Hoax phone calls and Bank Problems

[Jayneflakes]

I have just had a phone call from a company claiming to be acting on behalf of my bank, the first thing they wanted was my security details and they demanded them to confirm that they were speaking to me. #-o

So me being me ask some questions before even considering giving out my security details. You see a couple of weeks ago I had to contact my bank because some one had tried unsuccessfully to access my account.

(me) :smt061What is your company name?

(Indian Guy):toss: World Holdings Miss Flakes. Please can you confirm your security details. Where were you born?

:smt061Why, what do you want?

:toss: We need to discuss a personal matter with you.

:smt061so tell me who you are and what you want?

:toss: Not until I can confirm your details

:smt061Well you have just phoned me so you know who I am

:toss: Yes, but I need your security details.

:smt061 Why do you need my details if you know you are talking to me?

:toss: To confirm that it is you.

:smt061 So what do you want to discuss.

:toss: A personal business matter.

:smt061 What business matter?

:toss: If you give me your security details I can discuss it with you.

He went on like this for several minutes, repeatedly going around in a circle. I should point out that my Bank has specifically told me that I am never to give out my details over the phone.

So I decide it is time to up the ante a little.

:smt061 I do not give out security details over the telephone to organisations I do not know, I want to speak to your manager.

:toss: Why do you want to speak to my manager?

:smt061 Because this is most irregular, I want to speak to your manager.

:toss: You do not need to speak to my manager, you need to speak to me about a personal business matter.

:smt061 Are you refusing to allow me to speak to your manager?

:toss: No, but I can help you with this personal business matter, you do not need to speak to my manager.

:smt061 I demand to speak to your manager now.

:toss: Why?

:smt061 Why have you phoned me?

There is a long pause of a few seconds. Then a similar strongly Indian accented voice comes on the line.

:toss: Andy Williams speaking, how can I help.

I could swear blind it was the same guy, using a slightly different voice tone.

:smt061 Why have you phoned me?

:toss: To discuss a personal business matter with you, can you please confirm some security details with us.

:smt061 NO. I do not give out security details to unknown organisations who cold call me. Tell me what you want.

:toss: I am unable to discuss that with you, I represent World Holdings and we are acting on behalf of your bank ************* and we need to discuss your account with you.

:smt061 Well, I have been expressly told by my Bank that I am not to give out security details over the telephone, if they wish to contact me, they will do so directly.

:toss: They should not have told you that Miss Flakes, they are wrong.

:smt061 Well I am not prepared to discuss my bank details with you.

:toss: But this is urgent!

:smt061 So what do you want to discuss.

:toss: I need your security details to discuss this matter with you.

At which point I lost my patience and the guy told me to contact my bank urgently.

So I got online pretty sharpish and checked my account. All was fine, so I phoned my branch and spoke to my adviser.

:smt061 I just had a call from a company claiming to be called World Holdings acting on your behalf asking for my security details.

:flower:(real banker) Oh god, you didn't give them any did you Miss Flakes?

:smt061 Oh no, but I know that my account was attacked recently.

:flower: Yes, we have that listed. No one has been able to access your account. I will log that you have had this phone call.

:smt061 Does ********* bank use other firms to contact me on your behalf.

:flower: Absolutely not Miss Flakes, if we needed to contact you we would do so directly. Never give out your bank details over the telephone.


So now I am a bit worried, who was it who wanted to contact me and who gave them my details. Could it be the same people who attacked my account a while ago causing my bank to freeze it until I called them to sort it out?

I have been assured by my bank that this was a hoax call, but it still leaves me worried. What really annoys is that I was called while ill in bed and had to get up to deal with a rude and probably illegal sales call, which is doubly annoying because I am signed up with the Telephone Preference service and do not accept sales calls. :rant:

[MCN_LiamM]

At least you did the right thing.

There's obviously plenty of people out there who fall for this otherwise they wouldn't waste their time with it.

