaint open, but it could be 8 weeks. I suggested I could move the balance elsewhere and just leave the fee for the bank to deal with. Is there any way I can somehow find the proof of what I agreed to? As at the moment, it's my word against theres. Or any suggestions as to what I can do? I am meticulous with this sort of thing, and wouldn't have agreed to a higher fee than what a card I already have is offering

Thanks in advance

Brie

The unfortunate thing is that unless you have a screen shot of what you were applying for (or maybe even a video of the whole process) there is little proof of what you are claiming.  Now I understand completely and would be able to believe that Sainsbury's has messed up.  It may be something automatic like the 0 fee offer being removed between you seeing and applying for it.  Or it may be something intentional. 

personally, I wouldn't move the money just yet as that gives them little incentive to resolve anything and will likely just cost you a fee elsewhere.  give them a week to get back to you and then chase them up.  and another week and so on.  pestering politely often gets the best results.

daveyjp

Forget the adverts.

When you apply for a credit card you will be sent terms and conditions to review and accept before the account is opened.

That's the document you need to check.

indierocker85

I threatened to move it elsewhere and leave the fee on the card "for them to sort" but truthfully, I wouldn't as I would have to then pay a fee wherever it moves to. Sigh. I am ADAMANT it was 0% fee and 0% for 21 months. 

indierocker85

daveyjp said:

Forget the adverts.

When you apply for a credit card you will be sent terms and conditions to review and accept before the account is opened.

That's the document you need to check.

With respect, they haven't sent me a document detailing the specific promotion I accepted. It mentions the 0% for 21 months but doesn't specify a specific % for balance transfer. The emails I was sent post application didn't either. I simply should have screenshotted it. I have now since learned that Sainsbury's bank is essentially a front for Llloyds, which explains a lot.

WillPS

indierocker85 said:

I have now since learned that Sainsbury's bank is essentially a front for Llloyds, which explains a lot.

How so? It used to be operated by HBOS but has been independent for some time, migrating their credit cards to their own system a few years back so that the HBOS backend could be closed down (the Lloyds and Halifax retail customers were moved to LBG some time previous to that).

[Deleted User]

This is a bit of an odd one but I can only guess that something went wrong at one end or the other as the 0% fee one is 0% OR 1% not 2%

I'd be tempted to DSAR them for a copy of the application process which might show something

One point to correct though, Sainsbury's Bank is nothing to do with Lloyds. The bank was formed as a joint venture of Sainsbury's and Bank of Scotland (the latter does sit under Lloyds group) however Sainsbury's bought out the 50% shares in 2013 and it's 100% owned by J Sainsbury Plc

premierfella

I had a look at the documents I save from a no fee Sainsbury's CC I applied for a couple of months back out of interest. Whilst they don't specify the balance transfer fee in the credit card agreement, it is shown in the pre-contract credit information document which I think (in terms of the application process) must have been a downloadable document just before completing the application process online (I saved a copy of my one as well as the credit card agreement, and it's showing in S3 under a heading of "Any other costs deriving from the credit agreement"

noh

I applied for the upto 22 month 0% card today and was offered 14 months at 0% with a 1% fee.
As above the credit card agreement and contract terms were available to read and download during the application process and you were required to tick a box confirming you had read them.

I suspect the op actually applied for the upto 29 month 0% with a 1 or 2% fee and got offered 21 month with 2% fee.
https://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/credit-cards/apply/low-balance-transfer-fee-apply

• 0% interest on balance transfers for up to 29 months. We may offer you a 0% interest period of 21 months depending on your individual circumstances
• A Balance Transfer fee of 1% or 2% applies to transfers made at application (£3 minimum)