Got an MBNA C/C Written Off

A question about : Got an MBNA C/C Written Off

Took it out March 2008 under the impression that they offered a guarenteed maximum repayment of only Ј25 per month for the first year NO MATTER WHAT the outstanding balance was - 0% APR. I took it out, clarified with the sales team that the Ј25 deal was real - was told YES in no uncertain terms...

came to the first months payment - Ј212.00. Made a complaint by phone, was told it was only the case on the first month but the other months from then on would only be Ј25.

Each month that went by the statements were hundreds of pounds - I did have Ј5,600 outstanding balance, but it went against their promotion.

They claimed I used it for gambling and cash and that wasnt in the deal - they claimed I made late payments and the deal was revoked...

I stopped paying them and told them they had mis-sold it to me and sought CAB advice. Wrote loads of letters and hassled them about my case - they eventually (after contradicting themselves) wrote off the interset and charges.

After 180 days wrote off the entire balance as bad debt !! They take no blame in the matter, but I will keep on at the them to fix the poor credit rating default that they have created through it.

They also showed no evidence of any calls recorded even though I made about 20 phone calls to them over the months.

If anyone else is on this deal and feels that it is grossly mis-sold or mis advertised - then you have hope to get some redress.

:-) Happy days.

Best answers:

• You were very lucky, and I'm surprised they caved in.
  The T&C's were extremely clear in that the first payment was (it's changed now*) either...
  3% (circa, I forget exactly)
  or
  BT fee + Ј5
  whichever was the LEAST (and with a Ј25 or full balance collar).
  Therefore your BT fee was payable with the first minimum payment.
  * They now (as of last Sept/Oct?) operate as you thought, ie all payments are Ј25 including the first.
• Well I either misunderstood the deal OR their teams on the sales floor told me a whole load of hoooohaa.... I demanded transcripts of calls etc... going back a year and wrote some amazingly detailed almost "!!!!!y" letters! It helped that their staff contradicted themselves too - so I accused them of lying and misleading, flase advertising etc... I didn't hold back.
  I suspect that they uncovered some tapes and found that they were in the wrong somehow and that it would eventually come to light.
  I will write to them to still to get my rating repaired.
  :-)
• I wouldn't hold your breath. Did you win at the gambling or did you lose it all?
• I robbed them? It's like going to Tesco and seeing an offer "buy our plasma TV now - and only repay Ј25 per month for the first year"....
  That's what I was told - and had it confirmed FOUR times on the phone.
  I am angry that I was mislead. If they had been honest about the "promotion" then I would have refused the card as it wouldn't have been what I wanted. Instead, they told me what I wanted to hear - a total MIS-SELLING and they deserve to be knocked.
  Besides, it was THEIR choice to write the card off - not mine. I did not take them to court. They would only back down and cave in IF they knew they were in the wrong.
  Oh - and the gambling?? Well I was trying a "sports trading" exercise which is why Ј25 per month repayment was ideal cos I knew I wanted a lot of funds to play with - and it didn't work out!
• What a shame.
• Hmm do I suspect a touch of sarcasm here Kavanne????
• I wonder, why do I have difficulties to believe Cashpig74's story?
• *scratches head* The point of my original post was to highlight to other users that cards/agreement after April 2007 can still be challenged successfully if there are errors. I'm not here to pick up an award from users I dont even know or have never met - I couldn't give a rat's a*se if it's believed or not - OR if anyone actually responded - but if someone out there has the same card on the same deal and is in the same situation as I was - then they'll know that it is possible to qustion the banks sales techniiques.
  It's not an unheard of situation that banks sell you products using dubious methods. They're just like any other commercial enterpirse - they are out to make a profit. Nothing more.
• You should make them a payment of the 5600, becuase you spent the cash and its morally right to - you've have a 0% loan for a year off them, so why should they pay for your spending?
  Or should I say, why should *I* as a paying customer pay for your debts through increasing interest rates?
• WTF? Yeh ok MBNA - here's your Ј5600. Erm, I don't think so. Morals do not come into it. If you are going to be one of these "morals" people where the banks are concerned, then you are a mug.
  Increased interest rates? Well, if you dont wanna pay increased rates, don't agree to borrowing the money then.
