Virgin (MBNA) Credit Card

[vad921]

Hi all,

Yesterday I rang Virgin/MBNA to explain my circumstance and to try and arrange a temporary payment plan. I had a very bizarre conversation with them, received some strange advice but absolutely no help!

Unusually they seem to have a call centre in the UK (Liverpool) so there was no risk of misinterpretation.

The first thing the guy said to me was 'American law dictates that we have to help you in some way'. American law! However, because I'm not in arrears I can't have a temporary payment plan and then, if I was behind in payments, the payment plan would only be to bring me back up to date.

He then added that they can arrange an 'IVA' with me but this would 'destroy' my credit record. He added that this 'IVA' would be for the full amount plus interest and be spread over 10 years.

He added that I should not believe this nonsense in the press that you can get away with only paying a percentage of your debt. He said there are a lot of people telling stories and falsehoods.

I then mentioned to him that I'm looking into an IVA/DMP, letting him know that I have been taking advice and that I know what an IVA is.

He then said that they would not accept that kind of IVA. I responded by saying only a majority needed to agree, to which he responded that more and more financial companies are refusing to accept IVA's.

He said the only help he can give me was to look at lowering the interest rate. He put me through to the appropriate department but even this wasn't possible because I am over my credit limit and my account is locked. I would have to pay the amount I'm over plus the minimum amount to 'maybe' reduce my interest rate. This would be £330 which is a figure I cannot pay.

I've made a decision to pay only what I can afford and I will have to live with the consequences!!

[Soulgrowth]

It sounds as if he really doesn't know what he is talking about but just clutching at straws to try and get SOME money out of you, I believe that often these people work on some kind of commission basis? I would imagine that alerting him to the fact that you may be having some difficulty with making payments may have made him a bit anxious. Sometimes, silence is golden!

But I am sure that one of the Experts will be able to shed more light.

Debbie

[MelanieGiles]

Well he is certainly not suggesting an IVA toyou if it is going to run over 10 years and allow them to continue to charge interest! And more and more companies are actually voting to accept IVAs not reject them for his information if he rings again.

VAD could you contact me at the website again. I looked into your enquiry yesterday, and we cannot tie up your forum name to the enquiry you made on Thursday. Please also identify yourself with your forum name, so that I can be sure we are dealing with your enquiry appropriately.

[Reviva UK]

Hi Vad

not sure about your other debts but MBNA are owned by The Bank of America which is why they quoted the american law.

From my experience they won't enter into a payment plan if you are currently up to date - so bizzarly you would need to miss a couple of payments to get a plan.

If you speak to them after a few missed payments then they are likely to freeze interest provided that you pay 0.8% of the debt each month.

For example if you owe 10,000 your normal payments would be around 200 ( 2%) per month. in their own administered repayment plan you would pay back 80 per month.

bear in mind that you will need a total solution to the whole debt problem and it is not usually any benefit just fixing one creditor.

Hope this helps & well done for speaking to Melanie

[Andrew Graveson]

A common situation described by Paul.

Even within DMP's some creditors will not consider the interest issue (freezing of interest) until the account has reached a certain level of arrears.

Seems odd to have a policy that rewards non-payment but I do understand that large organisations must have policies to work around. I'm sure the policies fit the majority of their cases of payment difficulty very well but some ironic scenarios do arise.

[vad921]

Well he is certainly not suggesting an IVA toyou if it is going to run over 10 years and allow them to continue to charge interest! And more and more companies are actually voting to accept IVAs not reject them for his information if he rings again.

VAD could you contact me at the website again. I looked into your enquiry yesterday, and we cannot tie up your forum name to the enquiry you made on Thursday. Please also identify yourself with your forum name, so that I can be sure we are dealing with your enquiry appropriately.

HI Melanie,

Yes, I will do it this morning. Sorry for the late response. It is difficult during the day as I work in a open office and my pc screen can be seen.

[Adam Davies]

Hi vad921
Sometimes it's hard to believe that creditors want people in debt to contact them in the first place so that the they can try to come to an agreement with the debtor !!
Maybe MBNA need to spend more money on staff training and knowledge of the industry that they are part of ?
Regards