MBNA Mis selling

M

manufan

Guest
In June I took out MBNA credit card and transferred €3000 from existing cc account to take advantage of special offer of 1.9% for balance transfers.
Got statement last month with balance just under €5,600 so I paid 2,600 assuming that so long as the outstanding balance remained under €3,000 I would be hit at rate of 1.9%.

I Jjust got my statement today and was charged €62. I rang MBNA and they told me this 1.9% only works if you dont make retail purchases over the first 6 months!!!! They kindly reminded me this was in the terms and conditions - silly me. They couldnt tell me how this €62 was calculated.

I feel absolutely ripped off by MBNA
Should I go to Small Claims Court or IFSRA for this fraud or will it open a can of worms for all these credit card companies aggressively marketing for new accounts?
 
The 1.9% transfer rate is just that - for transfers.

New transactions attract interest at a higher rate.

You paid off €2,600 from your transfer and so pay interest on the remaining €400 @ 1.9% and then paid interest at something huge on the new €2,600

Assumptions are dangerous - did you read the terms and conditions *before* signing up ?

z
 
Zag thanks you sound like the MBNA people
I was taken in by an offer which is totally misleading
and will be taken action against them to win my case
Dont talk down to people about small print.

If they offer 1.9% on balance transfers they should stick to their offer - do you expect to get a credit card and not use it for 6 months? If thats the case then you should transfer the balance and continue to use your old card - only take out the new card after the 6 months is up.

How could anyone know this until they were caught unless you worked for these credit card gangsters???
 
Zag
what was I supposed to do - use my old card for 6 months and then take out my new card - How would anyone know it works like this?

This is a scandal and you wont hear the end of it
Misselling of financial products will not be protected by small print - they offered me 1.9% on balance transfer but didnt tell me I couldnt use the card for the first 6 months and if I did all bets are off!
What gangsters or are they all like that?
 
mbna aggressive marketing

I have found MBNA very aggressive in their marketing techniques - they constantly increase my limit without me having requested it and send out fresh batches of "credit card cheques" every few months again without my requesting them.

In their favour I found them very efficient in sorting out a problem with a disputed item which appeared on my statement a while back.
 
re transfers

to take advantage of special offer of 1.9% for balance transfers
Click to expand...

Suppose to be fair, it does say very very clearly in all the adds on 'balance transfers' so the intro rate is on the money u transfer to them, not any subsequent monies owed, as zag says the 2,600 u paid in went to pay off the earliest money owed, ie the transfer
 
Credit Card Cheques

I rang the freefone customer service no. and asked to be removed from the cheque mailing list - no problem. Always find MBNA to be v helpful and informed in the customer service dept.
 
I dont like them at all

Not much pont getting a credit card you cannot use for 6 months.

It should be called a payment holiday card instead.

It strikes me that a crippled credit card is < not fit for the purpose sold > as per the sale fo goods act 1980 ish so the small claims court somewhere far far from MBNA HQ in Leitrim is what they deserve, do you live in Caherciveen by any fortuitous chance ?
 
Thanks Shufty At last someone who understands me!
So just to be clear before I go to any small claims court I am right in saying that the only way I could have availed of their introductory offer was not to use the card for 6 months?
If so is this the case with all these offers or are the MBNA on their own on this one?
 
manufan - there really is no substitute for reading the small print and you are the only person with the small print available.

If you do a quick google for "MBNA balance transfer" you will see a lot of stories similar to yours where people have transfered a balance, said woohoo, spent more money, paid off some and then got a shock when the interest charge came in.

The normal way the MBNA offer works is as described above - low rate on transfer, high rate on new purchases, transfer balance gets paid off first, so new purchases attract interest straight away at high rate.

The scheme you describe (where you cannot use the card for the 1st 6 months) is different, but reading the small print will clarify this. I think it is actually that using the card within the 1st 6 months will cause the new purchases to attract interest at the higher rate.

I wish you luck in the small claims court. You might be on to something, but you *really* need to review the documentation and see if you signed something saying "I have read and understood the terms and conditions" and then check to see if the terms and conditions include the conditions you have fallen foul of.

I'm not trying to say that MBNA (or any institution) are allowed to stomp all over the customer, but if the conditions are laid out and not adhered to then they are allowed to add on charges as outlined.

z
 
Zag
you sound like a compliance officer from a bank!
what we are talking about here is a major institution aggressively marketing for new customers who are taken in by a low and misleading rate of interest.
We are not talking about customers not reading the small print(which tends to be extremely small by the way in the case of MBNA)
We are talking about MBNA screwing the customer once they have you signed up.
This is why we need IFSRA to take a really active role in how these products are being promoted. When a customer honestly believes that the interest rate is 1.9% and then to be charged 14% is daylight robbery nothing more nothing less.

I will let you know how I get on.
 
Hi manufan

You should make your complaint to IFSRA and to the Ombudsman when it is set up. The small claims court decision will affect you only. IFSRA or the Ombudsman could force MBNA to be more open about their terms and conditions. The Small Claims Court can't.

You could also contact Marion or Joe or one of the personal finance journalists. I am sure that it has been covered before, but you sound passionate enough to get some more airtime out of it.

I think the whole area of credit card calculation of interest needs to be looked at. Artificial rules which result in artificially high interest should not be allowed. For example, If you pay off most of your balance on time, you will be charged interest on the entire balance. I can see no commercial justification for this except that it is designed to trick people who are not aware of it.

Brendan
 
Where are those blasted glasses ?

Have you worked out the split of the interest charge ? Did you pay 14% on the entire balance, or just on the new purchases ? If you paid it on the entire balance then this is strange, if you paid it on the new purchases then this is as expected.

Mole
 
Re: Where are those blasted glasses ?

>>did you read the story I posted?

Yes, I did. But you're right -- it's the method of promotion that's the problem, not the actual legalese. I'm with you there, to be sure. How is this product promoted anyway? Direct mail? Flyers?
 
Re: Where are those blasted glasses ?

i have to say whenever i see any type of financial product advertised, i always look for the asterix* with the catches or i look into it a bit further..the unfortunate thing is, a lot of people aren't aware there may be a catch etc. It's these people that get it in the neck when they get caught out and not necessarily through any fault of their own.

Have u spoken to anyone yet about taking this further manufan?
 
MBNA

I took Brendans advice and contacted IFSRA and will keep you posted on developments.
In the meantime here's to a hat trick from the Boy Rooney tonight!
 
MBNA sales

They trawl the electoral register and post out bumf . As i chuck it as fast as it comes in I cannot tell you whats in it .
 
The boy rooney!

Manufan -

"In the meantime here's to a hat trick from the Boy Rooney tonight!"


Hope you put some money on that - might help recover the MBNA interest!
 
MBNA sales

> They trawl the electoral register and post out bumf .

From November 2004 on they and others will only be allowed to trawl through the "edited" version of the electoral register and people can elect (no pun intended) to be included on the "full" register which can only be used for electoral and other statutory purposes:
 
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