Work has become very busy for a few weeks so I won't be reading / rating / writing for a couple of w...
Work has become very busy for a few weeks so I won't be reading / rating / writing for a couple of weeks. I'm still around so drop me a GB message!!
Member since:23.07.2002
Reviews:27
Members who trust:106
'You don't get owt for nowt'is what my grandad used to tell me (it's how we speak up here in Yorkshire!!!!). I used to believe that until I got the Internet and started to find freebies galore. Would you turn down a free CD, DVD, computer game or Walkman? Well I didn't and this is how I got it.
About 8 months ago I got a piece of mail advertising the SonyCard, which is a credit card issued by the Bank of Scotland in association with Sony and saw a deal too good to be true.
I'll come to the good stuff at the end but first the boring stuff about the credit card:-
Interest Rates
The APR for the SonyCard is currently at 15.9% for balance transfers and purchases - not very competitive compared with some of the deals around. This is reduced to 2.9% for your balance transfers for the first 5 months
after your account is open. For cash advances, the rate is a pretty high 17.7% plus the 1.5% handling fee of your withdrawal, subject to a minimum of £2
Annual Fee
As with many cards around nowadays, there is no annual fee involved with this.
Eligibility
There are 3 conditions for acceptance and these are pretty much standard for whatever financial service you are trying to get. You need to be a UK resident, over 18 years of age, and have a good credit rating.
Fees and Charges
Make sure that you read the small print here as there are quite a few potentially hidden charges associated with this Card. The main one being that if you fail to make a payment then they are entitled to charge you £20. Charges are also levied for an unpaid direct debit if that is how you choose to pay, bringing me onto the worst thing about credit cards.......
Repayment
The minimum monthly payment is 3% of the outstanding balance or £5, whichever is the greater - a figure pretty much standard with most companies. You do get a 50 days interest free period which is slightly better than others that I have seen. On the plus side, you are covered for any mistakes or unauthorised charges that appear on your bill as a result of Internet shopping. this was the main reason that I applied for the card, so that I could shop on the net with the peace of mind knowing that I was covered if some unscrupulous devils tried to fleece me (although that hasn't happened so far - touch wood!!). You also get 90 days of free purchase protection for accidental damage or theft for purchases made on your card for between £25 - 500 upto a maximum of £2500 per year.
Other features
A good feature that I have just found out about is that this card has an online banking facility. Strangely enough you have to download a PDF form and then send it via the old snail mail - you would think that you would be able to set this up online. Anyway, I have applied for this facility today so will update my opinion when I have used it and rate how good it is.
You also get the chance to enter numerous competitions and thee are advertised by email or snail mail. Generally the email ones have no catches, but the snail mail ones require you to spend so much money in a given period (the last one that I had was £500 in November).
The card has a reward scheme. Its called Pulsebeats and you earn 1 Pulsebeat for every £1 pound that you spend on your card. One downside that I have noticed is that they credit you with Pulsebeats according to each purchase rather than the whole total and therefore you could in theory lose a few that you deserve. Purchases of any Sony product (including CDs by Sony artists) earn you triple points, but you have to claim these by filling in a form (paper format again) and sending the receipt. they do all that they can to make this hard for you by not telling you where to send it and making it complicated to complete, but on big purchases this can add up.
What do you get with Pulsebeats?
The lowest total that you need is 2000 and for this you can choose from various CDs, Playstation games, DVDs or a walkman (Sony products only). You can get things like electric keyboards for 30000 points. Really it is a bit of a scam to need to spend that much money, but the best bit is that they give you 2000 points after you make your first purchase - hence you could pick a free gift from one of the above straight away.
Would I recommend it?
Well there is no doubt that there are some better credit cards out there, but this one does have some good facilities. If it wasn't for the carrot of a free gift and the protection for internet shopping to tempt me I probably wouldn't have got it at all. So yes, I would recommend it but only to get your free gift and then you can close it if you like. For heavy card users and those who don't repay the full amount I think that there are much better deals out there for you. I only use it occasionally as my Internet shopping card and so pay it off in full every month.
To apply, you can do it via their website at www.sonycard.co.uk
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Cut my card up, it was so easy and i am so easily lead lol : ] x
J4M1721 02.04.2004 14:20
Great review - glad you get points x x x Jo x x x
wreckferret 18.02.2003 17:00
I'm a trifle glad I didn't apply for one now. From what you said, it's a bit of a waste and the operator's reliance on paper is a bit silly... Nice op. Simon
Advantages: Free Pulse Beats, exclusive monthly competitions to win amazing prizes, efficient and friendly customer service Disadvantages: APR could be more competitive
tanga 22.02.2001 (23.04.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sony Card
Advantages: Free Pulse Beats, exclusive monthly competitions to win amazing prizes, efficient and friendly customer service Disadvantages: APR could be more competitive
tanga 22.02.2001 (23.04.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sony Card
Advantages: Reward points (for some), flexibility in APR choice, and options to change your APR at any time Disadvantages: High(ish) APR rates, Internet and phone based only (some may not like that).
indiegirl 25.11.2002 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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