[Biker Biggles]

I bet it was Lozzo trying to get a date with you.:kiss::smt058

[Spiderman]

Even when my banks farud dept called me from Spain (Abbey, just after Santander bught them) and i was pretty sure it was a legit call i still said i'm not giving you any details.

We had a simliar circular conversation cos its like a catch 22 innit? They cant tell me until they have passed me thru security and i wont give em my secuirty stuff until they prove they are who they are.

So i said, give me you name, your companies main line/swithcborad number and your direct line number or extension please. Once i have that i will call you back to ensure you are who you say you are. Being legit they happily obloged and even said "we're please you take you security info so seriously sir, if more customers were like this it'd make things harder for crooks."

So you did the right thing Miss Flakes.

Now if you could PM me wiht you DOB, place of birth, mothers maiden name and you cats name too of course, plus a copy of your signature i will look into this for you and get back to you.

And hey, of course you can turst me, I;m a guy in a cheap and tatty Spidey suit dont you know :)

[Jayneflakes]

I bet it was Lozzo trying to get a date with you.:kiss::smt058

Awwwww, poor Lozzo. He knows that I am strictly girls only so I doubt it. :smt042


So you did the right thing Miss Flakes.

Now if you could PM me wiht you DOB, place of birth, mothers maiden name and you cats name too of course, plus a copy of your signature i will look into this for you and get back to you.

And hey, of course you can turst me, I;m a guy in a cheap and tatty Spidey suit dont you know :)

Thank you Spidey, I knew we could count on you. :spiderman:
Although scarily it can be that easy to get info. Remember that folks next time you fill in a Friendly round robin e-mail from your mates! \\:D/

[maviczap]

I had the beingings of a similar call today.

Usual no number on my caller display & a gap before the person at the other end was connected

Me :shock: Hello

Other guy :ncool: Hello can I speak to Mr Mavic zap please

:shock: Who's calling please

:ncool: It's Brett, Can I speak to Mr Maviczap

:shock: I'll just go and get him, which company are you calling from

:ncool: I don't have to tell you

:shock: Well, if you can't tell me which company you're calling from then he won't speak to you................ Brrrrrrrrr Mr Maviczap hangs up :thumleft:

I have other routines for cold callers, sometimes I hold the phone up to the speaker on the TV depending on what my children are watching. Or i just put the phone down and leave them hanging on.

Sometimes I'll speak to them in German or baffle them with replies such as ' you want to sell me what? I'm sorry I don't want a helicopter today' as similar bizzare replies.

Has my children in stitches :p

I'm sorry if this your job, but I don't want what you're selling :reaper:

[Spiderman]

I used to do telesales many years ago and you know what Maviczap... you're actually giving them a well deserved break from the usual "f off and get a life" replies by playning like you do, so everyone wins.

The real win, however, is when you baffle them enough to make them hang up on you :lol:

[maviczap]

The real win, however, is when you baffle them enough to make them hang up on you :lol:

I have achieved this on more than one occasion. :cheers:

I depends on what mood I'm in and what time they call, as to how I deal with them.

I had one double glazing telecaller try and sell me a new roof for my garage after he'd exhausted all other possibilities. Could fault him for effort :smt019

[ethariel]

Just tell them to F off and if its really so urgent a letter will do nicely and to leave you alone.

Then go and buy a whistle, next time they call you advise them that it's harrasment and you 'Have a whistle and know how to use it, now F off for good'

Lastly when they call again, just use the bleeding whistle, they will probably never call you again after that (or if they do, they will be using a different ear!)

[boot]

If they have a basic grasp of English, I usually tell them that the call is an invasion of my privacy and that I'll be seking legal advice, then ask for an address for correspondence from my solicitor.

[TazDaz]

The actual banks never require much info anyways. Normally like the 7th letter of a code word etc for me.

I've actually got into the habbit of hanging up if I can't clearly hear what the person is saying to me.

