'Allo! I'm not contributing to Ciao for the time being but if you are bored / desperate / weird enou...
'Allo! I'm not contributing to Ciao for the time being but if you are bored / desperate / weird enough to wish to continue to read my ramblings, you can find me on Dooyoo under the user name plipplop. See you around! :P
Member since:15.07.2000
Reviews:694
Members who trust:826
I have been a Barclaycardcredit card account holder for nearly six years now, and would have to say that they are by far and away the best Credit Card company that I have had dealings with. Their APR rates may be uncompetitive - but there are ways around that anyway. I have a Platinum Barclaycard account, which means that I don't get charged the £30 Annual Fee if I use my card for a certain level of expenditure. This is not hard to achieve, by simply using the card for all your every day grocery shopping etc etc. The benefits you receive are then very worthwhile. Whenever I make Internet purchases Barclaycard offer excellent protection schemes. I have previously ordered items on-line which have failed to arrive - when I contacted Barclaycard they refunded the funds to my account. The same security applies to goods that arrive damaged/not as described or if a transaction appears that I did not make. Basically, by using Barclaycard I can shop online completely securely. Similarly, if you have your Barclaycard purchases stolen or damaged there is a level of insurance available (terms and conditions apply of course) which offers additional peace of mind. Bearing in mind that these Insurance policies cost you nothing I can't understand why anyone would object to using a credit card. Barlcaycard also have a free rewards style scheme whereby you get points for every £10 you spend. These are quite slow to build up but they are free after all, and there's a nice range of stuff to claim for - free flights, cases of wine, Amazon vouchers etc - you'll be surprised how quickly your normal expenditure will earn you something. Barclaycard also offer superb interest rates on balance transfers. You can use these to your advantage, because if you need to carry a balance over then simply transfer the balance to another credit card - and then transfer it straight back to Barclaycard. In this way, it will benefit from the preferential transfer rates. Barclaycard process all the transfers over the phone so it's virtually effortless - and will save you money. Be careful around transferred balances though - if you continue to use your card for expenditure then any payments you make will come off the transferred balance before they come off the expenditure. As far as I am aware, there are no limits to the amount of transfers you can make. Barclaycard will also send regular special offers for wine, holidays etc - they are usually quite competitive but I have never taken one up. Barclaycard also offer cheaper telephone calls, and discounted mobile phone rates - good savings as long as you dont mind paying by Barclaycard. Customer Service with Barclaycard has always been excellent - the advisors are always very helpful, and always know how to sort something out. Most things can be handled over the phone, but in the event that something needs to be completed in writing, they will always send the documentation out very quickly. I also use the Barclaycard online service, as this provides up to date transaction and statement information. My main criticism with this would be that transactions can take a long time to clear and appear on the screen - although they contribute to the total balance displayed.
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Good op, I'm just wondering if it's the same company we're talking about... my op bears very little resemblance to yours...
mascarasnake 26.12.2000 22:53
I did transfer credit balances to Barclaycard at 5.9 percent that meant I paid half the interest that a loan form most providers would quote. It is even cheaper than a secured loan from the Halifax, and as mentioned in another opinion about them written by me, I work for the b'stards. A very useful warning about the slight "con" that Barclaycard pull over reducing the transferred preferential rate before purchase, therefore charging you at their extortionate interest rate for the items you do buy with the same card. The consequence being that they essentially average out the interest rate between the high purchase rate and the low transfer rate, pro-rata so the deal is not as good as it seems at first sight. The simple solution, and one I adopted, is to use Barclaycard for low interest rate loan AND NOTHING ELSE, and use the Alliance and Leicester for credit card purchase (including cash back).
Dec 18th, 2000
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