MBNA Late Default Sum and Interest Charge

[Somebody Told Me]

Yesterday I received my latest statement from MBNA which included a 'Late Default Sum' of £12.00 together with an interest charge of £6.26 for alleged late payment of my January statement.

 

The payment was due by 28th January and I made the payment via my Debit Card directly through online account with them on 26th January. After a fruitless conversation evening I was informed that their records show my payment having been made at 17:02 and their cut off point each day is 17:00 and as such they view the payment as having been made late.

 

I am currently awaiting a call back from a manager and have also emailed them requesting that the both charges be removed together with assurances that my credit file has not been adversely affected.

 

While I await their call/reply I was wondering if anyone had any useful advise on the best way of tackling these charges.

 

Thanks in advance.

[haggis1984]

Lol £12 + interest for a payment 2 mins late sounds reasonable doesnt it

 

If its your first charge most banks will refund. If not, its going to need some letter writing at a minimum.

 

From experience with MBNA on the phone I find it best to have a clear idea of what I want to say, eg: 'As this is the first occasion my payment has ever been late, and it was only 2 minutes late, it seems very unreasonable to issue a charge with further interest. I would like this refunded.' Let the manager disagree if he wants and let him say his piece, then just say the exact same thing again. No matter what his objection is, or how reasonable it seems, repeat until you get what you want Dont get sidetracked into disagreeing with his individual objections, just repeat again and again. First time you do this youll probably feel silly, but its a great tactic for neogitaition.

 

Let us know how you get on with the manager call back, if you get no joy Ill point you in the direction of template letters etc.

[lambchop13]

With MBNA if you pay via debit card it will be 4 days i think before it show as "paid" so that would take you over the payment day..

[Somebody Told Me]

Thanks for the advice haggis1984 I'll give that a go when they call me and will be sure to let you know how I can on.

 

Lambchop13,

 

According to their website when I processed the payment it said that the payment would be updated within two business days and on the statement it shows that payment was received on 29th January.

[ploddertom]

I pay using the FPS through B**c***s and find it is credited within 10 minutes, downside since I've started doing it this way is payment due day always falls on a Sunday!

 

PT

[steven4064]

A charge for late payment is a contract penalty at common law and unlawful. You should reclaim them

[Somebody Told Me]

Well despite not receiving my promised callback I emailed them last week requesting that they remove the charges. I received an acknowledgement letter on Saturday asking me to get in touch with their complaints team to discuss things further.

 

I gave them a call earlier today and spoke to a very helpful lady who reviewed my case and without any argument removed the charges and assured me that my credit file won't be affected in anyway by this.

 

Thanks to everyone for their advice it was greatly appreciated.

[haggis1984]

Well despite not receiving my promised callback I emailed them last week requesting that they remove the charges. I received an acknowledgement letter on Saturday asking me to get in touch with their complaints team to discuss things further.

 

I gave them a call earlier today and spoke to a very helpful lady who reviewed my case and without any argument removed the charges and assured me that my credit file won't be affected in anyway by this.

 

Thanks to everyone for their advice it was greatly appreciated.

 

And so she should have! Good news, well done

[steven4064]

Check though - MBNA are notorious for "forgetting" promises made on the phone. Its why we tell people always to deal with them in writing

[Somebody Told Me]

And so she should have! Good news, well done

 

Thanks. It was surprisingly, but pleasingly, easy to get sorted out. It's always refreshing to deal with someone with some common sense.

 

Check though - MBNA are notorious for "forgetting" promises made on the phone. Its why we tell people always to deal with them in writing

 

I did take her name together with dating and timing the call just in case and I'll be checking my statement online in a few days to see if the amendments show up. If not, then I'll await my next statement which is due to come out in a couple of weeks.

 

As soon as I have confirmation of them I'll let you know.

 

Thanks again.

[haggis1984]

Thanks. It was surprisingly, but pleasingly, easy to get sorted out. It's always refreshing to deal with someone with some common sense.

 

 

 

I did take her name together with dating and timing the call just in case and I'll be checking my statement online in a few days to see if the amendments show up. If not, then I'll await my next statement which is due to come out in a couple of weeks.

 

As soon as I have confirmation of them I'll let you know.

 

Thanks again.

 

I think Steven was suggesting you should check your credit file to make sure that a missed payment hasn't been marked. There are 3, Experian, Equifax and Callcredit. They all do a free trial (make sure you cancel before its over though or you have to pay monthly) or you can order your statutory report for £2.

[angrypat]

We have had a trouble free Alliance & Leicester credit card for about 15 years, invariably paying off in full each month.

Our last 4 statements, (beginning Nov 09, and I suspect co-inciding with the MBNA takeover), have all arrived too late to allow (immediate) payment within the deadline. The Dec statement arrived on a Fri pm with the following Sun as the deadline! Although we live in NW Scotland, none of our other mail suffered notable delays despite the seasonal rush and bad weather.

MBNA have brushed off written complaints with a standard response to each and have refused to lift the penalty payments and interest charges, hiding behind the terms of 'my agreement' (which was not offered for renewal and signed by me!) (Having hearing probelms I'm not happy phoning them)

They fail to address comments that the problem appears to co-incide with their takeover of the card.

This is shabby and unethical, the credit card company should have a legal obligation to ensure that statements arrive with adequate time for payment.

Can anyone spell out exactly what the situation is here or is it next step the ombudsman and a new card provider

[haggis1984]

I wouldn't bother with the ombudsman - sue em!

 

Start your own thread angrypat and youll get the attention of people to advise you.

[Somebody Told Me]

To get my issue dealt with I emailed [email protected].

 

They ask you not to provide any account details in your email just your name and address so that they can write back to you.

 

Within a few days I got a reply back asking me to call them so they could quickly deal with my concerns.

 

Now I note that you've mentioned not wishing to speak to them but if gets things sorted out I'm sure they'd have no problem confirming the conversation in writing if you ask them.

 

Give it a go and keep us updated.

[Somebody Told Me]

I think Steven was suggesting you should check your credit file to make sure that a missed payment hasn't been marked. There are 3, Experian, Equifax and Callcredit. They all do a free trial (make sure you cancel before its over though or you have to pay monthly) or you can order your statutory report for £2.

 

Having received written confirmation of the agreement reached a couple of months ago I checked with credit file this morning and I pleased to let you all know that everything is in order.

 

Thanks for the great advice guys - your scales have been rightly tipped.

Edited May 9, 2010 by Somebody Told Me