Woolworths Qantas Credit Card Canceled letter.

[smckay]

My card was suspended this week, as I missed the payment date. Have been travelling last 2 weeks so just forgot about it.
Call to the call centre actually got Australian people! Score.
1st person bounced me
2nd person read off the script
3rd person was manager (after demanding one) who told me blah blah blah I'll unlock your card blah blah. Supposedly overnight but today..... no work.
No notification of it being suspended, no warning, nothing. I'm in a 180 buck a night hotel with a flight to catch tomorrow so I am lucky I have other cards.

Just looked at QFCU and as I previously worked in 2 fields they accept AND my neighbour is ex cabin staff I will be applying for this card asap and telling Woolies/HSBC to jam theirs.

I also do 90% business on the car and also let this slip to blah-blah man so I won't be surprised to see a letter when I get home...

 

[Walter_Plinge]

Paying BAS would be a dead giveaway

Thanks for the hint. Next quarter I'll put BAS and employee PAYG through Amex instead. In the 6 months to 31/12/11 I put $166,200 through my card, the great majority being business. In terms of transaction count however the majority are clearly personal -- Woolworths, petrol, restaurants, &c. Business charges tend to be large lumps.

Edit -- I'll now put all the tiddly little $5-$20 transactions I normally pay cash for or use EFTPOS through the card.

Edit -- Citi Business says $30,000 taxable income required. Pretty good deal actually. If I get bounced I'll look at it.

 

[Deleted User]

I'm no longer interested in this card if I can not use it for some personal & some business spend, I know the blah blah in the T&C's but pretty much all my expenses I try to claim some tax deduction which is considered "business" deductions since I am a sole trader (eg, vehicle running costs, home office running costs etc) My business spend is small at only ~$50k per year so I'm not sure it will actually be high enough to prompt a goodbye letter from these clowns.

I know I may be out on my own here, but I really struggle to see how they are apparently not making any money out of my business spend (approx $50k), but are apparently happy making money on my ~$50k-~$80k personal spend on this card...?

Am I the only one that smells a rat here.... Do they not make $$$ out of every transaction....? If they don't then why not...? And what's with immediatly cancelling the card for a late payment...wtf? Emails, SMS, Mobile calls...so many ways to communicate these days so cancelling an account without some sort of communication is pathetic !

This card is a great 1:1 earner, but there is some serious cracks forming in its customer support.

"wanders off to put December PAYG & GST payments on card anyway"

 

[awilcockson]

And what's with immediatly cancelling the card for a late payment...wtf?

They don't cancel it, they suspend it. Which I've never seen done with any other credit card. I missed a payment because I was traveling internationally, only discovered I'd missed the payment because I went to use the card and it was decline. No notice given at all. Ridiculous.

 

[Deleted User]

I missed a payment because I was traveling internationally

You do know that they are going to really slug you for interest now don't you...?

Interest will be calculated on full previous month balance for a total of 2 months... (1 month advance / 1 month arrears) which in my opinion is a total rip off.

 

[awilcockson]

You do know that they are going to really slug you for interest now don't you...?

Interest will be calculated on full previous month balance for a total of 2 months... (1 month advance / 1 month arrears) which in my opinion is a total rip off.

This happened about 9 months ago. And yes I got slugged a huge amount of interest. Won't make that mistake again.

 

[markis10]

This happened about 9 months ago. And yes I got slugged a huge amount of interest. Won't make that mistake again.

Not surprising, when you miss the interest free days it gets calculated from the date of purchase!

 

[smckay]

They don't cancel it, they suspend it. Which I've never seen done with any other credit card. I missed a payment because I was traveling internationally, only discovered I'd missed the payment because I went to use the card and it was decline. No notice given at all. Ridiculous.

My Mr Blah-Blah Manager I spoke with informs me he has worked in the credit card industry and tells me many card providers do this. So I told him in 25 years I've never had a card suspended by a late payment. Sort of shut him up.

And 36 hours after my card should have been unblocked, I still cannot pay online for a [business - EEEKKK] payment I need to make.

Soon as I can bin them I will, how can you run a business like that?

Although, I do note that the payment has been recorded on their system as the date due so maybe he massaged it so I don't get charged huge late payment fee's. With about 10 Big Ones on the bill now that will hurt in penalties :evil:

 

[cove]

It usually adds up to about $300 as they use every bit of the T & C to hit you up!
Just thought you should be prepared!
Let us know if you negotiate their charges down to a more reasonable figure.