[Alpinestarhero]

If anyone does have any cold callers, could you pleae be so kind to ask if they / the company they work for would be able to invest in some scientific research regarding hydrophobic coatings for polycarbonate material?

I'd like to restart my project that I had to finish when I finished uni :dj:


At the very least, it'd turn the tables a bit :lol:

[Ed]

If we get these sort of calls I get Sophie to play her violin at them.

[Quedos]

i hate the automated ones - 13 msg left yesterday - all for a mss hamilton - Think i'm going to pay her a visit and tell her excatly what i think of her. Company told mer her address!!!
Sales - i'm not the homeowner - my master gave me the house.
i'm the childminder or i've been made redundant are good ply. My dad pretend thats he 's deaf and they normally lose the rag with him and hang up.
though i got hassle from a conservatory company who pestered me for weeks and would not listen to the fact that i did not need a one being in aflat. In the end i gave up and said come round. The salesman was flabbergasted i said i wanted a price - guy told me i was having a laugh and wasting his time. I wasn't laughing and never did with all the calls his company done so told him to go back and complian about it being a wast of his time.
he must have done a good job got a call from the director (it was check on line and called back later) to apologise for the time wasting and inconvenience caused.

but good on you for being so stubborn JF

[metalangel]

Yeah, I've started having these all the time (I blame Mrs Metal for signing up to get some Moben catalogues to look at, now every unscrupulous barsteward has our home number) and it gets on my tits.

:pig: Hello, can I speak to Mr Meaty Angle please?

:rambo: Who's calling please?

:pig: It's John Smith from E-On energy and I want to talk to you about your energy needs.

:rambo: No thank you, I'm not interested in changing supplier.

:pig: Why is that please?

:rambo: I'm happy with my existing supplier.

:pig: Don't you think saving money would be of benefit to yourself sir?

:rambo: No, I don't, I rather enjoy wasting money. *hangs up*

:smt043<- Mrs Metal

I had another case of HSBC calling me and wanting to confirm details to speak to me about an urgent personal matter. They asked that I confirm a recent transaction (date and amount) and refused to tell me what it as about until I did so.

I got really worried and managed to find out the last time I'd taken £20 out from a cashpoint and this satisfied him and finally he could tell me what the really urgent personal matter was.

"It's just a courtesty call, Mr Angle, to check if you're happy with HSBC and our customer service."

Well, *mate*, I was pretty good until all the shizzle you just put me through :smt075

[Scooby Drew]

ring ring, ring ring...

My answer: 'Hello this is the fire service and I am calling you because you have a fire...'

That really confuses people when they call you :p

[Grant66]

Cold callers usually ask for Mrs Gajjii, all the bills are in her name :-)

So I always confirm I'm Mrs Gajjii, its the ones that question that I don't sound female that are the most fun. One call with BT I got as far as demanding to speak with the manager for his attitude towards gender reasignment :D

[Sir Trev]

These things are really annoying when it really IS your bank calling you, as it's only likely to be their fraud department. When it happened to me they had enough sense to say who they were up front and if I was uncomfortable please call the number on the back of your card. Which I did, wondering if the number had been hijacked or redirected...

[vixis]

I take the easy way out, I hand the phone over to Soulkiss and get highly entertained...especially if they make the mistake of mentioning money in any shape or form :D

[Richie]

I let them speak to my missus, she used to work in a call center for TSB.
And boy oh boy can she be very good on the phone.

Me, I'm rubbish...
I'm like my dad, I hate phones.

[Jayneflakes]

I have just had another call from that Indian call centre again and this time they got aggressive. Anyway, in case you are wondering who they are, (yesterdays name was an error apparently) they are called Global Vantage and their headquaters are MBNA Eurobank Ltd, Chester. Contact number 0800 389 9001. :toss:

So after the same conversation and I informed them once again that I am part of the Telephone preference service, I demanded the company name and address. The woman on the phone told me that her name was Jayne Mills, a popular name in India and she then passed me onto her supervisor, another Indian chap called Ben Smith. He got very rude and aggressive demanding that I give him my security details. However on mentioning of the Telephone preference service, they have told me that I will be removed from the call list.

