Tesco Credit Card - 0% Non Tesco / Tesco Purchases Question

joon79

Hi All,

I've just been infuriated by the clueless customer service person I just spoke to on the phone :mad:, so I thought someone on here may be able to help me!

I've had a Tesco Clubcard credit card for the last few months and have been putting all my spending on it as the 0% on purchases is as follows:

Non Tesco purchases - 0% for 3 months
Tesco Purchases - 0% for 12 months

Now I need to pay off the balance of the Non Tesco Purchases or they will start accruing interest from the 5th January.

How do I work out what I need to pay back accurately? Bearing in mind I have made a few minimum payments and another couple of extra payments to the card - do my payments come off the non tesco purchases total or the tesco purchases total?

Or do I just take the outstanding balance and subtract the total of the purchases from Tesco and pay that off?

The customer services person just told me I had to pay off the full balance of the card to avoid any interest - surely this is wrong!!!!

Please can someone help me - I'm so confused with it all and the interest payment will not be small if I dont get my payment off to them soon!!!

Many thanks in advance,

Jon

YorkshireBoy

I suspect you'll find it's not possible to stop interest accruing on your non-Tesco purchases unless, and until, you completely clear the entire balance on the card.

Check out the 'Allocation of payments' information in the summary box/T&C's.

joon79

If thats true, that sort of offer is such a con! So as soon as you spend anywhere other than Tesco you basically forfeit your extra 9 months of interest free purchases at Tesco? Cant believe that gets a stamp of approval from the financial authorities - its a completely misleading offer! and the info in the 'Allocation of payments' section of the statement is totally unclear - it mentions 'special offers' which is somewhat generic and CS just 'dont know' the answers to my questions....

Every little helps my a*se!!!!

YorkshireBoy

joon79 wrote: »

If thats true, that sort of offer is such a con!

It can't be a "con" if it's detailed in the T&C's. They don't hide it!

So as soon as you spend anywhere other than Tesco you basically forfeit your extra 9 months of interest free purchases at Tesco?

Er, no. You still have 0% on Tesco purchases, but you've no way of saving interest on your non-Tesco purchases unless you clear the entire balance. There are two ways to operate this card (on purchases only)...

Have a plan to clear the balance after 3 months...and then you can start again with ONLY Tesco purchases from months 4-12, or

Simply do not use the card for anything other than Tesco purchases from the outset.

Cant believe that gets a stamp of approval from the financial authorities - its a completely misleading offer!

It's misled you. It may not mislead other people.

and the info in the 'Allocation of payments' section of the statement is totally unclear - it mentions 'special offers' which is somewhat generic...

How does it define "special offers" in your T&C's?

YorkshireBoy

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

How does it define "special offers" in your T&C's?

Answered in your card's general conditions...

Special Offer - A reduced rate of interest or special terms we offer for a category of transactions or in relation to your account.

https://www.tescofinance.co.uk/CreditCards/ApplyOnline/dataprot.asp?Node=11100 (click 'General Conditions').

paulyowen

I have to agree with joon79.

I have just suffered the same problem.

I am pretty savvy at these types of promotions but it still caught me out.

I think the point here is that the promotional literature that tempts people to take up this offer does not explain things adequately. In my opinion, by not highlighting that the 12 months % period is compromised by making non-Tesco purchases is extremely misleading.

Companies such as low-cost airlines have been carpeted for very similar promotional techniques with regard to the actual cost of flights compared to the promoted costs.

Again, only my opinion, but this is very similar.

Luckily, I am in a position to pay off my balance now straight away and suffer only a small amount of interest, others might not be so lucky.

I also found Tesco's customer services to be extremely rude and indifferent to my complaints.

I have now closed my accounts and will be spending no more money with Tesco if I can avoid it.

The FSA will probably not be interested as they tend to lean towards companies rather than consumers but I do intend to take this up with the Advertising Standards Authority to get their views and I will post any further news here.

speedbird1973

The T & C are incredibly simple to understand!!

You guys have noone to blame but yourselves. The FSA would throw your complaint out because you simply don't have a case!!!

joon79

I cleared the entire card balance before I got charged any interest anyway, back when I originally made this post, but whilst I agree that the T's & C's are pretty clear and it was my own fault, I do also think that the promotional headlines are somewhat misleading and geared towards catching people out.

I've barely spent anything at Tesco since and havent used the card again either as I still feel that this tactic is somewhat underhand.... thats my opinion anyway...

neas

Lesson Learned....

Read the Terms and Conditions before 'assuming'.... You will get burned otherwise.

It was quite clear what it meant to me.... That you got 0% for 3 months non-tesco and 12 month for tesco.

Of course Im sure i read the little crossey thing on their website.. And i haven't even applied for one yet.

Daz1

The other thing I noticed with the "cashback" or moneyback tesco c/c was that you only get a percentage of any interest you are charged back. Ie, if you pay off your balance in full, you won't get anything. To me, it makes no sense to say "I don't mind paying £10 interest cause I get x% back" when there are loads of cheaper deals or straightforward cashback deals out there

dhassen

It's not a con but it's clearly a way to make more money from people who don't read or understand the small(or not so small)-print...
Same as a 0% for 12 months balance transfers and 0% for 3 months for purchases offer, you just need to be aware of what that means.... and the allocation of payments...