# Tesco Credit card



## thedaras (6 Oct 2010)

Here is an interesting one..I applied to Tesco for a credit card, did it all on line,it was a balance transfer with zero interest for several months.I filled in all the required details and put in the amount I needed transfered.

I got the card ,but when my old CC bill arrived there was no transfer from the Tesco card.

I phoned them to ask why it hadn't been done,and they say I never applied for a balance transfer..

So now Im the proud owner of another credit card with several thousand euro credit on it and another card with several thousand owed on it..

Any ideas what to do now?
I definitely applied for the balance transfer,I had no other reason to to apply.
It was all done on line so I have no record of the actual application.


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## Bobby1 (6 Oct 2010)

Ive applied for one too and did the same... went for a balance transfer so interesting to see if i end up in the same boat...2 credit cards which i dont want! cheers for the heads up


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## thedaras (6 Oct 2010)

Hope it works out better for you..
I think if we see a pattern here, we can so something about it..

I've been on to customer service (last night ) but there was just some young kid trying to deal with it and I've requested a call back today from someone who can make decisions.
I have told them if they don't do the balance transfer that I want to cancel the card..its the last thing I need!


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## thedaras (6 Oct 2010)

Oh meant to say, This has cost me a fair few bob in interest charges from the other CC company..so not happy as I had it well timed..


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## Natt (7 Oct 2010)

Exactly same thing has happened me. Got my tesco credit card last week but from checking my online banking the balance hasn't been transfered.

Havent been onto tesco yet but will do first thing tomorrow.


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## thedaras (7 Oct 2010)

This isn't looking too good!!
Lets see if anyone else has had the same problem and then we can go further with it..
Thanks


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## Bill Struth (7 Oct 2010)

I did the same a while back. The credit limit they placed on the card was a lot less than the amount I needed transferred. Yet the transfer amount was clearly stated in the application, which they approved.


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## JoeB (7 Oct 2010)

Well, search on this forum for other posts relating to Tesco Credit Cards.

It is a fact that Tesco incorrectly applied charges that weren't allowed for in their T&Cs.. and they denied this. But subsequently it turned out to be true, and Management were proven to have lied.

The issue was to do with Tesco applying extra charges to transactions relating to gambling, even though this wasn't in the T&Cs. Tesco denied this, but failed to prove it. Subsequently it turned out that they were wrong all along, and had been lying.

The T&Cs were eventually changed in April 2010 I think, even though Tesco had been applying the charges for six to eight months prior to that... 


So my point is that Tesco Credit Card management are prepared to lie about things, even when the case against them is watertight. Tesco claimed to have sent me a copy of the T&Cs on at least five occasions, including by registered post. When it subsequently turned out that the T&Cs had never allowed them to apply the gambling charges I asked what T&Cs they has sent on the five occasions, letters that I never received. Clearly they had no answer to this.

One Tesco employee claimed to have personally circled the relevant clauses and placed the letter in the post... when it turned out that those apparently circled clauses had never existed I asked what that individual had done?.. Again, this was an impossible question for Tesco, and they declined to answer.


So don't allow them to claim that they can never be wrong, that is simply untrue, they have been proven to lie in the past.  And I'm not talking about junior frontline staff.. I'm talking about considered lies by senior management.

Cheers


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## thedaras (13 Oct 2010)

Update;
Phoned Tesco Credit card and told them the situation, they promised someone would phone me back within 2 days...not a word since..

So I phone them again and I cancelled the card and told them that I will not be paying any charge which may have been incurred,ie; government stamp duty?

They told me if I cancel the card I couldn't apply for another one for the next 8 months.As if they had any chance of me ever getting one of their cards again.

This has taken up a lot of my time and cost me money..

*I made the application on-line and it was most definitely for a balance transfer.*

I then had to wait a matter of weeks before I received notification to say it was approved,obviously I thought they approved what I applied for.

