The HfP chat thread – Monday 11th October

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Aaron says:

11 Oct11 October 14:47

Does anyone have a recent experience of how long it takes for Virgin to deliver their credit card for a new application?
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 14:53
  
  Two weeks.
  - CarpalTravel says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 15:56
    
    +1
- Phil W says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 14:54
  
  I’m ten days after application and ID verification. Rang up today and I was advised that there is a backlog of applications and that they are struggling to process them all. I should here back from them in the next few days supposedly.
  - Andrew H says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 15:18
    
    They took 3 weeks for me back in spring when there wasn’t a double points promotion
- Amy C says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:18
  
  I applied for an additional card holder for mine and they supposedly sent it Sept 21st. It’s yet to arrive!
  - Andrew H says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 15:20
    
    I had that very same argument with them. They claimed “sent” a couple of days after my application but refused to say if the card as actually with Royal Mail. It obviously wasn’t, nor will yours be; they’ve sent it to print, that’s all, if that!
- Aaron says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:24
  
  Wow. Seems like everyone is having the same issues. Funny enough the PIN letter for my supplementary card arrived 3 days after approval. CS said PIN for additional card typically arrives earlier, which is baffling.
  - Anna says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 15:56
    
    I applied a week last Friday an was instantly accepted. So far all we have had is the PIN for the supplementary card!
    - CarpalTravel says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 15:59
      
      Same for me, and I had applied 2.5wks before the offer landed. Their card issuer is sloooow….
      
      If I remember rightly my pin arrived after my card, I just used the app to find out what it was.
    - elguiri says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 19:49
      
      Exactly the same for me too
- Aaron says:
  
  12 Oct12 October 09:54
  
  Got the card today, 10th working day, came with DX.
  - Aaron says:
    
    12 Oct12 October 10:14
    
    Oh and supplementary card came together on the same letter.
r* says:

11 Oct11 October 14:54

Letter from creation this morning (paraphrased 🙂

we recently closed your black acct. however, we’ve noticed that youve applied for a white which was initially accepted. we have changed our minds and immidiately suspend the card and will close it on dec 10. we dont have to tell you why or review the decision. You may receive a new card, but will be unable to activate it.

meanwhile, they have unblocked my black and so i can now use it with che again *blink*
- Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 18:46
  
  The failure to give an objectively justified reason for the suspension is, I think, a breach of subsection 4 of section 98A of the Consumer Credit Act
  - JDB says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 19:07
    
    In this instance, it is subsection 3 that applies. 4 refers specifically to removal of a credit facility, something they haven’t done. The Consumer Credit Act and FOS decisions are clear that no reason needs to be given and it doesn’t count against the firm for not providing a reason.
M says:

11 Oct11 October 14:55

Virgin Atlantic Credit Card chargeback

Hi All,
I would like to request a chargeback for a transaction I have made on my Virgin Atlantic Credit Card. Is there an email address where I can send the details? I only found a postal address on the website and cannot see anything obvious in the app (and it would be quite fiddly as I want to attach all communications with the seller, etc.).

Thanks
- Magic Mike says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:09
  
  You need to write to them – I wrote to PO Box 10609 Wigston LE18 9FA
  
  No form to fill in, just write a letter with all the details and attach all relevant correspondence. I sent 20+ pages, had to follow it up with a complaint 3 months later but went through in the end and got some compensation for the delay.
  - Magic Mike says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 15:10
    
    and send it recorded so when they claim they received the request 6 weeks later than they actually did you have evidence…
- CarpalTravel says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:33
  
  https://help.virginmoney.com/kb/helpcentre/content/Prod-11348/How-do-I-raise-a-refund-claim
- Wollhouse says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:43
  
  Magic Mike is correct. Don’t even waste your time ringing….they only accept via post. They don’t even really want you to do that based on the unhelpful chat I had. Their online form is “offline so we can improve it….”. Basically, go punch yourself in the face for an hour or so and the experience will probably be more enjoyable than holding for and then speaking to them re a chargeback. On the plus side, I was so infuriated with them, I might leave the card linked to curve to pay my tax bill in advance as I no longer care if they cancel it!
  - M says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 16:22
    
