Seconded- avoid like the plague! (Vanquis Credit Card)

Member Name: sallyonsunday

Product:	Vanquis Credit Card
Date:	25/05/09 (237 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: money if you are desperate

Disadvantages: Scummy company, astronomical apr, telephone harrassment.

The other day, I got a statement from Vanquis telling me that my account was over its credit limit, by £2. Yes, £2. Enclosed was a default sum notice. I was pretty shocked as with my other credit card companies a default notice is only served if you dont pay your repayments.

My credit limit is 250 and i have never missed a payment, and my DD was due in a few days, so i didn't worry too much.

Next day, somebody called up at 9pm asking "Hiya is Marie there, please?" I didn't recognise it as anybody I knew, so i said "who is calling please?" They said Vanquis bank. I told them i wasnt there. I was so furious that they had dared to call me, a) so late and b) by my first name! Who do they think they are?

Then the calls started. Constant calling- today i had a phonecall at 8.45 am- on bank holiday monday. I am being treated like a total criminal. I am also with capital one and i have never experienced harrassment like this, even over a missed payment.

They called me one time and my brother answered the phone, and passed it to me. The young lad calling me was patronising and actually said in no uncertain terms "If you pay us this money, then we'll stop the constant calling." So not only harrassment, but blackmail too...

It won't allow me to post a link here, but there is a thread on consumer action called vanquis hell, where a guy tells of his telephone harrassment for going overlimit- pushed there by THEIR interest charges. One day he got a staggering 21 CALLS in a day!!

I'll pay this money when my dd goes out. As i told them. I refuse to be intimidated by their mid month harrassment tactics, and i'm not frightened of their pathetic default notices either. Reading reviews both on here and other consumer sites, it seems that harrassment is their tactic, and in this day and age and this economic climate, thats totally unacceptable. I've read stories of people driven to depression and suicide by constant harrassment from creditors. I'm also quite concerned by another dooyoo reviewer saying that when he went over his c/l, they jacked up his apr to a staggering 54%!!!!!!

This card is aimed at those on low incomes with poor credit history and represents itself as a saviour for those with low credit ratings, but one slip up and the hammer falls. If you are a single parent, or on benefits or low income, apr of 54% is beyond the pale and is worse than most loan sharks. Moreover, my internet reading finds in a lot of cases that vanquis do not accept that your debts are with an extenernal agency such as CCCS or debt management plans, and many people on forums say that they are still calling. I'd advise anybody with a low credit rating to steer clear of this scummy company.

Summary: What? i can't give them a zero out of 5??