M&S Bank Complaints & Claims
M&S Bank, why are you treating customers like fools? asks JEFF PRESTRIDGE
Any cut in rates – much awaited by borrowers – is unlikely until spring at the earliest, and that could well be kicked back into the long grass if inflation does not fall from its current rate of four per cent.
The more benign outlook on the direction of interest rates – following 14 rate rises since late 2021 – does not seem to be a consideration for those who run M&S Bank, the financial services arm of resurgent retailer Marks & Spencer.
The bank has just written to cardholders informing them that from March 25, the interest rate on any accumulated debt will rise from 21.9 to 24.9 per cent.
In its explanatory letter, it says the rate hike is 'due to the increases in the Bank of England base rate impacting the cost of offering credit to our customers'.
Don't bank on it: M&S bank has just written to cardholders informing them that from March 25, the interest rate on any accumulated debt will rise from 21.9 to 24.9 per cent
A bizarre explanation given it pushed up borrowing rates in July last year from 17.9 to 21.9 per cent – just prior to the last 0.25 percentage point rise in Bank base rate to 5.25 per cent on August 3.
The rate rise has not gone down well in the household of Peter and Jennifer Wall.
They are avid users of M&S's credit card and clear any outstanding balance every month, but they take exception to the latest interest rate rise.
Peter, a retired solicitor and former chairman of a Birmingham-based manufacturing business, is incensed – and has not been backward in coming forward when telling M&S what he thinks about the latest rate hike.
'Astonished', 'an insult' and 'yet another example of David versus Goliath and the never-ending saga of ordinary people being treated so unfairly' are all words and expressions he has used in email exchanges with the company.
Sadly, M&S's responses have been less than adequate. After one email he sent, Peter was asked to share his feedback about his recent experience with the company – he was so insulted he didn't reply.
Even when his emails ended up before M&S Bank's executive complaints team, the answers were unsatisfactory.
It said the rate increase was necessary to ensure its products remained 'sustainable'. Baloney. It's all about profiteering (note to M&S Bank, base rate has remained unchanged for more than five months and in all probability will fall in the coming months).
It also explained that the increase had nothing to do with the way their specific account was being run. A crass response. Peter's complaint was not about their individual card, but the proposed rate rise being applied across M&S Bank's entire credit card book.
Finally, it offered him the right to take his complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Again, a ridiculous suggestion. All Peter wanted was for the bank to explain why it was increasing rates at a time when everyone is talking about cuts.
Peter says: 'Big financial institutions send out numerous letters to customers. Most people look at them without fully understanding that the financial climate is not quite as depicted in the correspondence. When companies send out misleading letters, they should be challenged.'
Marks & Spencer is a fantastic brand. But it is being damaged by its bank that is part of HSBC. It has echoes of what happened to John Lewis last year when many of its credit card customers were outraged that their borrowing limits were curbed by the appointment of a new company (NewDay) to run its card operation.
M&S, beware.
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