Post Office Classic Credit Card

The teller at our local postoffice encouraged me to sign up for this credit card. She said that I'd get the same exchange rate on the card as I would at the post office. I asked her about extra fees and she said there weren't any. It was also interest free for the first 3 months! Sounded great so I signed up and took it with me on holiday. What a shock when I received the bill. Not only was there about 5% service fee every time I used an ATM, but they also start up charging you 24% APR interest from the moment you withdraw! So on £1500 I've ended up paying about £60 in fees and interest! And that's paying it all on time as you can't pay it early because they won't tell you on your internet account what interest and fees you owe! So sure, maybe it's a good deal if you go to a country and only use it for purchases in shops, restaurants, hotels etc, but if you go to a country that doesn't like credit cards then be prepared for a whopper of a credit card bill when you return.

I have applied for this Post Office Classic Credit Card twice and both times I have failed to get through their ridiculous application processing. In both cases I applied online and a few days after applying I get a letter asking me to send certified copies of (1) one piece of Government ID (ie, passport, driving licence, benefit book etc), (2) payslip from last three months (3) bank statement showing one month worth of transactions and (4) credit card or utility bill confirming address. I had to get all this stuff verified and signed by either an accountant, another bank or somebody from the Post Office. As I am an accountant and know a few accountant friends, I got one of them to endorse all the paperwork, which they signed, including details of the professional bodies registration details. I sent it all to the Post Office and they sent it all back saying that it wasn't signed by a proper accountant. My friend was a bit miffed at the accusation. I then took it to a post office who did exactly the same thing, but because it was December and the post was slow, it missed the 30 day deadline within a day or so, so the Post Office rejected it again saying the application was now out of time. January and February rolled on and I thought I'd try again. Same process happened all again. I applied online, got a letter requesting all the over the top stuff. Again, I dutifully gather all the items together and wandered off to the post office. This time I didn't bother with copies, except for my driving licence which I didn't want to send the original. The woman in the post office read the letter and said, 'you can't send originals, you can only send copies and I have to sign them as certified. I explained I was happy to send the originals but she was adamant that I was wrong and she was right so we agreed that should would go off and photocopy everything and then sign them as certified copies. 10 minutes later she comes back with all the copies stuff into the envelope that had to go back to the credit card processing people, gave me back the originals and said that would it. Great, I thought, maybe this time it will be fine. However, 7 days later I get all the copies back from the post office with a letter saying that they were rejecting all the copies because the woman in the post office had written 'certified original seen' instead of 'certified original sighted', she had only copied the front page of my bank statement so it wasn't showing a full month worth of transactions and that the photo on the copy of the driving licence 'wasn't clear enough'. That really freaked me out - why on earth do they want to know what I looked like - this is only a credit card application. I'm not offering my photo for an E-fit. I really cannot understand how in this modern day and age the Post Office can think it can operate in this manner. I did think at the time when I received their original letter that they were being a bit over the top with their verification requirements. It is a very draconian process. However, then I think about who it is and how much of a by-gone dinosaur the Post Office is that it really shouldn't surprise me. I'm not going to pursue getting this card any further simply because if this is how bad and appalling the application process is, what is the rest of their administration like. I really do not want to go there. Perhaps somebody should recommend the Post Office give up credit cards completely as I really can't see it has any chance of being competitive with other providers if this is how it treats even prospective customers. They should just stick to doing what know and that is handling the post - oh, but they don't do that very well either, do they.

A very flexible card (Mastercard issued by Bank of Ireland) with balance transfers to your current account and the ability to move large purchases (over £500) to a loan type repayment with a low interest rate. There are no fees for use abroad. I think this a good card which is in a class of its own regarding features offered.

Go this card on a great introductory offer of no interest for 3 months on all purchases, which was great. All documentation is nice and clear, which isn't always the case with other suppliers. I can pay my monthly fees in about 6/7 different ways, which really suits me. Nice clear statement and overall a good feel. Good APR so you don't feel ripped off - trust me, I have felt like that with others!

The only down point was that when I tried to activate my account and phoned the customer service department they said they were closed and I should phone back between 8am and 10pm, it was actually 5 o'clock when I phoned, but that's only a minor thing, it's sorted now anyway and the things that matter seem to be right so far, which is more important!