Virgin Credit Card

I cannot express how much I would urge people not to get this credit card. Not even for it's initial offers - well, unless of course you are able to completely clear the balance before the offer expires.

I got this card around 2 years ago, with a £3200 limit. Due to the difficulties I was experiencing at the time, this quickly reached it's limit, however I always met the minimum payments, and often paid more than this.

However, due to more financial difficulty, I had to set up a payment plan with Virgin. This alone took 3 weeks to do, along with 4 separate phone calls to them and MBNA. Eventually Virgin agreed to the payment plan, however I regularly received threatening letters from MBNA, threatening court action, despite me sticking to the agreement.

I also have an HSBC credit card, which is at the same balance. However, I was a bit concerned that I was paying only £40 interest a month on my HSBC credit card, yet I was paying £98 interest on my Virgin card. After speaking to one of their advisors I was told that my interest rate had gone from the initial 15.9%, to 20.9%, then to 25.9% and was now at 34.9%! I was disgusted, as I had not received any letters or calls to advise me of this.

I was eventually told that if I paid another £80 on top of my usual payment that month, that they would be able to drop the interest to 18.9%. So, I left myself short that month and agreed to pay the extra. Surprise surprise when my statement arrived, the interest was still unchanged.

Another call, and I was told that they were still monitoring the account, and that it would be changed next month, and the difference refunded to me.

Another month passed - the interest was still unchanged. Virgin denied that they had any recordings of the calls and promises made to lower the interest rates. I was then told I had to pay £389 to bring my card back within the limit before they could review this. They didn't seem to understand that with the £100 I was paying each month, £98 of that was not being cleared because of the interest.

Eventually they lowered the interest, although reading some of the other horror stories online about them, I don't expect this to last for very long.

AVOID THIS CARD AT ALL COSTS! NO MATTER HOW DESPERATE YOUR SITUATION IS!