I then had to phone them twice and I had to cancel the card and due to their incompetence which caused a delay,ie; the balance should have been transferred, I have  incurred interested charges from the other CC company.

Luckily, I am in a position to pay the the CC off in full this month.
But it was shoddy treatment by Tesco.What a waste of time,effort and money...every little helps????


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## ali (13 Oct 2010)

This also happened to my husband. Applied for a balance transfer of say €8,000 online. Got paperwork in the post and was told was approved for card. Sent back required documents e.g. proof of id and residence. Subsequently got card and a letter saying that there was a problem transferring the balance and to call them. 

When he called them they said he was approved for credit limit of €2,000 so insufficient to transfer balance. Even though transfer amount was stated on the application form. He made the point that they were wasting his time but they didn't care. He told them to cancel card. Then got a letter from them saying that they were sorry he cancelled card but they would have to charge him €30 tax. He phoned and explained saga and that he hadn't used card and they had supplied a card that was of no use to him and they wouldn't listen. He was told "you need to ring the Irish Government"!!! He lost patience and told him that he wouldn't be paying the charge and hung up. 

No further statement or letter ever arrived but it was the most tremendous waste of time and energy and he is not the only one it happened to by any means. 

BTW he had previously moved from Halifax to MBNA to Bof I to keep paying down the debt at 0% with great success. Giving up on tesco he moved the debt back to MBNA a second time at a negotiated rate of 4.4% for 10 months which should be long enough to clear it. Not an ideal solution but better than the alternative.

A.


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## thedaras (13 Oct 2010)

Ok.. I can only presume this will also happen to us,ie; that we will be charged the 30 euro..

Is there anything we can do about this as it would appear that people are applying for the Tesco credit card for a balance transfer ,and it seems such a coincidence that this is not what they are being given.

Just some further information, I was looking to transfer from NBNA as the 0% interest term was just about to end,that is why I looked at an Irish site that compared CC and decided to apply to tesco.

I definitely applied for a balance transfer and I recall looking for my visa bill to check the exact amount to be transferred.
Can we go to the financial regulator to complain about this?


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## niceoneted (13 Oct 2010)

Is it not a case that you are applying for the credit card from tesco and within that application you are also applying for a balance transfer from an existing credit card. If you get approved for the credit card with tesco it will be dependent on the limit allowed whether you can then avail of the balance transfer part of the application.


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## ali (14 Oct 2010)

niceoneted said:


> Is it not a case that you are applying for the credit card from tesco and within that application you are also applying for a balance transfer from an existing credit card. If you get approved for the credit card with tesco it will be dependent on the limit allowed whether you can then avail of the balance transfer part of the application.


 

I don't agree. The procedure on the online application says Apply for a balance transfer today. That's how it's headed and marketed. When you key in your personal details along with the amount you require transferred you are also asked for the card no you wish to transfer the balance from. Indeed if you require the card to make any purchases you lose the 0% offer as any payments are taken from the balance first and purchases last. You then get notification that you are approved and need to send off documentation proofs, none of which you would bother to do if you were not led to believe they have read your application and approved it as they say they have.

A.


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## JoeB (14 Oct 2010)

I agree.. the balance transfer is an important and integral part of the application... it is unfair for Tesco to approve one aspect of your application (i.e new card)... and not approve another aspect of your application (i.e balance transfer).

It seems, just from the anecdotal evidence on this thread that Tesco are doing just that.. that they are acting unfairly and 'tricking' people into signing up for a new card, by 'leading customers on'..


I'd imagine that if several people made this complaint to the Regulator that he would uphold the complaint, and force Tesco to stop acting in this way.


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## thedaras (14 Oct 2010)

I have put a complaint into Consumer affairs ,lets see if they recommend anything.
It was the only reason I applied, to avail of the balance transfer..

By the way they just approved the card,they made NO MENTION of the balance transfer.
My question is why? Why would they ask me for all the details of the old card, for the amount I wanted to transfer etc,and then completely IGNORE this???
If it walks like a duck....


