Credit card problem - help!

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 20:44

Ill try and explain..

I took a new credit card out about a month ago to make a large online purchase. While I did this I setup the card so that it would take the balance at the end of the month from my current account by direct debit.

I decided to pay off the balance early as I had the funds available, around 1k.

So to sum up, credit card activated and used within the first week, paid off in full in the second week, now I am in the 4th week with a £0 balance.

I went to use my debit card today and it was declined. I came online to check my balance to find I am nearly 1k overdrawn, with a £750 overdraft, so now my account is locked out and I have no money. The credit card company had charged me twice...

I phoned them up and explained the situation and they say I have to let the direct debit clear for 3 to 4 days, then they will refund the money in full within 5 working days, and they won't refund my bank charges for going over my overdraft!

Can anyone shed any light on where I stand and what I can do?

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 20:56

They told me that no error has been made by my bank or on their part as it is their procedure to commence a DD of an amount specified by their statement

As I see it the statement should have read £0 as the balance was paid off two weeks before the necessary date?

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 21:06

I was told by the CC company when I took the card out that I would have to manually pay the first statement because my DD would not be setup in time, hense why I paid it manually and 2 weeks early.

I have a letter from the CC company advising that my DD has been setup and they will start collecting my monthly direct debit payments after my next statement

Surely that means they should only take a DD payment from my second statement?

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 21:13

There is no mention of dates :/

We will start collecting your monthly direct debit payments after your next statement, if a payment is due in the meantime please pay by alternative means until your statement advises the next payment will be collected by direct debit. once your direct debit is in place, any extra payments you make will not affect the amount we collect unless you contact us at least five working days before the payment date.

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 21:16

Rainmaker said:
In that case, it would be the OP's fault yes.

When was/is your statement though? If your first statement hasn't been issued yet then you should be able to claim the funds back from your CC provider. If nothing else, the CC company will have breached the contract between you, causing you a financial loss by taking funds earlier than agreed. You could technically sue in the county courts for renumeration, but of course a well placed (polite) phone call should avert any need for this.

I have had the card for 1 month and this is the first statement I have received

If it is my own fault ill happily take the blame and pay the fee but I don't understand what I could have done differently with the information I was given

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 21:19

surely "after my next statement" means the second statement

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 21:25

Well it was nice to learn that fact via someone on a forum and not via the CC company! If that is the case it doesn't look like I have a leg to stand on, lesson learnt

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 21:39

mattheman said:
when did you get the statement before of after you paid?

I got the statement afterwards. I assumed it was an automated statement. I suppose that is where my error was, I should have contacted them to make sure they knew I had covered the balance.

I'll see if there is anything they can do about recovering the bank charges, thanks for the info

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 22:42

Dolph said:
From the posts, before, he just decided that the next statement didn't actually mean the next statement, but the one after, for reasons I can't quite understand.

The words they (MBNA) used were "after" the next statement.

To me that means :

Statement No 1) - Next statement

Statement No 2) - The statement After the Next statement

Lakeland · 12 Sep 2009 at 22:58

It makes sense to people who have delt with credit cards in the past but not for a novice from the information in their letter and from the phone call I had when I activated the card when the operator told me to arrange manual payment for the first statement.

Anyhow, thanks for the info, I understand the procedure now and sure as s*** it won't be happening again