MBNA credit card

Nasqueron

pmk741 said:

Nasqueron said:

Gandalf644 said:

pmk741 said:

TomJovis said:

Has anyone been stung by MBNA's credit card offering 18 months interest free then the small print says only applicable to purchases made in first 60 days?  I have been heavily stung by this.  They did not make it explicit and it all seems like a hoax to me.  Am I just stupid?

No your not - Ive fallen for the same misleading offer and have raised a complaint as I believe it wasn’t clear in the website advertising. It is in the small print nevertheless surely it needs to be clear in the offer. I can also see someone has already raised a claim with the financial ombudsman. When I took the offer out I used the money saving expert comparison site and I’m 99.9% there was no reference to the 60 days. Now checking yesterday it appears to have changed. I have some evidence so I’m going pursue it out of principle.

To be honest I wouldn't bother persuing it. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has already made quite a few decisions on complaints about this, and has ruled in favour of MBNA on most, if not all occasions.

For example:

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-4813119.pdf

which is the most recent of these sort of complaints.

Exactly this - any card which allows 0% on purchases until the end of the offer clearly advertises it 

Have you seen the evidence? I have had numerous cards over the years and this hasn’t been an issue. I do understand how they work and have never had an issue before. This wasn’t made clear, You’re right I may lose but nevertheless it’s a point of principle.  there is no loss to me if I do and the more claims the more likely it will need to be made clearer. Jeez anyone would think you work for them… 

I have seen cards that do this yes, I have an HSBC one from September which has 0% on purchases made in the first few months, I got a text just today confirming the last date for 0% purchases is coming up.

As you said, it's in the small print and you didn't read it at the time as you found it once you read the terms. As I said before, you applied via MSE, what they advertise is not necessarily what the card firm wants

I guess the card you have is the one listed below:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/0-balance-transfers-spending/ 

Per the text 

MBNA   Only purchases made in the first 60 days are interest-free.	Longest all-rounder card on the market – 'up to' 21mths at 0% on both spending & transfers, though only purchases made in the first 60 days are interest-free. If you’re pre-approved in our eligibility calculator you’ll definitely get the full 0% periods, otherwise you could get just 12mths for both spending and transfers.
	- Up to 21mths 0% on spending & transfers (some get 12mths) - 3.49% transfer fee - 24.9% rep APR

pmk741

I assume they pay them a commission so I would have thought there is some responsibility to make sure people they are paying are not confusing their customers with miss leading ads. It’s quite clear now on the comparison site and if it was so at the time it would have never happened. I get it’s not the strongest case but nevertheless in an industry which such strict rules I’d be surprised if the bank don’t make me a reasonable counter. If you don’t ask you don’t get.

DullGreyGuy

TomJovis said:

Has anyone been stung by MBNA's credit card offering 18 months interest free then the small print says only applicable to purchases made in first 60 days?  I have been heavily stung by this.  They did not make it explicit and it all seems like a hoax to me.  Am I just stupid?

This is standard operation of a 0% offer purchase card.

How quickly have you spotted the issue? if its your third statement and you've immediately spotted the interest charged they are more likely to consider to waive it. If its your 6th statement and the previous three had interest that you didnt spot its less likely to be waived. 

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-4813119.pdf

The above is an ombudsman decision on the same problem and the ombudsman said MBNA was operating fairly and it was a customer error

Nasqueron

pmk741 said:

I assume they pay them a commission so I would have thought there is some responsibility to make sure people they are paying are not confusing their customers with miss leading ads. It’s quite clear now on the comparison site and if it was so at the time it would have never happened. I get it’s not the strongest case but nevertheless in an industry which such strict rules I’d be surprised if the bank don’t make me a reasonable counter. If you don’t ask you don’t get.

Sites like MSE get commission for you getting the card - you wanted a card and got it, so they pay out. 

Banks have to ensure advertising is not misleading but that's for the ASA to deal with. A site like MSE advertising is also subject to the ASA rules but the bank is not responsible for how MSE list their products unless they specifically state terms to MSE. The link I put above showed that the 0% was only for 60 days which was clear on the site if someone applied today.

What "reasonable counter" are you expecting the bank to offer? You were charged interest because you spent on the card outside the 60 day period, doing a complaint and taking the resources of the FOS isn't great and the bank isn't very likely to make any offer at all.

pmk741

Nasqueron said:

pmk741 said:

I assume they pay them a commission so I would have thought there is some responsibility to make sure people they are paying are not confusing their customers with miss leading ads. It’s quite clear now on the comparison site and if it was so at the time it would have never happened. I get it’s not the strongest case but nevertheless in an industry which such strict rules I’d be surprised if the bank don’t make me a reasonable counter. If you don’t ask you don’t get.

Sites like MSE get commission for you getting the card - you wanted a card and got it, so they pay out. 

Banks have to ensure advertising is not misleading but that's for the ASA to deal with. A site like MSE advertising is also subject to the ASA rules but the bank is not responsible for how MSE list their products unless they specifically state terms to MSE. The link I put above showed that the 0% was only for 60 days which was clear on the site if someone applied today.

What "reasonable counter" are you expecting the bank to offer? You were charged interest because you spent on the card outside the 60 day period, doing a complaint and taking the resources of the FOS isn't great and the bank isn't very likely to make any offer at all.

The one they have offered me today. Effectively makes it interest free on the full balance for 6 months.