TSB Credit card (LLoydsTSB)

Member Name: clairebear1984

Product:	LLoydsTSB
Date:	01/10/08 (898 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Sneeky, Rude and have no Customer Service

I always said to myself that I would never use a credit card as I had heard of different people getting in a lot of debt with them. Last year when I got offered my home I decided to use it for what started out as a few small things. Within a few months my credit card had been maxed out and I was then awaiting my statement bill to make my first payment.

When I first applied for the credit card I can remember thinking that I was never going to use it and that I felt a bit secure having it there just incase. When I was speaking to the lady regarding the card, it sounded wonderful. I felt that I could use it whenever I wanted with not very many repercussions. The debt part and the interest charges seemed to be forgotten for a second as I was told the interest was very reasonable compared to other banks. I accepted this as I honestly knew nothing about interest rates and credit cards. I wish I had of done my research now as I have had nothing but problems caused by this credit card.

I was very upset to see that my first statement had taken me out of credit due to 3 months of interest being put on there dating back to when I first used my card. I was advised at the time of getting my card that I would only have to pay a minimum of £20.00 per month to keep me in credit and to pay off the card within 5 years. This didn't sound right to me and what a surprise it wasn't. My first bill was here and I was already making a payment of £50.00. I made my payments for a few months and I was very disappointed that my balance was going nowhere. Every month the high interest was taking me out of balance. I was paying a lot more than agreed at the time of accepting the card yet it seemed that nothing had been paid off.

At this point I was regretting getting the credit card and I just wanted it paid off as soon as possible so I decided to go to the bank and pay £200, surely this would get me right back into credit and the interest charges wouldn't be as high. I was right as I checked my Internet banking the following day I was £200 in credit. Great I thought I can now start paying this off, once again I was wrong as I received a phone call 2 days later. The gentle man on the phone asked me if I could make a payment of £50.00 immediately, I advised him that I only paid £200 a few days ago. He seemed pleased with this and told me that I could now go to the original agreed plan and pay £20.00 per month to get this cleared. The following month I paid £20.00 and I checked my internet banking to see that once again I was out of credit, how could this be when only a few weeks ago I was £200 in credit. I made about 10 calls that week trying to find out what had happened and the customer service team just couldn't tell me and kept passing me to someone else. At my wits end I decided to call one of the branches and I was advised they have nothing to do with credit cards. They seemed to know a lot about them when they were selling me one.

The following week again after no success I rang the call centre and asked to speak to a manager but surprise, surprise there wasn't one there so I requested a manager call back that night. A few hours later I did receive a call but not from a manager. The gentleman was the first to apologise, I was grateful for this as in my opinion the rest of the staff seem to be very rude, they do not have much knowledge of the job itself which is a bit worrying considering they work in the credit card department and half of them couldn't even tell you the interest rates.

To sum up my bad experience I had more and more calls. I was insulted and argued with and on one occasion I was asked what I did with my personal life that enabled me not to afford £50.00 per month. I was furious. I sent letters in with no reply.

The latest problem I have is that they are now going into my bank and taking the payment themselves. On a few occasion's now I have paid my money as usual and they have still gone into my bank and taken more, this being a problem as I end up paying them two payments in one month hence there not being enough money in the bank and me incurring charges.

I was not told at the time that if you have a Lloyds TSB debit card as well as a credit card then money could be taken from the credit card side as long as you have it in the bank. So it's basically a worry that they can go in anytime and take what they want.

I know that most other credit card companies are most likely the same where they don't advise you of the small inconsistencies but I would say to do a little bit of research and look around before opting for a company.

Money is an important thing to us all and it is always better to know that your money is safe somewhere but I'm afraid I don't feel that way at all. I have to check my internet banking daily to make sure they haven't taken anything out that was in my bank for other bills and it is a constant worry. I never gave them my debit card details, nor did I give them permission to take my money when I have already paid, but they do it anyway and apparently there isn't much I can do as it is in there terms and conditions.

With regards to the branches, I don't really have that much of a problem with them. They are very friendly and helpful and they do have job knowledge I just think that they are advised to make the credit card more appealing than what it really is.

I am currently looking into changing my account and paying TSB off for good and if I knew what I do now, I would never get out a credit card with these or any other insurance or finance.

Summary: A very bad customer services team and the card isn't what it seems