Balance Transfer Fees – Misinformed by customer service?

YorkshireBoy

williamsa wrote:

i have recently taken out a natwest credit card and been charged 22 pounds just for transfering.

So does this mean they are wrong, as i tried calling earlier today as i did not think i shoud be charged it as its 0 % for 5 months

As far as I know, NatWest have only had a 9 month offering for a while now. Towards the end of 2005, they introduced a 2% (max £49) BT fee for non-current account holders, and for current account holders who BT'd outside the first 3 months.

hods_2

I am new to the site so forgive me if this has already been covered. We have been following some of the money saving tips on the site and wanted to use the super balance transfer in order to pay off part of a loan.

We got a Mint card (as advised). Once set up, we contacted them today to arrange transfer of the credit card balance to our account so that we could transfer this to pay off the Cahoot loan. We were told that this was not possible at the 0% rate as this would be seen as a cash transfer and we would be charged at 17%. We then asked if they would be able to transfer the money directly to our Cahoot account and they said it counts as the same thing, a cash transfer and therefore would be charged at 17%.

Have we gone about this the wrong way and misunderstood what to do regarding super balance transfers? The Mint people weren't very helpful after this so we said that we then wanted to cancel the card as we originally got it to be able to pay off another form of credit (we had no intention of using it for anything else).

Can anyone offer advice on how we can transfer this Cahoot loan (6.9%) to a 0% credit card? Also concerned now that we have applied and received a credit card that was then immediately cancelled (by us). Does anyone know if this will affect the credit rating my partner has (he has a good history and has always paid off any credit promptly)?

Hods x

YorkshireBoy

hods wrote:

Have we gone about this the wrong way and misunderstood what to do regarding super balance transfers?

In a word, yes.

You have also made a major error in cancelling your Mint application. I would suggest you call them to try and halt the closing process as soon as possible.

When you say "we got a Mint card (as advised)", I'm assuming you were advised by the 'Super Balance Transfer' article* on the main site?...

Which cards offer Super BTs?

Three major providers offer Super BT facilities, Egg*, Abbey and Mint (although the latter is via its 'transfer and save' cheques. All have these currently have 0% offers for balance transfers.

The only way to get money directly into a current account with Mint is via their cheques, which arrive around 2 weeks after the account is set up.


* See http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1085355871,12390

hods_2

Thanks for that reply. Why didn't Mint tell us that? They knew exactly what we wanted to do and therefore should have said you will need to wait for your 'transfer and save' cheques. I am not very happy with the way they have treated us with regards to this.
Hods x

hilary1

I've just had a A & L credit card and they have told me that although there is a balance transfer fee they are also doing a special 10% cash back offer for new customers. The idea is that if I transfer £2000 @ 0% for 9 months they will pay me 10% cash back in 12 months time.

I equate that to be £200 back in 12 months and although it will cost me about £50 for a balance transfer fee I will be quids in in a year.

Sounds too good to be true?

I thought so as well so I have rung customer service 3 times and I've been into a branch and been told the same thing every time.

Quite a good deal I would have thought.

bjaudio

is this just a new offer, missus applied for credit card, with them 3 weeks ago when applying for their online bank account, accepted by letter and credit agreement to return10 days ago, but she rang to enquire about bt fees, and the would not budge on 2 per cent, but no mention of the cashback, so she cancelled application over the phone.

Too late to call em back maybe?

Does the cashback after 12 months only apply if you still have the credit card with them?
Is it 10 per cent of total bt made at time of taking card out?

bj

hilary1

Four different people at A&L have told me that you get a 10% cash back on balance transfers which you get 12 months after your transfer. This is for new customers only they said.

The 2% transfer fees is correct. You have to do your sums to see if you will get back more than they will charge you.

I received everything for my new accounts (current and credit card) within 8 days.

Cash back on purchases is .5% (which still works out more than my goldfish points system)

zeberdy

Re A & L cash back I cant see this offer on their web site any more info loks to good to be true 0% for 9 months plus 10% cash back on balance ????

hods_2

Hi, just to update you on our ongoing saga with Mint and the super balance transfer:

Thanks for the post Yorkshire boy- I immediately saw red, :mad: got my partner out of bed (no mean feat) and made him ring Mint straight away. He spoke to someone who said that Mint had stopped doing 'transfer and save' at the beginning of January. My partner said he wasn't aware of this from the information on the website when applying, and when he received the original card listing all the charges, 'transfer and save' at 0% until November 2006 was written there. I think the adviser was a bit out of her depth at this point and passed my partner onto someone else (I assume more senior, but you never know). My partner then explained the WHOLE saga to her. She was really helpful and said that we should have never been allowed to cancel our card in the first place (she also said there were no details on the system as to who my partner spoke to regarding the original conversation). She immediately reinstated the card and said that 'transfer and save' were under review and weren't being issued, but as we had details of 'transfer and save' on our documentation, she would honour this and send us out the cheques with a replacement card (we of course had cut the original up).
Sounds great eh? :j

However....
My partner got his replacement card yesterday which for some reason was only valid from 1/06 to 3/06. He rang to query this and at the same time asked when the 'transfer and save' cheques would be arriving. He was then told that 'transfer and save' had been stopped and was currently under review and under NO circumstances would they be issuing any cheques, despite what the last advisor had said about honouring the deal. He said that customers should know sometime in February what the situation would be and for us to contact them then. This advisor was a brick wall and nothing my partner said could budge him. The advisor did say he would find out who told us we could have the cheques (obviously for a slap on the wrist).
So, we are no further on, but do have the card reinstated for the time being.
Don't know if Martin is reading this, but what does he or anyone else think??

Hods xxx

renagade

hello
I wonder If any one can help me i have a personal loan of £8000 of which i repay £193 per month on a rate of roughly 6%
I was looking to do a balance transfer on a card with 2.25%. But as I caluculated it only worked out to £180 per month, is this right or have i done my calculations wrong, because it hardly seems worth it as I want to save a bit more than that every month. And I thought with such a big rate drop ( from 6% - 2.25% ) the saving would be a bit more substantial. Can anyone advise/help.
Eagerly awaiting any advice.
Renagade