M&S credit card issues

summerbee

I’ve had an M&S credit card for 15 years now, and have had some issues with it that are frustrating. I tried to buy something online (card reader at the ready to verify) last week, only for the card reader to say wrong card. I rang them and wasn’t given an explanation but they would open a complaint. I’d like to ditch them and go elsewhere, but I’ve only recently got a job (income £9k) after a decade of illness, so I’ve been trapped so far. I’ve got an excellent credit rating, have never missed
a payment, and the household income is now almost £50k, so is there any point exploring other options? My credit limit before M&S was £20k (I was a student so god knows why they kept upping it-I never spent that in the years I had it in total!), but it’s been £2k a month with M&S which is about right in case of emergency purchases. 

Ebe_Scrooge

If you've had the card for 15 years and been happy with it overall, I wouldn't let an isolated issue persuade you to ditch it - this would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.  Ignore the "excellent" credit rating dished out by the CRAs, but a long-standing, well-managed line of credit is looked upon favourably by other lenders.  A limit of £2K is fairly low, but if it suits your needs then there's no problem.  Also, with a salary of £9K, you may well find that any new card would probably offer you a lower limit than that.

IT glitches happen, it's an unfortunate fact of modern life.  But if they're looking into it, I see no reason why you would want to ditch the card.  By all means you can apply for an additional card elsewhere (it's often a good idea to have a backup card precisely for situations such as this), but I'd keep the M&S card open if I were you.

summerbee

Without writing a very long post, the incident last was just the most recent issue I’ve had with them-one other was as soon as I put my card in to pay (I think I was in a supermarket at the time) it said I’d maxed out wrong PIN numbers and the card couldn’t be used. Except I hadn’t entered any PIN! They sent me a new card (the card I still have now) and the same thing happened until I reset my PIN. The rewards have been cut again and again, so I only get about £6-7 a year in M&S vouchers. Are there any credit cards that look at household income? I’ve clearly been paying off my balance in full each month despite zero personal income! It’s been so long since I’ve even thought about a new credit card I am a bit clueless to my options. 

Voyager2002

The obvious suggestion is for you to be an additional card-holder on the main income-earner's account in your household.

Other than that, get a card with good customer service and accept that it will have a low credit limit while keeping the M and S card for emergencies. From my experience I think that both Barclaycard and Nationwide are pretty good at preventing problems and solving them when they arise.

Ebe_Scrooge

summerbee said:

Are there any credit cards that look at household income?

No, to put it bluntly.  A credit card account is assigned to the account holder, and is based upon their own income and credit history.

One option may be to get your partner (I'm assuming that's what you mean by household income?) to get a card, and for them to set you up as an additional cardholder.  In this scenario the account would belong entirely to your partner, they would be responsible for running the account, it's their credit history that gets damaged by any missed payments or whatever, and it would do nothing to improve your own credit history (if that's what you were wanting to do).

The other option is just to apply for a new card in your own name, and accept that the T&Cs of that account (including the credit limit) would be based on your own income and credit history.