Help! Just discovered 16 months of MBNA charges on 0% card!

A question about : Help! Just discovered 16 months of MBNA charges on 0% card!

Hi there,

I'm still in shock after logging onto my MBNA credit card account online and finding they have charged me late payment fees every month since I set it up, despite me setting up a monthly direct debit. I had no idea because I got the card simply to purchase an expensive video camera. It was a 0% on card purchases for 16 months so I sensibly set up a direct debit to pay off more than the minimum amount each month. Then I set a date in my diary to transfer the balance once the 16 months was up and put the card away in a drawer. I've just come to look at transferring the balance and discovered that they've been charging me a Ј12 late payment fee each month plus between Ј36-Ј41 interest charges (I presume the 0% charges don't apply if you are late with your payments!) In total I've worked out I've been charged around Ј800 in interest (I wasn't expecting to pay) and late payment charges. I feel like such an idiot - I must have simply tapped in the wrong date when I set up the payments! I also feel completely duped and very distraught! These companies make you jump through hoops when applying for the cards and then keep nice and quiet when they start coining it in due to what is obviously a simple and honest error!
I HAVE been getting emails to say the statements are available online but I could never remember my account name without digging out the original letter so I never got round to looking at it. So much for trying to be clever (or even just plain sensible with my money!) Can I reclaim both the interest and the late charges?
Could someone please advise the best course of action.
Many thanks

Best answers:

• this needs moving to the credit card section, are you seriously saying mbna never once sent you a letter about all these underpayments? not one phone call off them either?
  ps your credit file has just been seriously negatively affected by this too.
• Oh God, I never thought of that - and I need to transfer the balance asap! I will try and repost now!
• yes get your post copied and pasted to the credit card section, then tonight get copys fo your credit report the Ј2 ones, and also sign up to noddle right now, you should be able to see your credit files instantly
  also post exact dates, when you took out the card etc, as much info as you can, sadly this may be all your own fault though, and its going to take a lot of goodwill from mbna to help sort this sorry mess out.
• Well, I can tell you I never once got a letter or a phone call otherwise I could have sorted it out in a flash. I'm gutted!
• Just done the Noddle rating and it's 4/5. I'm guessing it would be 5/5 if it weren't for this mishap. I only have one other credit card which is always paid in full every month. No loans apart from the mortgage.
  The MBNA card was taken out in Sept 2013. I actually phoned them up about six months later to find out my credit limit as I wanted to make a smaller one-off purchase on it. At no point did they mention my payments were going in late!