    Thanks this is very helpful. Now the question remains whether I want to do that for potential £26 or £28 or whatever it was exactly 😉
r* says:

11 Oct11 October 14:56

Has there been anything said by curve about creations claims that any card linked to curve was tainted and so being closed btw, or are they sticking their head in the sand and hoping no one else notices their product is being blamed for mass closures?
- SteveJ says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:41
  
  Not that I have seen, but I expect nothing else.
  
  It’s like when Amex pulled at the very start, lots of bluster from Curve initially, then silence when they had nothing positive to report back.
  
  Same situation here it seems, no positive news so they’re staying quiet.
  - Youllnever says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 17:11
    
    Last I’ve heard from them is this: https://twitter.com/askcurve/status/1446117968887226369
The cyclist says:

11 Oct11 October 15:06

My Nectar offers just got really good, after weeks of crappy 10 points for a tin of tomatoes, 800 nectar points for 6 items….
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:21
  
  Yes someone seems to have woken up
  
  I amassed 1170 points for a £75 shop on the weekend so 15/£. Nothing I wouldn’t eat anyway but missed out on offers for my usual items which weren’t in stock.
  - AJA says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 15:25
    
    Last week I spent £8.66 and got 430NPs which works out at over 49 per £
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 15:56
      
      Tbf if I just shopped for the bonus items it would probably be 1100 points for £15-20 spend but I have a household to feed.
      - Ryan says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 16:07
        
        Small gains, but 10/20/50 pts on a 1p broccoli, tomato or potato always helps!
Clive says:

11 Oct11 October 15:18

Hopefully some good news for those wishing to visit Thailand

https://www.thainewsreports.com/2021/10/11/national-address-of-the-prime-minister-of-thailand-on-monday-11-october-2021/
- meta says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:21
  
  Still test pre-departure and on arrival all payable. This will put many people off.
  - Richie says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 15:36
    
    Are any or all of these PCR?
    - Sam G says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 16:36
      
      at least the pre-departure is. from the way that is written the “in thailand” test may be rapid
      - meta says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 17:02
        
        Oh, is it LTF on arrival?
  - Blenz101 says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 17:34
    
    Only considering alcohol in restaurants from December will put off many more!
    - Thywillbedone says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 20:30
      
      Indeed. Can’t understand that restriction …seems very blanket. I could understand if there was, say, an 11pm curfew but alcohol was permitted. Not everyone loses control of themselves after a few drinks!
CarpalTravel says:

11 Oct11 October 15:25

Having a small thought to myself for the day.

One thing I look forward to with a forum here is the ability to track some of the questions that are asked by certain visitors who seem to “fire & forget”.

I often have found myself looking back over replies that I (and many others) have given to an original poster query only for them to never reply. Do they see the replies and just ignore, or do they not take the time to track where they asked it and then spend the time locating it later?

I cannot be the only one a bit narked by the apparent wasted effort I have put in. Hopefully in the future things will be improve a bit.

That is all.
- AJA says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:30
  
  I hope that it’s a case of asking and checking back but then forgetting to say thanks. Even on forums such as FT some people fail to respond with a simple “thank you”. Please don’t stop assisting as I think everyone is helped by others taking the time to respond.
  - CarpalTravel says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 15:38
    
    I agree and don’t take it personally, have been on forums long enough not to (for the most part!). 😊
    
    I should point out (as I didn’t say originally) I am not expecting every reply post to be given a “thank you” otherwise a thread would quickly be unreadable! Another forum benefit – a thanks button. 😁
    - Doug M says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 16:00
      
      I’d prefer a dislike button, but that probably says more about me.
      - Andrew says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 16:15
        
        I’d prefer that – for people asking seemingly unconnected questions to what this website is actually about.
      - CarpalTravel says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 17:09
        
        Whilst I like the more positive feel of just having a Like, a dislike is actually pretty handy when someone posts up something that is patently wrong.
        
