Barclaycard 0% Joke!

jimphillips_6

Yes, I wanted a card to transfer a balance and save money, because thats helpful. But Barclays spoofed me with the promise of 100%eligibility based on what I needed, then last minute, and without giving me the option to cancel, gave me a limit of £350?? Utterly useless, now I have to jump through hoops to get this cancelled and reversed as it is no good to me. so frustrating, will never be banking with Barclays in future!

cymruchris

jimphillips_6 said:

Yes, I wanted a card to transfer a balance and save money, because thats helpful. But Barclays spoofed me with the promise of 100%eligibility based on what I needed, then last minute, and without giving me the option to cancel, gave me a limit of £350?? Utterly useless, now I have to jump through hoops to get this cancelled and reversed as it is no good to me. so frustrating, will never be banking with Barclays in future!

Sometimes they give a relatively low initial limit if they don't see proof of your income. If your income is reasonable, and your debts ratio isn't too high, they might consider a higher limit if you submitted recent bank statements, usually asking them to consider it with proof of income can result in a raising of the limit. They did say you were 100% eligible though, and did issue you with a card, so they weren't fibbing in that regard. 

Additionally, if your history isn't the best, or there's not much history to look at, they might start with a low limit and raise it as you demonstrate positive credit behaviour. 

As a debt to income ratio - if yours is high (you mention you have a balance to transfer) - that can count against you even if you're applying for a balance transfer card. If for example you've also been paying minimum payment on your existing cards for some time, that can also have a negative impact.

I'd be more inclined to keep it, use it, pay it off, and then a few months down the line ask for a limit increase rather than huffing and puffing trying to cancel it. The hard search won't be going anywhere, as that's a true reflection of what happened, so again you might do more harm than good by cancelling it. (There will be the hard search record followed by an opened/closed account - other lenders might question why your account was closed so quickly).

Nasqueron

jimphillips_6 said:

Yes, I wanted a card to transfer a balance and save money, because thats helpful. But Barclays spoofed me with the promise of 100%eligibility based on what I needed, then last minute, and without giving me the option to cancel, gave me a limit of £350?? Utterly useless, now I have to jump through hoops to get this cancelled and reversed as it is no good to me. so frustrating, will never be banking with Barclays in future!

The bank ran a credit check on you and decided based on the info you provided (income, outgoings) and your existing situation (current debts) that they didn't want to risk any more than £350. It was not done at the "last minute", it was done when they did the full credit check on you. They cannot give you an option to cancel based on the limit before they have done the credit check as they don't know what the system will give you.

There is a fair chance you'd get similar limits with other providers

grumbler

jimphillips_6 said:

... now I have to jump through hoops to get this cancelled and reversed as it is no good to me. 

No need to jump - you don't gain anything by cancelling and reversing. And every little helps.