Virgin 0% Balance Transfer Scam

[TonyHetherington]

10 Pence Short said:

mondeoman said:

Ah, but when you set up an SO for the minimum amount, and then some, to hit their account on time, lets say the 12th of the month, and they then change the due date (by anythign up to 4 days earlier), then they hit you with the charges, interest, loss of low interest rate, where is that covered in the T&Cs - oh, wait, its not. But you try and get the interest refunded, cats and hell spring to mind.

You will probably find most credit cards are on a 28 day cycle (13 payments a year), so you need to set up a Direct Debit so the CC company can pull the payments, rather than a monthly Standing Order to push them.

Yup that's kinda what I explained above and an example of why it might be needed.

[Fatrat]

[quote=colin72blue

I am sure the terms and conditions say lots of things but like many (possibly even the majority) i can't say hand on heart that i read and accept every one of them.


[/quote]

Like you I am not always good at reading all the small print, BUT I do understand that by signing the agreement I accept the terms whether I have bothered to read them or not.

[wiggy001]

So you signed an agreement, you broke the rules of the agreement, they stuck to their side of the bargain but THEY are the one's in the wrong?

Uh huh... another sign of all that is wrong with this country.

[triggersbroom]

wiggy001 said:

So you signed an agreement, you broke the rules of the agreement, they stuck to their side of the bargain but THEY are the one's in the wrong?

Uh huh... another sign of all that is wrong with this country.

+1

You signed it, you agreed to the terms - sorry!

If you paid it one minute late, they would be entitled to do the same. A contract is a contract.

[Soovy]

triggersbroom said:

A contract is a contract.

But you see, he's special.

[chr15b]

shakotan said:

Smiler. said:

TonyHetherington said:

36%

36%

Virgin are MBNA & they're still offering 0% deals.

My APR with Virgin went up to 36%APR, when I argued with them, they dropped it to 28%APR, which they said was their base APR, and the 17.5% typical they state in their adverts was a promotional rate.

So I've paid off the card, bar £100 to keep it active. They will not offer me any Balance Tranfers Deals though, even being an existing customer!

i've got about 6 cards, dont hold a balance on any of them - what i do is set them all to pay off balance in full every month via dd, then spend a small token amount on each, ie the odd ebay purchase or tank of fuel etc.

if i ever needed to use one and pay it off slower i'd just change it at that time.

not had a single one cancelled on me ever

[chr15b]

pies said:

Soovy said:

TonyHetherington said:

36%

Yes indeed.

Mrs Soov received a letter this week.

All borrowings are going to 36% APR. She has £5000 on it. That's £150 a month, sports fans.

how can they justify that with intrest rates at an all time low?

i'd expect with some people spending less, some clearing debts and some failing to pay that they need to increase to maintain profits

[johnfm]

I think you're all being a bit harsh - he's not an MP FFS!

I don't thing the OP is bhin and whinging about not gettign a free plasma with every sprog.

He's missed a payment by a couple of days. He expected some interest, and a late payment fee. He was surprised to find a further remedy to the event of default was the reversion to standard interest charges.

I don't think it is a scam - or an unfair contract term. I think it is not proportional and, for such a remedy, it should appear more prominently than it does in the T&Cs.

[RegMolehusband]

I got caught out with my 0% Virgin card too. When I set it up I could have sworn I set up a direct debit during the sign-up process. However upon checking my online account just over a month later I found the 12% late payment fee and interest charged. Bugers

[Dunk76]

RegMolehusband said:

I got caught out with my 0% Virgin card too. When I set it up I could have sworn I set up a direct debit during the sign-up process. However upon checking my online account just over a month later I found the 12% late payment fee and interest charged. Bugers

Exactly the same happened to me too.

A few words soon made them change their minds and revert the 0%

[colin72blue]

johnfm said:

I think you're all being a bit harsh - he's not an MP FFS!

I don't thing the OP is bhin and whinging about not gettign a free plasma with every sprog.

He's missed a payment by a couple of days. He expected some interest, and a late payment fee. He was surprised to find a further remedy to the event of default was the reversion to standard interest charges.

I don't think it is a scam - or an unfair contract term. I think it is not proportional and, for such a remedy, it should appear more prominently than it does in the T&Cs.

I was beginning to lose my hope for humanity. Thanks John. Looks like there is life out there yet and people with enough sense to see the big picture. You have hit the nail on the head. Maybe its not an unfair term as such but certainly not reasonable and presumably why the finance company have now credited the interest and re-instated the promotional rate. They should be flagging this up far more than they do and maybe encourage people to set up DD's straight away. This was the sort of response i had hoped to get but, sadly, it seems it is not the pistonheads way! WHAT? HE MADE A MISTAKE! STONE HIM!

