Virgin "Free" interest transfer!

[Escapee]

Just a warning about Virgin credit cards!

I had to make a large purchase with my existing credit card. (approx 13K) It was a situation where I needed the money for a month, and then I could pay it off, I decided to move the 13K to a Virgin 0% transfer account. I did this and the first month received a statement and duly made a payment by cheque, the following month I didn't receive a statement (didn't realise at the time) I got another one form them a few weeks later with a charge for late payment. I phoned them up to complain and offered to pay the full amount and close the account, they removed the late payment fee and assured me it was all sorted out.

This morning I have recieved my latest statement with the late fee credited, but with 139.96 interest charges, I have phoned them and they will not budge because I have broken the terms of the credit card agreement!

I did however guess this was going to happen and have already transferred the money to my current account to write a cheque to clear the full amount and cancel the card. I was pre-empted by a guy in work who has hd a similar problem with Virgin, so I had already decided to pay the amount off and cancel the card before the 6 months 0% was up.

Tyhe cynical side of me says they are not sending statement out for this very purpouse.

[maxtoralias]

I had a similar problem with another MBNA underwritten credit card (MBNA provide cards for Virgin and other companies) and they basically stifffed me in the same manner as ESCAPEE. They also divulged a third party credit card number to me (a working one) and assured me this was a trainee's mistake and tried to sweeten me with compensation for the inconvienience (or bribe if you must). I immediately closed all MBNA cards and reported their malpractice. This may not be typical of their practices of course as they deal with thousands of customers - but you may understand why I lost faith in the company for breach of data protection - quite a serious issue for a financial institution!!
You definitely need to read the small print in all such cards and I would recomend that you set up a DD to cover thye minimum monthly payment to avoid this scenario and therefore avoid delays with paper invoices.

[Escapee]

Originally Posted by maxtoralias

I had a similar problem with another MBNA underwritten credit card (MBNA provide cards for Virgin and other companies) and they basically stifffed me in the same manner as ESCAPEE. They also divulged a third party credit card number to me (a working one) and assured me this was a trainee's mistake and tried to sweeten me with compensation for the inconvienience (or bribe if you must). I immediately closed all MBNA cards and reported their malpractice. This may not be typical of their practices of course as they deal with thousands of customers - but you may understand why I lost faith in the company for breach of data protection - quite a serious issue for a financial institution!!
You definitely need to read the small print in all such cards and I would recomend that you set up a DD to cover thye minimum monthly payment to avoid this scenario and therefore avoid delays with paper invoices.

Yes Virgin/MBNA, so you are now the third person suffering the same problem we know of. I didn't set up a DD because I would be paying off the balance before the 6 months was up, I got quite annoyed at their attitude this morning and last month because they were giving me the impression that, they assumed I was having financial difficulty in paying.

I have already written out the cheque for the full balance, and will be compiling a letter to them for posting on Monday. If thats the way they conduct business, I want no dealings with them again.