Once again I contacted my bank and they assured me that they do not use third party companies and when they investigated the name, they informed me that Global Vantage are a debt collection agency. However, I do not have any debts that would be passed to a debt collection agency.

My bank have expressly told me that I am not to give out my details to this company and under no circumstances would they refer me to them anyway. The loan I took out with them to buy my SV has never had a late or missed payment and at one point was actually over paid for which they contacted me and told me that I was paying too much and did I want to stop for a short while?

My worry now is identity theft. If some one has used my name to get a credit card, how would I know? The phone number may be right, but I have had no mail to indicate such a thing. I am deeply worried now.

The other problem I have is I am currently off sick with that damn flu virus that is going around and am very poorly. These phone calls are upsetting me even more and I am still shaking from the last one. My bank are very understanding and have said that I should not even waste breath talking to these people. However it is still scary when call centres get threatening. I feel powerless even though I know that I am not in debt.

Time to call the CAB I think.

[Alpinestarhero]

and you didnt ask if they wanted to spare some money to investe in some materials science research?

[Stingo]

some stuff :toss:

some more stuff

Jayne Mills, a popular name in India


These phone calls are upsetting me
Time to call the CAB I think.

But it's good to see that you still have a sense of humour. (although I was thinking the same thing too...)

Anyways...chin up and get one of them ansaphones that you can here who is speaking before you answer it....or even better, got to bed having unplugged said device.

[Kinvig]

If I was you I would not waste my time with these shy-sters!

Global Vantage may be a debt collection, but that doesn't mean that the voice on the end of the phone has anything to do with them.

The voice on the phone is attempting to scam you for your bank details, I don't even think a debt collection company would do that.

Who gave you that number for Global Vantage, the call centre?

An experian credit check should show whether you've got any debts I did a credit check recently when I got my mortgage offer. I'd try that option.

On no account phone that 0800 number!!!!

[ophic]

You're not powerless. You have the power to put the phone down.

[Alpinestarhero]

You're not powerless. You have the power to put the phone down.

and also the power to talk to them for hours about all your problems. Hell, why not make some up. Why not tell them your life story. Its their phone bill afterall right?

[ophic]

and also the power to talk to them for hours about all your problems. Hell, why not make some up. Why not tell them your life story. Its their phone bill afterall right?
Offer them a free copy of "watchtower" :D

[fizzwheel]

Screen your calls...

I dont answer my mobile if

1. The number that is ringing me is not in my address book
2. The screen shows "Private number"

If its important they can leave me a message

If I have to fill in my number on a website I put my work desk phone in, same again I screen it, If I dont know the number it goes to voicemail

If my home phone rings I answer it as its normally somebody that knows me i.e a relative if its not I wait for the person to start speaking and if its a cold / sales call, I say "No thank you" and then put the phone down.

They are trying to scare you into giving them your bank details, dont, be empowered and PUT THE FRICKEN PHONE DOWN !

Its quite simple and I dont waste my time or anybody else's then.

Ecar insurance have been ringing me for weeks leaving messages on my phone trying to sell me van insurance, I dont own a van... so I dont need to speak to them... simples...

[Alpinestarhero]

Offer them a free copy of "watchtower" :D

you know what, maybe they should call me. I have a good life story

[gruntygiggles]

Jayne, if this is a debt collection agency, you need to get hold of your credit file ASAP. You don't need to do the Experian credit report thing, just call Experian and find out what you need to do to get a copy of your credit file. It's usually sending a £2 cheque in the post and copies of security docs. It's well worth it as it was calls like this and threatening letters coming through the door that alerted me to the fact that someone had taken out 2 bank accounts, 3 loans and 4 credit cards in my name AND had set up a call & collect at the local sorting office so they were picking up my mail and posting the regular stuff through my door, whilst keeping the mail they needed in order to hide it from me.

