For the last 15 years I have had a credit card with Virgin Money, and paid the full balance each month by direct debit. Last month, three days after the debit is usually taken, I received a text from Virgin Money reminding me that a payment was due. I checked and the direct debit had been taken that morning.
I then discovered I had been charged £30 interest because I had allegedly missed a payment and broken the terms of my credit agreement, and I could be reported to credit agencies.
In a long phone call, Virgin Money said I would be refunded the interest but on my next payment date I would be charged the full amount on my card at that point, rather than just the usual payment for the previous month’s spending.
A few days later, I received a letter informing me that, following a review of my account, I would not be sent a new card when my current one expires in July. I was told it had been based solely on the missed payment (which wasn’t my fault) and had been sent in error.
However, I could only have the error corrected by making a formal complaint and waiting up to eight weeks for it to be investigated.
This seems absolutely crazy. Virgin Money has made two errors and I have never missed a payment in 15 years.
GA, Flitwick, Bedford
It’s four errors, actually. Virgin failed to collect the direct debit on the due day, charged you interest for the late payment, refused you a replacement card because of its own mistakes, then told you that you had to lodge a formal complaint before it could reinstate your replacement card.
Virgin admits as much in its response to the Observer and explains that the problems started because the direct debit fell due over a bank holiday weekend and wasn’t applied until the next working day. In the meantime, you had been offered £75 compensation and told you would not receive a card until your appeal had been processed.
To us, however, the company says that a replacement card has been dispatched. This has duly arrived, but with no explanation or apology, and you have already moved your custom elsewhere.
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