A word of caution:
I closed 2 BoI CC accounts over 18 months ago and transferred the balance to another BoI account. While I was in the process of doing this, I received my normal monthly bill, which I paid by cheque.
The following month I got a cc bill for my new account. It was quite high, and it took me a number of months to clear the balance, incurring interest along the way. I didn't think this was especially unusual, as I had been making quite a number of purchases, including many work related travel etc.
Roll forward to 2 months ago. I was expecting a stinker of a cc bill after January sales, trip to Toulouse, booking summer holiday etc., but when it came I was pleasantly surprised. There was a credit of nearly €700 on the bill (separate from the monthly payment I had made) that was referenced 'balance transfer'.
I was mystified, as I had not made any balance transfers (other than 12 months ago, and this would have been a debit anyway), and was sure that it was an error on the part of the cc company.
I called BoI CC, and explained. The girl said 'oh that's a balance transfer, yoyu must have closed another account' It took me a while to convince her that:
(a) I had not closed another account recently (I assured her that I would remember if I had
) and
(b) A balance transfer from another account should not be a credit (in general)
She went off to investigate and called me back 20 minutes later.
It turns out that the cheque I had sent in the previous April was not allocated to my 'old' credit card(s) as the account was closed when they received the cheque.
It had taken BoI a full
12 months to allocate this payment to my new credit card. During that time, I had a uncleared debit balance for a number of months the previous summer because of this fact (Of course I should have known this from my bill, but it wasn't very clear at the time, as it appeared to me that the payment had been allocated, but there was still a large balance)
The girl told me 'not to worry, this happens all the time' implying that I WAS THE ONE WHO SHOULD APOLOGISE TO THEM!!!!!
I held my tongue (should I go back and demand a refund of the interest paid during the period in question??). I am now in the process of closing that account and moving to another cc company. Feck them.
Sorry for the long post-just wanted to make sure I laid out all the facts. I know this situtation isn't the same as the original poster's, but there are enough similarities.