I took out an MBNA (then VIrgin) personal loan 4 years ago. The ease of the application at that time was good and the money came promptly. I am now told that you cannot get this loan via Virgin any more. I made payments regularly for 4 years and I now have another year to run. However ... Read review
I took out an MBNA (then VIrgin) personal loan 4 years ago. The ease of the application at that time was good and the money came promptly. I am now told that you cannot get this loan via Virgin any more. I made payments regularly for 4 years and I now have another year to run. However in July last year I had problems due to the fact that somebody else owed me money and a payment was returned by my bank (NatWest). For this I received 38 pound charge ... ...and I was telephoned by MBNA where I live in Greece. I explained the situation and the girl was in fact sympathetic and I made a payment by debit card then and it was decided to spread the other outstanding payment over 2 months on top of my regular payment. The lady then said that the 50 pounds in charges would be waived due to my good payment record in the past. However, in November 50 pounds extra was taken from my account on top of my regular ... more
I took out an MBNA (then VIrgin) personal loan 4 years ago. The ease of the application at that time was good and the money came promptly. I am now told that you cannot get this loan via Virgin any more. I made payments regularly for 4 years and I now have another year to run. However in July last year I had problems due to the fact that somebody else owed me money and a payment was returned by my bank (NatWest). For this I received 38 pound charge from my bank and a default charge from MBNA. This happened again the next month (already therefore 126 in charges) and I was telephoned by MBNA where I live in Greece. I explained the situation and the girl was in fact sympathetic and I made a payment by debit card then and it was decided to spread the other outstanding payment over 2 months on top of my regular payment. The lady then said that the 50 pounds in charges would be waived due to my good payment record in the past. However, in November 50 pounds extra was taken from my account on top of my regular payment, without warning.
In December 2008 I started to received default letters from MBNA in the UK, followed by Debt Collection letters from Mumbai. I emailed and wrote to MBNA saying that payments were being made on the 9th regularly. Again in January I received the same two letters, so I contacted again. Emails go ignored and letters take a month to respond to, so each time there was an overlap and the letters continued every month. Finally I received a letter from MBNA saying the matter had been investigated and no room for further discussion and that if I was not satisfied to contact the Financial Ombudsman, which I promptly did. They are obviously snowed under with complaints, but eventually a very helpful person there assisted me, who had been copied in with all correspondence/emails I had with MBNA. Eventually (due to receipt of correspondence from Ombudsman) a lady contacted me from MBNA to eagerly close the problem. In the meantime, MBNA had taken a completely different payment amount from my account (1.20 less) for some reason that could not be explained by them. I told them that in fact I must be 50 pounds in credit due to the extra taken in November. I had differing balance outstanding amounts from MBNA and the Debt Collection Agency in Mumbai and in fact the default letters from MBNA were dated 7 days before the payment due date! I was informed there was a glitch in the system, which did not show anywhere on my statement of payments. I calculated my own balance outstanding, which differed again. I was then informed that a manual statement would be done. This took over one week and conveniently incorrect default debits and credits had been removed. How can this be I wonder with a bank? Also, have you ever heard of a bank manually calculating balances in this day and age? I had thought of repaying the whole amount in January, but decided against as I have paid all the interest at the beginning of the loan and therefore it is of no real benefit to me to do this. However, had I done so, would I have paid the incorrect balance?
Eventually I was refunded the 50 extra payment taken in November by MBNA and I have now agreed a sum of 100 pounds through the Financial Ombudsman for inconvenience. I was informed by MBNA that my payment record would be adjusted to A1 with Credit Reference Agencies, as clearly this had been incorrectly marked against my file as I had been declined a credit card by RBS in the meantime. I have one month to wait for the 100 pounds or I have to revert to the Ombudsman again. I am not saying that is a good compensation, but to be honest was sick of the whole back and forth situation with MBNA and waiting weeks for any response. Hopefully I will not have to ask again for the compensation.
I would not recommend MBNA in view of the fact that they seem unable to produce correct computerised statements of payments and balances, which for such a large organisation seems very bad practice and I wonder if other people have been stung by this or had the same bad experience with customer service. The loan originated under the banner of Virgin, so this does not reflect well against their organisation either.
Advantages: They are very quick with everything Disadvantages: where would you like me to start
...have a credit card with MBNA - I will write a separate review about that - this will concentrate on my friends loan with them. My house mate had a loan with Virgin, and then took out a separate loan to buy a car. He approached Virgin to refinance the 2 loans, and was accepted. Having approached and been accepted by Virgin, it was quite a surprise when the paperwork came through from MBNA. If taking out a loan, then it's always worth checking who ... ...be with MBNA - but he ended up with them anyway.
The loan itself was set up quite quickly and efficiently, but then these guys want every penny they can get, so it's in their interests to get you paying asap.
The first problem was when he paid the money in to his bank account a day late. He doesn't really use his account, so he pays cash in when he needs to. He thought the payment was the 31st and it was the 29th. No problem really, the money was ...
sallyn1 06.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of MBNA International Bank Loans
Advantages: quick, cheap, helpful, easy to complete, Disadvantages: not obvious
...my credit card company. The MBNA had always been very helpful before and this time was no different. The applacation time was very quick, this decision was almost instant and when they gave me the apr rate it was as good as the best advertised on the net. If you want a cheap loan with little hassle contact the MBNA. ...
jackodavid 30.11.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of MBNA International Bank Loans
Advantages: Freephone telephone number Disadvantages: The leaflets don't tell the whole truth
...decided to take out an MBNA credit card as I was bombarded on a weekly basis with leaflets telling me about the products the company were offering. 0% interest on balance transfers, cash back on purchases etc etc. Brilliant! So, in due course, my card arrived and all was ok. Then, last week, I recieved another mailing from them telling me that after "carefull" credit checks (which I didn't ask them to do) I was eligible for a £8000 ;oan. Once again, ... ...the ammount owing on my MBNA credit card! When asked about the wording "pre-approved", I was told that sometimes the computer program that selects its customers to be mailed, does not check thorougly enough!! I currently owe about £300 on the card.....if I agree to the loan, i will owe approx £750!! Think I might agree.....NOT!
Having read through this opinion, i realise that it's structure is more about a personal experience with the company rather ...
cobnutty 17.03.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of MBNA International Bank Loans
Promptness of service
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Advantages: Good speedy service Disadvantages: Wait until you try and repay early
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MY EXPERIENCES
I took out a small loan about 4 years with what was then MBNAInternationalBank to meet a few sudden expenses. I was asked a few quick questions and told to ring back in three days during normal office hours to get their decision. Being in work this really wasn?t an option for me, but the company actually rang me at work around 48 hours later to confirm approval. This seemed a little strange at the time, but in fact I guess for them it is a sharp move in confirming that the details you give them are correct.
Then??. (I discovered one of the additional angles that MBNA use to retain their customers)
About 3 years ago, whilst preparing to move house, I was again looking ...