  The deal with MBNA should have been how they described it. It was not.
  They lied to me about it and fabricated it - a bit like you see a box in a cake shop with a picture of a nice delcious sponge cake on the front..
  when you open it, it's rotten old bread pudding..
  Are you going to complain - or eat the rotten old bread pudding cos you dont want to upset them?
  Mug.
• Actually, to continue, its people like YOU that are the reason interest rates are so HIGH - cos they see you as an easy mug-target so they capitalise on it knowing that they'll make a huge profit because you let your so called "morals" get in the way of better judgement.
  The Ј5600 was afforded to me on the basis of the express terms explained to me on the phone. These terms did not exist in reality. So who robbed who?
  Thank you.
• At first i had some pity & sympathy for you, but your attitude just stinks now with some of your replies to people.
  Sounds like to me you mis-understood the deal completely & you didnt do any background reading before hand. 0% was on your purchases, as soon as you used it for gambling transactions, then it invalidated the deal as gambling transactions are not classed as purchases but as cash advances.
  I hope in future you read the terms & conditions fully before blaming the system.
• Normanmark - my responses are justifies as people jump the gun and become judgemental.
  IN FACT - the express terms of the contract are the terms that were explained in plain english over the phone as I bought this "deal" using that medium.
  I miss-understood nothing. I am not stupid. There NO mention of gambling transactions in my t+c's whatsoever. The deal was revoked due to late payments initially - but that's because they sent my statements to the wrong address - then they reinstated the deal and for the FIFTH time - reconfirming the basis of the deal.
  Again, the MBNA sales team were telling me what they thought would be enough to shut me up at the time. But I never once was invoiced for just Ј25 on a statement and I gave them every opportunity to tell me about any misgivings with the deal - and they ALL told me that :
  "all I had to pay would be Ј25 until May 2009 REGARDLESS of the outstanding balance". TIME AND TIME AGAIN.
  This was not the case.
  So yes, I DO blame the system cos the system that they used in my experience was wrong, selfish and flawed.
  I am not going to entertain the likes of MBNA who threaten, cheat and lie to consumers in their letters when the money is not paid on time.
  You might, but that's your doing - don't get an attitude with others that have the nerve to challenge these companies.
  They pay themselves richly for ripping ppl off in the first place.
• This is a really depressing story. I could understand MBNA admitting to making an error and letting the OP off the charges and other sundries, but I cannot fathom why they would write off the whole debt. So many times I read of people who are in financial difficulty e.g. due to changes in circumstances getting stiffed by financial companies and yet the OP breezes in, fails to read the T&Cs, defaults and then gets let off the whole amount. It's incredible (almost literally so).
  Good luck, OP, in ever getting credit again. For the foreseeable future the only companies that are going to touch you are those dodgy ones that advertise on daytime TV with usurious rates of interest.
• Oh dear, the jealousy is incredible.
  There is only one reason why YOU cannot fathom why they would write the whole debt off - and that is because you do not have enough information.
  There is only one reason why the whole debt was written off, and that was because MBNA KNEW they were in the wrong in the first place.
  Simple. I know the t+c's - it's how I managed to win the argument in the first place. It seems that their staff do not.
• I took the card out with a few intentions - gambling was one of them. They did not mention in spoken word OR written on the t+c that gambling transactions were not covered by the 0%.
  Besides, if I hadn't used the card for gambling, it would have still been more than Ј25 per month as a the very end of all this "problem" their manager told me on the phone that the Ј25 deal only applied to balance transfers.
  Why was I not told this from their sales team?
  Normanmark - YOU are the one that wants to join a thread, make a splash and be seen as some kind of do-gooder. That's fine.
  But I know when I've been told a load of Bull... from a CC company so that the sales girl can make a quick commission.
  What about if I had spent the money on say, a life saving private operation? Would you be acting like such a drama-queen still??
  Gambling has got nothing to do with the mis-selling of the terms by their greedy and selfish sales team.
  MBNA did not write off the balance because they felt like being nice.
  Use your common sense. Ta.