 

[awilcockson]

It usually adds up to about $300 as they use every bit of the T & C to hit you up!
Just thought you should be prepared!
Let us know if you negotiate their charges down to a more reasonable figure.

Yeah I copped about $300 in interest (plus the $30 late fee).

Funnily enough, I injured myself at work just before Christmas and had a day off work as I couldn't drive with my injured hand. Didn't go near a computer that day and missed the Outlook reminder I'd set up so that I'd never miss a payment again :evil:

So I ended up paying one day late. Which was going to cost me $300 again. Rang them once the interest had appeared on the account and was able to get them to reverse the charges as "it was only one day late".

 

[DeKa]

I wonder if this is all related to something else other than business transactions. I ordered my credit file, and since I applied for this card, HSBC have undertaken 13 'periodic credit review'.

Maybe they are constantly checking your credit file for other applications, and use that information as part of the basis to determine card cancellation.

 

[MarkD]

Are they allowed to do that? Seems a bit rough

 

[DeKa]

Are they allowed to do that? Seems a bit rough

I can't really see what's wrong with it. It's not a "Consumer Credit Application" - it is under the "File Access" section.
The File Access section records when I requested my own credit file, and when other organisations check my credit file. Citibank check once every three months (exactly), and HSBC, almost every month (but the date varies). No other lending institution does regular file accesses for me.

 

[Moopere]

Citibank check once every three months (exactly), and HSBC, almost every month (but the date varies). No other lending institution does regular file accesses for me.

Thats very interesting. One wonders if this is also a sneaky way of fending off the competition as it seems to be commonly believed that hits on your credit file can be the cause of declined credit applications (or that evidence of new applications only??).

 

[oz_mark]

Thats very interesting. One wonders if this is also a sneaky way of fending off the competition as it seems to be commonly believed that hits on your credit file can be the cause of declined credit applications (or that evidence of new applications only??).

Accesses such as these for continuing credit reviews (and I get them for Amex and Westpac), are not actually disclosed to other lenders.

 

[DeKa]

Thats very interesting. One wonders if this is also a sneaky way of fending off the competition as it seems to be commonly believed that hits on your credit file can be the cause of declined credit applications (or that evidence of new applications only??).

As I said, it shows up as a file access only, not a credit request. I doubt it would impact your ability to get new credit.

 

[dontwanttoregister]

Thats very interesting. One wonders if this is also a sneaky way of fending off the competition as it seems to be commonly believed that hits on your credit file can be the cause of declined credit applications (or that evidence of new applications only??).

No, it's not. It's noted only for your information and no other provider has access to these requests. They do not count as credit applications.

Citi check my file every 3 months, Amex on a monthly basis and HSBC on a monthly basis.

There is also a 'newish' section of your Veda file that lists existing credit relationships, not just applications ie actual live credit accounts. Amex (both in their own right and DJ storecard) are the only providers that list on my file.

This information, provided by Veda is useful Frequently Asked Questions | MyCreditFile.com.au

Also a timely reminder that everyone should check their file (avail for free) on a regular basis. I've been alerted to a major bank error that would have affected me quite badly through subscribing to the paid alert service but YMMV.

 

[DeKa]

There is also a 'newish' section of your Veda file that lists existing credit relationships, not just applications ie actual live credit accounts. Amex (both in their own right and DJ storecard) are the only providers that list on my file.

Also a timely reminder that everyone should check their file (avail for free) on a regular basis. I've been alerted to a major bank error that would have affected me quite badly through subscribing to the paid alert service but YMMV.

Citibank (my fee free for life Silver, then Gold, and now Platinum card) and AMEX/DJs scorecard are the only two listed in that section.

I subscribe to the paid alert service, but you can check it for free periodicly to achieve the same outcome.

 

[Deleted User]

Citibank (my fee free for life Silver, then Gold, and now Platinum card) and AMEX/DJs scorecard are the only two listed in that section.

I subscribe to the paid alert service, but you can check it for free periodicly to achieve the same outcome.

the alert service is great value in my opinion...

 

[burmans]

Thats very interesting. One wonders if this is also a sneaky way of fending off the competition as it seems to be commonly believed that hits on your credit file can be the cause of declined credit applications (or that evidence of new applications only??).

There are two different types of usual hits on your file, enquiries and applications. Applications are the potential problem, once every now and then not so much but if you make a considerable number in a short time this is regarded as an indicator you might be applying for lots of credit (and potentially being turned down). Whether you are in fact being turned down is of course conjecture but this is all based on statistical modelling that many applications in a short time is a reasonable predictor for upcoming debt payment problems.