It amazing how easy fraud is and how easy it is to be a victim. I'm not saying that this is what's happened to you, but better safe than sorry.

I'm going to PM you now with some very useful info that I was given, but I don't want to get in trouble for posting it on a public forum, but it will prevent ANY form of ID theft or fraud and can actually get people caught in the act.

If they call again, tell them you will not discuss the matter any further and have taken legal advice. Tell them that you will now be charging them for your time when they call, that your rate is £30 an hour and that your minimum charge is for half an hour. Tell them that means that any time you pick up the phone to them, that is an immediate charge of £15 and that as you now have their address, you will be sending them invoices at the end of each calendar month.

You CAN do this.....I did and I actually got £80 off Egg who thought I had run up £2k. They pursued me for it even after the police confirmed to them that the card had been taken out fraudulently. They had to pay and I got on powerpoint and made a nice little invoice and everything. I even sent them a receipt.

Finish by telling them this:-

Your address is:-
Global Vantage Ltd,
77 Whitehall Court,
Westminster,
London,
SW1A 2EL

Your company registration number is 04189820

You were incorporated on the 29th March 2001 and your accounts aren't due until 21st December 2010.

Follow by saying that you have researched them, that you know who they are and you know that there is something that they want to discuss with you, but you will not, under any circumstances give out personal or security information over the telephone and that any further communications by them to you MUST be made in writing. If they then ask for your address, repeat that you will not give it to them.

Something I am sure they will try and do is interrupt you while you are saying this, so stay calm but be really firm and use the name given to you, so if they interrupt say, "BEN, DO NOT INTERRUPT ME WHEN I AM SPEAKING. That's it, just keep saying it."

As Fizz says, if you want to get rid of the hassle, just hang up, but if I were you, I would tell them you will charge them for your time from now on and INSIST on getting names (even false ones) and let them hear you make notes of the time and date as well. If they ask, tell them you are keeping a log of the calls for your solicitor.

Good luck and PM me if you need anything.......when it's serious fraud like I had, it takes years to get back to normal, so keep being as vigilant as you are and my PM is on it's way to you now.

xx

[maviczap]

and also the power to talk to them for hours about all your problems. Hell, why not make some up. Why not tell them your life story. Its their phone bill afterall right?

+1 String them along for ages, its their worst nightmare if they can't hang up. A lot of theses computer generated calls can't hang up until you do. :smt020

[gruntygiggles]

As an addition to my first post........

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/8916af8b454b4458ecdf03c21ac2d1b3/compdetails

that'll show you the details of MBNA Europe Bank Ltd. There is no MBNA Eurobank listed as a registered company in this country, so I'm presuming the link above is the correct company.

What this means is, Global Vantage are a debt collection agency who have either bought debt off MBNA or have been contracted by MBNA to persue you for monies owed to them.

So, I'd add to the conversation that you know that they are a debt collection agency and that as you are fully aware of your credit commitments, you will not accept that anything is owed in your name unless you are sent written proof or copies of agreements by MBNA.

Get smart on this one. Many on this thread are giving great examples of how to deal with sales calls, but that is not what this appears to be, so don't ignore it would be my advice.

Big hugs and don't panic over anything, it'll all get sorted whatever it is!

xxx

[james160987]

i work for call centre ( unfortuanly) and its amazing how many people put details on websites such as uswitch/ money supermarket etc where it says on there we will call you, or one of our advisor will call,

and when we do, you get blunt harsh treatment when the idiots put them on in the first place, and oibously as data protection act, you have to actually confirm your speaking to them, i usally ask, the town they live in and something else so not to personal, but still some demand to know what its about ( which id happily tell them) but if i do dpa broken and im given warnings etc,

amazing how many other halfs try and introgate you aswell, "IM HER HUSBAND YOU CAN TELL ME"

advice being

dont go serching for insurance/loans/morages if your not remotly intrested

loans - you will never get a quote from comapsion sites other than banks typical apr's. so put down a fake number /names. 0123456478 etc and you wont get calls,

if your putting youe details somewhere actually READ what the site tells you

one way that will get you removed from call lists- just say wrong number im afriad

And the TPS protects you from cold calls, If however you put youe details , phone number onto say uswitch saying your intrested in a loan, click submit, and it goes to somehwere to call you, dont winge about being on the TPS.

just some words from the otherside from a call centre worker ( who doesnt really want to be there anymore than you want a phonecall )

[GeneticBubble]

:toss: You do not need to speak to my manager, you need to speak to me about a personal business matter.


