A question about : Confirmation of fees free charity cards
I know some have been questioning whether the charity cards listed in the Balance Transfer article are BT free - primarily because the call centre has been giving out erroneous info.
This concerns the following cards: Great Ormond Street, Guide Dogs, Harley Davidson, Macmillan Cancer Relief, Mencap, NSPCC, RNID, The Scout Association
Read the article: Balance transfer best cards
To clarify I asked HBOS who manage the cards to send me an official note (to regular moneysavers if you see people asking about this, please link them to this post)
Alex Barnett, the Press Officer has written this
Hello Martin,
Hope all is well.
Further to our earlier conversation, the charity cards featured on www.charitycard.co.uk don't have a BT fee on the introductory offer. As per the summary box on site, no BT fee is made during the introductory offer period. Should a BT be made after this introductory period then a BT fee of 2% (Ј2 min) may be charged.
I understand some of your site users have queried this and we apologise for any inconvenience we may have caused. Our standard charity cards do carry a BT fee and this may be where the confusion lies. We will emphasise this difference to colleagues taking applications to avoid further confusion. These cards are predominantly designed for online or postal applications and we are still accepting applications via this route.
I would encourage anyone wishing to apply for this card to do so via www.charitycard.co.uk.
As discussed, please put any comments on your site down as coming from a 'press officer'.
Kind regards
Alex
Alex Barnett
Media Relations Officer
Press Office
HBOS
Further Update: 12 April 2006
I know there are still some problems and have been chatting it through again with HBOS. The following has come from it:-
Hi Martin,
As discussed, a communication has been sent to our call centres stressing the difference between our various charity card offerings. It re-iterates that the Platinum charity cards carrying the 0% for 9 months BT deal do not have a BT fee for the introductory period. All the team leaders will have received an e-mail detailing this and will communicate it with our customer service advisors.
Anyone applying for the card who does experience a problem should ask the call centre operative to clarify offerings on charity cards.
As before, I would encourage anyone wishing to apply for this card to do so via www.charitycard.co.uk.
Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Kind regards
Alex
So what should you do?
If you're being told the wrong info, this is what I suggest.
Check you applied the right way, ie only via the www.charitycard.co.uk.
Check it is the Platinum card you have applied for.
If that is the case then tell the customer services operative your team leader will have received a memo in the last couple of days from head office clarifying this situation. I believe the information you have given me is incorrect, please can I speak to them or can you check with them.
If there is still a problem, then I will be trying to follow this up personally, let me know if its still happening. I will be keeping track of this thread after easter.
Martin
Best answers:
- This is a bump to keep the thread temporarily high up
martin - Rang them this morning and the fee that they said would be applied the other day has not been applied nor will it be
Good result - Hi folks,
I've seen in other threads theres still some consternation here. Providing you apply the correct way, it will be fees free, we've a written guarantee above by HBOS. If there are problems, then i will personally try and sort them through the press office (at the point where it looks like they're unsorted another way).
martin - I will send alex a copy of your post!
- I too have called the Bank of Scotland to activate my NSPCC card as listed on this site.
After they had tried selling me two types of insurance, they then attempted to slap on the 2% fee. I questioned this with the operator who stated that in 'two places on my paperwork' it stated that there was a 2% charge (to a maximum of Ј50) as an Administration Fee.
Bummocks to that. I cancelled the Balance Transfer and thanked the nice lady on the phone for her time. Balance Transfer did not take place, and the card is about to be returned.
Seems a bit naughty to me to advertise a Fee Free card, only to slap on a covert 'Adninistration Fee' of 2% - hmmm the plot thickens!!!
Not being one to take things lying down so to speak, I got back onto HBOS and spoke to a different lady. She informed me this...
"....the balance transfer fee is waived for the period of your introductory period [9 months]. A fee of 2% would be applied to a maximum of Ј50 for any transfers performed after the end of this promotional period..."
Balance transfer performed, Ј20 better off for the call, and the card stays in the wallet.
Everyone is a winner
Result!! - On Wednesday of this week (5.4.06), I applied for the HD card, following the links on this site.
This morning, (Saturday 8.4.06), I recieved a letter from BOS thanking me for my application, BUT!
"This card is no longer available, but after assessing the information you sent us we can offer you the Harley Davidson Card with a rate of typical 12.9% APR variable."
I telephoned their help line, 0845 300 0323 and asked what was going on. The operator confirmed that the 0% BT was no longer available and asked where I had seen the ad. I explained the link from MSE.com to HD and told her about the other BOS cards with the same offer. She apologised and said that she would find out why the offer was still being made when it was no longer available and that it would be pulled after the weekend.
Unfortunately, I now have a point against me for applying for their card!
What do you think? :confused:
Jim - ...am waiting nervously for a response to my application. Will let you know.
- Received the same letter as thejhw.
Rang BOS nobody seemed to be sure of an answer regarding fees on balance transfers, so I cancelled my application. - Have only just woken up to this range of cards, but as of right now, the Ts and Cs state
5.2 We may charge a handling fee of 2% (at least Ј2) for balance transfers and cheques offered at special promotional rates other than a special promotional rate you received when your account was opened.
I have checked both on the Harley Davidson & Guide Dogs Tx and Cs, they are identical. - Activated my card yesterday and was asked if I wanted to make a balance transfer. Was told the fee was 2% so it would appear there is still confusion!
Rob - Been accepted for the guide dog card but no mention of credit limit, will have to return agreement before I find out I guess.
- Im at a loss here. I've just spoken to HBOS again - to say this is bloody embarassing for them and me. The card IS fees free, they are going to send another note to call centre staff. My problem is i dont want to stop telling people about the top fees free BT card, yet at the same time, this makes it look like i dont know what i'm talking about.
All i can say is "sorry I am trying!"
martin - Right, here is my experience with the Macmillan BOS card-
I applied and saw no evidence of a BT fee on the application paperwork.
The agreement came through the post and it mentioned the BT fee. I queried on the phone and they confirmed there was no BT fee during the promo period.
I got my card today and rang up to activate. I asked for confirmation that the BT was fee free and they said yes. There was no hesitiation or anything. The person I spoke to must have been really switched on or must have had Martin explain to them only minutes earlier how their cards worked!
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