| Product: |
MBNA |
| Date: |
05/03/03 (677 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: easy to obtain
Disadvantages: low credit limit, high charges, poor/rude customer service
My first contact with MBNA credit cards was 6 years ago. Getting hold of one was about as easy as buying a newspaper from a newsagents, a virtually pre filled in application form landed on my doorstep and all I had to do was enter my bank details, as at the time I was looking for a CC I thought great and signed up.
Some weeks later I received my credit card.... with a meagre £100.00 limit, pointless I thought, but decided to keep as an emergency just incase.
Several months later I went on holiday and so called up MBNA asking for an extension of the limit on the card and I was told that "they only review a credit limit after 6 months" even after why I asked "why is it only £100 ?". So off I went on holiday.
Previous to going on holiday I had used the card several times for petrol and so paid off the balance, lucky I did as when on holiday I had to make use of the card for an emergency.
Upon arriving home I was welcomed by an MBNA statement advising I owed over £300, they had not received the cheque, then charged me for non payment, then charged me for going over my limit from what I spent on holiday ( this was only £75 ) and extortortionate exchange rates on top. As far as I could work out some £120 had been added in total as charges.
I was lucky as I had paid my balance in at my bank and so had proof of my payment, but oooo no it wasn?t that easy, they disputed that I had not done so even after sending them a copy of the payment receipt foil. I then sent them a cheque direct for a sum of £173 clearing what I had spent with the due interest leaving the "charges" unpaid, I then sent a cancellation letter ( which they apparently did not receive ) and up until about 2 years ago I was still receiving threats for non payment, I think the last amount they were asking for was well over £400, whether or not they deducted the payment of £173 I made I?ll never know and to be honest I don't care. I a
lso have to add that my bank at which I made the initial payment at went a great help in the matter.
In short, from my personal experience I have to say don't do it.
Summary:
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Last comments:
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- 06/03/03 with regards to upton66's comment.
1/ with regards to the small print yes this is true with regard to any purchase/credit application, however the fact that a payment was made in a high street bank and I had proof of this MBNA failed to acknowledge this and were not interested in helping me resolve this issue at all, via phone conversations they simply stated I failed to make a payment hand had been charged accordingly. This is hardly the kind of customer service I would expect from a CC provider or any other financial institution.
2/ rating me low due to no background information is fine, however I feel when It comes to reviewing a service ( which lets face it a CC is ), a review of the provider I feel is more important than the product. Before I enter into a contract now I look carefully at the history and comments about the company before I even consider to look at what they have to offer, the rates may look attractive but if the company is unreliable then it ends up costing more in the long run.
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- 06/03/03 In one way I guess I was lucky the ammount was less than £1000 otherwise I fear I would have ended up in court.
Should this have heppened I can assure you my review might not have been so... tame. :-) |
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- 05/03/03 Not a happy set of circumstances. Hope things work out in future, probably with another brand of card? :o) |
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