        I’ve seen people on forums state things as absolute truths when they are simply anything but.
      - John says:
        
        12 Oct12 October 06:50
        
        That’s called reddit
    - Sundar says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 16:07
      
      A thumbs up button like Microsoft has introduced with Teams.
- Char Char says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:58
  
  Most of the time people can’t even find their original questions, unless you document the url and page of the question then keep checking it back but thats far too much hassle
- Andrew says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 16:13
  
  There’s probably an element of not wanting to clog up the forum with “thanks” posts – a bit like the endless clogging up of your email inbox with emails just saying thanks.
  - CarpalTravel says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 17:07
    
    Possibly and as I say above, it’d soon be unreadable. I guess though there is also the people being people element, which is exactly why the likes of LMGTFY exist!
    - Pete says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 17:15
      
      Maybe a LMGTFY button? Which was the precise thought I was having when I saw your post.
      - Yorkie Aid says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 18:17
        
        Thanks!
- elguiri says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 19:58
  
  I usually keep a browser tab open on the page I posted the question/comment to so i can refresh it later and see any updates. However I have noticed sometimes it’s no longer on that page but the following one. Maybe some algorithm only allowing certain number of comments on one page pushes it back, don’t know, but it makes it really difficult to figure out what comment I made and am awaiting replies on.
  - ChrisBCN says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 20:11
    
    It’s 8 top level comments per page, the reason you can be bumped to the next page is if an earlier comment that had been waiting in moderation gets approved.
    - elguiri says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 20:18
      
      Ah, thanks for clarifying!
      - CarpalTravel says:
        
        12 Oct12 October 06:09
        
        That’s interesting! This thread too started life on page 7.
Phil W says:

11 Oct11 October 15:57

I’m looking to buy a 41″ to 45″ TV for my mother. Are there any good points earning opportunities at the moment?
- CarpalTravel says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 16:03
  
  What sort of points do you favour?
  
  Personally I’d only buy a TV from either John Lewis, Richer Sounds or Costco. The first two are at least on the shopping portals.
  - Richie says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 16:06
    
    For nectar points, there’s Argos and larger Sainsbury’s.
  - Youllnever says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 16:07
    
    Richer Sounds hands down for me.
  - xcalx says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 16:34
    
    Terrible CS from JL this January. Bought a TV which was faulty from day one they replaced it with a second hand faulty TV and were shocked when after a month of ignoring my emails I did a chargeback claim through Amex.
  - Andrew H says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 16:36
    
    And John Lewis gives an extra year’s warranty and the 2% cash back at the “top” shopping portal gives 2.1Avios/£1 spent.
- HH says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 18:10
  
  Costco has/had some cracking deals on 2020 Sonys. My 6-year old Sony died in August, and I was able to pick up a 49” at Costco for 150 less than the discounted prices anywhere else, including Amazon.
  - Yorkie Aid says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 18:20
    
    I’m astounded you bought another Sony after having one die after just six years! My Panasonic 50″ is 10 years old and still works just like new. It pains me saying this as a Sony shareholder though.
    - mr_jetlag says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 18:35
      
      I have one of the first Sony Bravia HD models from 2006. Still going strong although with a vertical blue line down the screen. Used for upstairs streaming.
  - davef says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 19:02
    
    When I discovered the built in DVD player didnt work after 4 yrs, 10 months after purchase, Costco attempted a repair and then when they couldnt get the part refunded the purchase price in cash.
    
    I wouldn’t look anywhere else tbh. You can buy web only membership from costso if there’s not one local.
    - davef says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 19:18
      
      That was a Bravia 2005 btw
      - Yorkie Aid says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 19:38
        
        Agreed, you can’t go wrong with Costco for this kind of purchase
- Phil W says:
  
  12 Oct12 October 00:46
  
  Thanks everyone. Looks like Costco is the way to go.