In the following article names and numbers have been altered to protect the users true identity, 

A user of Reclaim Unfair Fees, lets call him Dave, reported how Barclaycard relied on their small print to start charging some hefty fees. The problem began when Barclaycard sent via the post an attractive promotion, 0% interest for 9 months when using their promotional cheques.

The covering letter stated that the customer could transfer £7000.

Dave was pleased as this was roughly the amount he needed so he readily used the cheque for the full amount stated. In hindsight he should have spent a little more time reading the small print, but everything looked straight forward so Dave went ahead.

The transaction went through and everything was looking good until a few days later when Dave started to receive emails from Barclaycard informing him that he was nearing his credit limit. This was expected as it was a large transfer but he thought he would take a look at his statement to check everything was OK.

This is when things started to go wrong. The covering letter told Dave he could transfer £7000, but his credit limit was exactly £7000, consequently, when the handling fee was charged it put Dave over his credit limit. At this point Barclaycard began charging their standard interest rate on the entire balance, £70+. This is a fairly standard practise if you go over your credit limit, but it wasn't quite as clear cut as that. Dave acted upon information in the letter he received in good faith, there was no intention of going over his credit limit.

As soon as Dave discovered the problem he phoned and made a payment. Barclaycard deserve some credit at this point, the customer services member appreciated that this was a mistake caused by confusion over the covering letter  and they refunded the interest charge and reinstated the 0% interest rate.

However, a month later there was another hefty interest charge, the 0% interest rate had not been reinstated. Dave made another phone call and this time things were not so friendly. The customer services member claimed he was unable to reinstate the 0% offer. Things were not looking good but with some persistence, a request to speak to the supervisor and a long time spent on hold Barclaycard did reinstate the 0% offer.

So, Barclaycard deserve some credit, they refunded the fees and they have reinstated the 0% offer with out having to go further than a phone call. But Dave may have just got lucky, others may not be so fortunate. This story illustrates just how impotant it is to read the small print on any financial agreement to avoid breaching terms you weren't aware of that may incur financial penalties.