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## thedaras (15 Oct 2010)

Here is a copy of how the application for Tescos credit card went;

Additional options - balance transfer

Tesco Credit Card provides the following extra options for you!
 Balance Transfer allows you to transfer balances from your higher rate credit card and store cards to your Tesco Credit Card.
Are you interested in our Balance transfer option	  Yes   No 	
balance transfer

Step 3 of 6
Required fields are indicated with a *.
Please enter in order of priority, the names and numbers of the cards and the exact amount you want transferred. The minimum transfer amount for each card is €100.00
We can only transfer balances from cards issued in the Republic of Ireland, and denominated in Euro. Sterling balances cannot be transferred.
Card Number 1 *	

Balance 1 (€) *	

Card Number 2	

Balance 2 (€)	

Card Number 3	

Balance 3 (€)	

It takes about 2 to 3 weeks to process your application. Until then, you may need to make a payment to your other card accounts to keep them current.
......................................................................................................

Hope that its clear that this is what I did and expected that this is what would happen..


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## thedaras (15 Oct 2010)

Here is the email I have received from the National consumer agency;


Thank you for contacting the National Consumer Agency (NCA) with your query regarding switching credit card providers.

The aim of the National Consumer Agency (NCA) is to defend consumer’s interests and to embed a robust consumer culture in Ireland. However, please note that the NCA does not have a statutory remit in relation to individual complaints and has no powers to award individual redress. 

You may wish to make a formal complaint about this, initially to Tesco Personal Finance and if necessary to the Financial Services Ombudsman in the UK. 

Firstly, we would suggest you review the application form that you sent Tesco Personal Finance when applying for the credit card. If you have received a confirmation email from them it may show that you had requested a balance transfer. This may be useful to attach to your formal letter of complaint to Tesco. Tesco Personal Finance is regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority and regulated entities must have a complaints handling procedure in place. 
As you have already contacted them over the phone and have not found satisfaction from speaking with Tesco Personal Finance, we would suggest you send them a formal written complaint. You can send this by email or post. Their contact details are as follows: The Manager, Customer Care Team, PO Box 6050, Southend on Sea, SS99 1WL 

If Tesco Personal Finance does not resolve the issue to your satisfaction you may then escalate it to the Financial Services Ombudsman. The FSO is a statutory officer who deals independently with unresolved complaints from consumers about their individual dealings with all financial service providers. The service they provide is free of charge and you can write to them at, 

Financial Services Ombudsman 
3rd Floor, Lincoln House, 
Lincoln Place, 
Dublin 2 

Email enquiries@financialombudsman.ie 

Website [broken link removed] 

You can read more information on how to make a complaint on our personal finance website, www.itsyourmoney.ie. I attach a link for your convenience: making a complaint. 

If you are switching credit card, make sure you close your old credit card account so that you are not tempted to spend money using both cards. Remember that you have to pay stamp duty before you close your old credit card account. Ask your old credit card issuer for a Letter of Closure, which proves that you paid the stamp duty for that year. Give this letter to your new credit card issuer as soon as possible so they do not charge you stamp duty or interest on the credit card again. Don’t assume a credit card account is closed just because you have stopped using the card. Even if you don’t use the card, you will be charged stamp duty every year, until you tell your credit card provider to cancel your card. Make sure you cancel, in writing, any direct debits you have set up on your credit card, such as a magazine subscription or membership of a club.

We trust you have found this information useful and if you have any further consumer related queries please do not hesitate to contact us on Lo Call1890 432 432 or 01 4025555. ;

As you would be making a complaint to a company regulated in the UK I would suggest the you contact the Financial Ombudsman in the UK as opposed to the Financial Service Ombudsman in Ireland. You can get contact details for the Financial Ombudsman in the UK on their website http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. 

*Hope this is of some help to others that find themselves in the same position.
*


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