Balance Transfer Fees – Misinformed by customer service?

ajhardy

I followed the Barclaycard 10 month loophole as suggested by Martin. Got my card today and everything looks pretty good. I checked the terms on the back to make sure that everything I had read on the site was true and it is all OK. However, there are 2 things to note:

1) On my terms (not sure if it is standard) any BT over £5,000 will not be at 0%, but will be charged at 6.9%

2) Included with my card and terms was a slip saying that effective 14th November BTs will be charged a 2.5% handling fee.

I'm not sure if (2) is applicable to the loophole that is outlined on this site, but be warned!

eviebea

Same happened to me - received card today with new conditions from 14th November. Phoned Customer Service to see if conditions applied as they had been different when I applied, but no joy so I cancelled the card.

No more free balance transfer from Barclaycard !

stevem999

I've just applied for a Halifax One card to move some stooze from Virgin. After a call to their Freephone number on the website, they confirmed what Martin has in his article (2% fee, max £50). - application sailed through as I have a very good credit record, plenty to cover my balance transfer so all good. Got the cards through and called them up to see if the transfer was in progress (I asked for it at time of application) and they confirmed it was. Rang back a few days later and was told the transfer had been successful and I asked them to confirm the fee and was told it was well over a hundred pounds!! Told them about this website, told them about Halifax's own website which also states 2%, max £50 in the 'Summary Box' and they said they'd have to refer to another dept and would get a call.

Never got a call so spoken to them again - they now say that there are different types of a Halifax One card (there's only 1 on their wesbite) and they all have varying conditions. The one I've been given has no cap on the fee according to them! They tried to fob me off with the fact that my interest rate is lower than the one advertised but I don't want the interest as I'm just BT'ing at 0%. I've asked to speak to someone higher and the rep refused and said I had to put it in writing - if I do this I'm sure it'll end up in a large pile of paper filed under 'B', or it will take 6 months for anything to be done.

I've since called the Halifax One enquiry line twice to 'enquire' about BT fees and they've both confirmed 2%, max £50 - what is going on here? Anyone got any direct e-mails for Halifax Chief Exec, or Card Services Director etc etc? Any other suggestions?

grumbler

stevem999 wrote:

...Any other suggestions?

http://www.halifax.co.uk/contactus/Howtocomplain.shtml
1. Relax
2. Call Customer Relations on 08457 25 35 19. [font=Arial, Helvetica]Lines open 9am (9.30am Wednesdays) to 5pm Monday to Friday. If no success, than:[/font]
3. Copy what you have written above and paste into Word. Edit a little to make a letter of complaint.
4. Send it buy Recorded Mail to:

Halifax plc
Halifax Customer Relations
Trinity Road
Halifax
HX1 2RG

P.S. It is also worth checking the Credit Agreement that you signed. If it differs from the one on their website and do states BT without maximum, this makes things more complicated. The only you can complain about is this 'hidden' difference.

stevem999

grumbler wrote:

P.S. It is also worth checking the Credit Agreement that you signed. If it differs from the one on their website and do states BT without maximum, this makes things more complicated. The only you can complain about is this 'hidden' difference.

I've got a horrible feeling that this is where I've fallen down on this - however as a customer it seems ridiculous to think I apply for one product and get given another and the only way I tell is to read the 3000 miniscule words on the back of a credit agreement, heaven forbid they come clean and say that we're offering you something different! It feels a bit like going to a garage and ordering a red car, and then getting a green car and them saying 'oh, sorry, didn't we tell you, we don't think a red car suited you so we took a massive liberty and got you a green one instead'!!

I'm still going to complain as their website and their staff are all saying there is a cap and no mention of 'well there might not be a cap if we feel like it' - they are all making factual statements. This is very poor practice in my book. Thanks for all the info anyway.

grumbler

After looking into Halifax One BT Fee - NOT capped at £50 thread I see that they changed the fee from uncapped to max.£50 about 10 days ago ...

nearlyfunny

I don't know if I'm posting this in the right place or not. It concerns the Amex Platinum card, ( Best Life of Balance transfers )here - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cg...107182516,76509,
I've clicked the link which states 4.9% interest, but when printing off the form I noticed the small print states 9.4% - a bit of a difference. Needless to say I did not sign the form. Obviously, American Express were aware that I had filled in the form and I received a phone call from them today wondering why I had not sent the form. When I explained why I had not signed, they told me they think it might be a misprint ( the 9.4% that is ), as all their rates end in something .9%. I just wondered had anyone else signed these forms and where would you stand legally as far as interest went. I've also posted this on the Amex thread.

Elizcol55

My virgin card has already tried to sting me for balance transfer fees which have managed to get refunded after creating for over twenty minutes with them. I am now desperate to to find a credit card that I can transfer money from there credit card which will not charge me a 2% handling fee and 0% transfer fee has anybody got any suggestions I would be so grateful

WaltD

I have just received a letter from Morgan Stanley Visa, telling me that they are offering me 0% interest rate for 5 months on all balance transfers set up during December 2005. The letter makes no mention of the fact that they charge a 2% transaction fee on each balance transfer (minimum £2, maximum £50). This only became apparent when I visited their web site. Surely they should be required to give this information in their advertising material!

grumbler

Elizcol55 wrote:

...I am now desperate to to find a credit card that I can transfer money from there credit card which will not charge me a 2% handling fee ...

http://www.stoozing.com/0fees.htm