:toss: I am unable to discuss that with you, I represent World Holdings and we are acting on behalf of your bank ************* and we need to discuss your account with you.



sounds to me like fonejacker crossed with a jedi :D i wonder if he did the little hand movement when he said "you do not need to speak to my manager"


EDIT: another good idea would be to use a voice emulator off the internet and put the phone on loud speaker and reply using a peter griffen voice or something.

[gruntygiggles]

Jamesnumbers, I completely agree with what you've said there. Most people give out info without even realising it.

The thing with Jayneflakes calls though is that they are chasing an unpaid debt......that's a very different matter and a potentially serious one so it's got to be handled carefully. If you give them your info/address etc, they will bombard you with letters and all will do is confirm to them where you live. You don't want that as you could end up with people at the door. You need to ask for proof to be sent by the original lender, in this case MBNA. They may say they can't unless you give them your address, but don't. You'll know if it's fraud because if you are clever, you'll go and check your credit file and report it. That way, you don't get bombarded with letters and when they call, you can just instruct them to call the fraud department dealing with it!

I feel for you mate I really do....it's a thankless job!

[Jayneflakes]

As an addition to my first post........

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/8916af8b454b4458ecdf03c21ac2d1b3/compdetails

So, I'd add to the conversation that you know that they are a debt collection agency and that as you are fully aware of your credit commitments, you will not accept that anything is owed in your name unless you are sent written proof or copies of agreements by MBNA.

Hmm, very interesting what you can find on the internet. It would seem that MBNA are well known for hard handed tactics. However my Bank states quite clearly that they do not have any dealings with them.

I used the above link and found quite a lot of interesting material about said companies and am now well informed should they phone again. I have made a formal complaint to the Banking and Finance Ombudsman and have spoken to the Consumer Advice Service, but it would seem that there is little that either organisation can do. Both seem to think that I am the victim of cold calling. :mad:

However, I am prepared and have follow GG's advice to the letter. Lets see what happens next. If this turn out to be administrative error on behalf of my bank I will be very unhappy, especially when my Bank have denied having ties with either company. :confused:

For now, I am very concerned and shall wait to see what the post brings. Interestingly, one thing has pinged in my head. The woman I spoke to today seemed to recoil slightly when I mentioned the Telephone preference service. I looked in to this after we started to get calls to us asking for some one who has not lived at our address. Thinking about it, now I have calmed down, makes me worry that these events could be linked. :smt009

Just in case any of you were unclear on this important fact though I can clarify with absolute certainty, Grunty Giggles is a fabulous Orger, who one day I really must buy a pint for. Thank you honey for the words you sent in the thread and by PM. Your advice has been appretiated. :smt041

[yorkie_chris]

I don't think it is actually this company who are calling her.

Make up some details, at the least it will waste their time.



For cold calls, if you are bored then it's wind up time, just chat all manner of balls with them.

