Uslter Bank and Stamp Duty

TomTom

I had a credit card with Ulster bank and had serious trouble with it. I detailed my problems with it on this board over a year ago but they don't seem to turn up in the search.

Anyway all that aside. I applied for a cc with Ulster bank in 2003 and was given one no problem, when asked on the form what the purpose of the card was, I filled in travel. I was leaving for Australia and was going to be touring SE Asia for a month. I travel insured the card and took out the extra policy to cover me for cash if lost while abroad (an extra form of insurance they had at the time). That’s all well and good. Two months later my credit card was stopped. After ringing several times and getting a credit card service center in London I was told it was stopped due to the variety of places it was used. I informed them that I had clearly stated that this card was for the purpose of travel but they said they did not know that. Also they said it would take 5 working days to re enable the card. This left me with no money for Christmas and new years. Due to the bank holidays in uk/ireland at the time it took nearly 2 weeks to get it enabled.
A few months later I went to use the card but it would not work. I called the credit card service center again and they said it was stopped due to lack of payment. The bill was two days over due and unfortunately my mother was not available in Ireland to do my payments the day the bill arrived. I tried to argue that I had kept my payments up and that it was just one month that was over due and it was unfair to stop a card for one months payment. Also by the time I had called them my mother had made the payment and cleared all outstanding debts on the card. I was told that this was no good and that the card had been cancelled. Also I was to cut up the card at once and not to use it again. They also said that a note would be added to my permanent credit record. I was shocked at this, but was told there was absolutely nothing I could do apart from add a note to my credit record.
Two days later my mother rang me saying she got a call from Ulster bank wishing to speak to me urgently. They would not giver her details. Despite the fact I had given them a contact number for me in oz, they never rang me. I eventually rang them and they asked me to stop using my card. I informed the person of the happenings of the last few days and that I had cut up my credit card. He said the payments were from a few days previous to my card being cancelled and had not been added to the previous statement. Also informing me that I owed them about 300 euro. I agreed to pay this as along as this would all end. I was clearly told that my account was closed and that I could take my time paying the 300 euro as if I made the minimum payment each month the interest would be very minimal. About a month ago I receive a letter telling me that they were happy with our arrangement and wanted to up my limit. I presumed this was just a mistake as the card had been cancelled a year ago. I forgot to all them about it. This week out of the blue I received a statement saying I owe them €40 euro in government stamp duty. Despite that big long story, do I have to pay the €40 even though the credit card itself is cancelled?

ButtermilkJack

Sounds like they never cancelled your card and when the time came round to automatically deduct the €40, there was no funds in the account (obviously cos you had stopped using it... like they told you).

Due to the amount of grief they have caused you I would forget all about it and let them do the maths to figure out what the hell has gone wrong with their records. I wouldn't worry about ringing them to sort everything out.

ButtermilkJack

On second thoughts!! I would ring them. Reason being, you now have a 'blip' on your permanent credit rating. This may cause headaches later when applying for mortgages, car loans etc in the future.

Ring them and lay into them full-on! Hopefully they'll cave in and agree to remove the note on your credit rating. That would be worth paying the €40 for.

TomTom

Oh i plan on laying into them. I rang AIB (my new bank) about a credit card. explaining the ulster bank situation to them. When I said it was an ulsterbank credit card, I was told not to worry about the credit rating and that i would have no problem. I have spoke to 5 people since who have had serious problems with them. My brother has a company and has had serious problems with them. He rang several times one day looking to speak to someone and was promised a call back. He eventually got a call but it was a customer service company doing a survey on behalf of several irish banks. He said he was with ulster bank and they were **** and hung up.

Also I though most customer support departments opened after the hours of 5

dahamsta

From your account of the issue, it would seem Ulster Bank's behaviour was totally over the top, although it has to be said that this wouldn't be unusual for Irish card issuers. Cards should be suspended when issues occur, not cancelled.

Anyway, see here wrt to your rights as they relate to your credit record. If you feel that this issue may affect future dealings, you can and should appeal; first to the ICB, and failing that to the Data Protection Commissioner.

adam