Funnily enough i had this discussion with a fair number of people this evening from a range of backgrounds (including, admittedly, differing levels of drunkeness). Despite that not one person turned round to me this evening and said "...serves you right you numptee. You deserve everything you get! Hangings too good for your sort" Could it be that this place is full of keyboard warriors. Those that are more than happy to be bold and aggressive while hiding behind there computers and would never dream of actually having balls big enough to say these things face to face in a day to day conversation with complete strangers! No one would have butted in to the conversation that i was having with mates in one of my local pubs tonight in the way they have here.

FFS! I come on here to offer help to fellow forum users and get slagged off by the right wing pistonazzi for making one simple minor mistake which i have now completely resolved with that company. Even the company has admitted they should flag it up more and that the way they dealt with it, in my situation, was a bit harsh!

As to the earlier comment about "...another sign of all that is wrong with this country...". Can you actually read? Have you read the whole post? Do you really believe that i am the source of this countries problems? A middle aged professional man misses a payment date by 2 days and causes a global recession! Really? If that is the case then i am REALLY sorry. Lock me up! Must have missed that bit of small print too! Get a life! Better still take the time to actually see what is going on in the real world. By that i mean what is going on outside of pistonheads AND, shock horror, what is going on outside the UK. There are views that we are in this mess because of the policies of financial institutions and not the public! Maybe these problems are caused by narrow minded people like yourself who accept things as they are but dont have the wit or intellect to challenge anything to see if YOU think its right or not! These contracts are always drafted massively in favour of the client. Doesn't make them right though does it, as we are now finding out. Its people like you that were convinced the world was flat!

Maybe my initial title was wrong or maybe i was not clear enough from the start but i have now sorted it and the finance company accepted they were wrong. I will still make the effort to put my complaint in writing and maybe that will change the way they word the contracts from now on. Perhaps someone here will get paid another extortionate amount of money to cobble some new terms together. Might even get them right this time.

Have certainly leart a lesson about posting on this forum though!

[ExChrispy Porker]

another trick Virgin try.

I received my bill yesterday (15th). Has to be paid by 21st, ie next Thursday.

So If I pay at my bank on Monday ( the earliest I possibly could ) there are only 4 banking days to the due date ( Guess what payments take 4 working days)
As I pay it off in full each month I am annoyed that the period of grace is getting leaa and less, trying to catch out the unwary no doubt.

[SJobson]

10 Pence Short said:

You will probably find most credit cards are on a 28 day cycle (13 payments a year)

Really? Never encountered it with half a dozen different CC companies over the years. 12 statements per annum with all of them.

[Matt_N]

colin72blue said:

Why is the 36% variable rate bad luck for me then?

Because the balance that you thought you were going to get 0% on is now going to accumulate interest at 36%?

[Soovy]

Matt_N said:

colin72blue said:

Why is the 36% variable rate bad luck for me then?

Because the balance that you thought you were going to get 0% on is now going to accumulate interest at 36%?

Bing!!

[Matt_N]

Soovy said:

Matt_N said:

colin72blue said:

Why is the 36% variable rate bad luck for me then?

Because the balance that you thought you were going to get 0% on is now going to accumulate interest at 36%?

Bing!!

He did say that he got it changed back to the old rate though, so whether that means the 0% rate or Virgin's old SVR?

[Soovy]

Matt_N said:

Soovy said:

Matt_N said:

colin72blue said:

Why is the 36% variable rate bad luck for me then?

Because the balance that you thought you were going to get 0% on is now going to accumulate interest at 36%?

Bing!!

He did say that he got it changed back to the old rate though, so whether that means the 0% rate or Virgin's old SVR?

He think that once he's on a certain APR they can't change it. Which of course they can.

[mcflurry]

ExChrispy Porker said:

another trick Virgin try.

I received my bill yesterday (15th). Has to be paid by 21st, ie next Thursday.

So If I pay at my bank on Monday ( the earliest I possibly could ) there are only 4 banking days to the due date ( Guess what payments take 4 working days)
As I pay it off in full each month I am annoyed that the period of grace is getting leaa and less, trying to catch out the unwary no doubt.

If you go to bankcardservices.co.uk you can pay online using a debit card up to the due date

[ExChrispy Porker]

Thank you.
I shall look into this.
And close my account with Virgin.

[RegMolehusband]

Dunk76 said:

RegMolehusband said:

I got caught out with my 0% Virgin card too. When I set it up I could have sworn I set up a direct debit during the sign-up process. However upon checking my online account just over a month later I found the 12% late payment fee and interest charged. Bugers

Exactly the same happened to me too.

A few words soon made them change their minds and revert the 0%

It appears that even though you set up a DD during the sign-up the first month's payment isn't actually taken by DD - you have to send them a cheque. Anyway the nice lady in customer services wiped off the interest charge and returned me to 0%.