[james160987]

if soneone else calls and asks for someone who doesnt live thre another outcome is some nice person has gone onto x companys website put down fake or real name and just chucked in random telephone number, unfortunaly yours

which means calls can come between 8am-9pm mon- fri
and 9-6 sat and sun,

MBNA do pass there customers on at the moment, we get a few, trying to get them to clear cards etc

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/2cb4295077456c6ee691170726cabb6f/compdetails mbna euro ltd are on there grumptygiggles

[gruntygiggles]

if soneone else calls and asks for someone who doesnt live thre another outcome is some nice person has gone onto x companys website put down fake or real name and just chucked in random telephone number, unfortunaly yours

which means calls can come between 8am-9pm mon- fri
and 9-6 sat and sun,

MBNA do pass there customers on at the moment, we get a few, trying to get them to clear cards etc

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/2cb4295077456c6ee691170726cabb6f/compdetails mbna euro ltd are on there grumptygiggles


yeah I know....that's one of the links I already gave JF. Only inthe op she called it MBNA Euro bank when it's actually MBNA Europe bank and many of the scam companies use the same company names but with maybe one letter different, that's why I questioned it.

Can't blame them for trying where there is actual debt, hard times for everyone, but what I didn't like was tha they asked JF to tell them where she was born and that is info that can be used to reset security with banks and such like.

[Jayneflakes]

I think that I am now at the bottom of this little mystery of who is calling me. The route of if it is that my Bank were recently bought out by a bigger European bank and not all sectors of the company have yet been trained on who now owns what. :smt103

I received a nasty little letter today from my bank informing me that the interest on my credit card account has been raised and my monthly payment is to go up by a small amount with this coming payment. Why they could not just write to me in the first place, I do not know. It would have saved me an awful lot of worry. Is it really so much cheaper to pay an Indian worker to call me than it is to write me an actual letter? :(

One part that disturbs me is that the staff at my Bank seem unaware of any new procedures that have been implemented and it would seem that they do now use Indian call centres, despite assurances from UK staff that they do not. [-X

What worries me most though is that it would seem that MBNA now own my bank and I am very unhappy with their service. Maybe it is time to vote with my feet and change to one I am happier with. Research with various consumer groups seems to point to my bank as a "weak link" in the banking industry, hence the take over. :pale:

I will be rapidly paying off this credit card and closing the account very soon. I was with another company about five years ago and was horrified when they kept upping my credit limit to over three times my annual salary, so I closed the account and started this new one because of their more considered financial approach. So much for going with a company that had a strict Ethical code, it would appear that this code was the first thing to go out of the window with the take over. :smt018

I am not a happy consumer. :evil:

[PsychoCannon]

Sorry to hear that buddy.
I recently applied for some finance and got declined but they then passed my details onto all sorts who have been harrasing me since, mostly to sell me life insurance or some such.

My favourite fob off was when I got a call while airsofting and we were using the phones as radios.

:smt071 Me: Update?
:joker: Joker: Hello sir this is x from x, is this a good time to talk.
*The last said in genuine question as a burst of gun fire goes off in the backgroud*

:smt071: *lays a round of return fire through the window* -
Who is this, how did you get this number.

:joker:: This is x from x, I'd like to speak to Mr Y about z

:smt071: DAMMIT GRENADE! MOVE MOVE MOVE!
*Grenade bounces through the window and goes off just as I get out*
Who is this! where's my backup! we've got a man down! man down! I need BACKUP NOW!!

:joker:: *hangs up*

[yorkie_chris]

I will be rapidly paying off this credit card and closing the account very soon. I was with another company about five years ago and was horrified when they kept upping my credit limit to over three times my annual salary, so I closed the account and started this new one because of their more considered financial approach. So much for going with a company that had a strict Ethical code, it would appear that this code was the first thing to go out of the window with the take over. :smt018

I am not a happy consumer. :evil:#

Do some card companies still give you a year at 0% on a balance transfer?

Could be worth a look so you can pay it off in the year without accrueing interest.

[james160987]

i could be wrong but MBNA also have ties with virgin credit cards and allience and liecster,

when some customers are ringing up to find out why the rate has gone up to like 29% they are passin customers to x comapny ( where i am) to look at loan to pay it off,

stupid comapny, last one was, hello, ive renclty been made unemployed have no income, mbna said you can help reduce my payments through a loan

yep most definitly, lots of loan comapies out there willing to lend when you have no income to speak of, :smt068 mbna