So I’m standing in line at the Post Office in the UK and I see the flyer below.

I pick up the flyer and turn it over and what do I see but the picture below.

“To complete your credit card application form, simply call...” Followed by terms and conditions for the contest to win £10,000 for applying for the Post Office credit card from the Bank of Ireland.

My favorite term is “No correspondence will be entered into and the promoter’s decision is final and binding on all entrants.” Basically that says we’ll do what we want and if you write us don’t expect an answer because we are the Post Office and we don’t send letters.

What struck me was knowing how complicated credit card terms and conditions can be that it seemed that applying over the phone for a card appears the applicant would have lees of a chance of being fully aware of all the terms and conditions. At least online there are links that make they terms and conditions available to be read.

So what did I do when I got back to the office? Well of course we called the telephone number listed on the advertisement and pretended that we were applying for a card.

What we learned from the automated line was that you need to be:

• Over 18.
• Resident of the UK.
• You can’t already have a Post Office account or credit card.
• No bad credit history.
• No county court judgment.
• Must have a bank account.
• Must earn more than £8,000 per year.
• Alive. (OK, I added that one.)

Then we were connected with a very friendly and helpful lad who gave us some additional information.

He told us that:

• No commission would be charged on purchases made abroad.
• 10 months interest free on balance transfers.
• We could have up to three additional cardholders.
• The APR was 15.9% for the platinum card and 16.9% from the classic card.

All of that information seems wonderful, useful and helpful. He then asked if we would like to apply over the phone.

But here is where I start to worry, you see the terms and conditions on the website for the card are seven printed pages of fine print. And you know that the bank is going to hold the customer to each and every single word of those terms if it suits them. So do the actual, full and complete terms and conditions include anything important that doesn’t need to be covered in a telephone application?

Let’s take a look and see if the full terms and conditions have anything important to say that doesn't need to be covered on the phone.

Here is What the Full Terms & Conditions Say

“Additional Cardholder” - any person to whom you have asked us to give a Card to so that person can use the Account.

Now you will note that the additional cardholder is not responsible for the account, they just get to use your account that you are responsible for. Beware!

In order to protect our account, the terms and conditions say that we must never give our “Card number or security information to anyone unless you know who they are and why they need them.” Which seems odd because if I make a transaction over the phone or internet how in the world do I know who the kind person is?

Take for example the recent stories of UK residents calling telemarketers in India and handing over their card information to make a purchase and then latter finding they were victims of fraud because their information had been sold to others. Is my bank going to protect me if a crook gets ahold of my card information and PIN number? See this other story and you’ll know that the banks don’t always protect consumers in these cases.

Bad people exist that take advantage of people that don’t read and pay attention to the terms and conditions before entering into a legal agreement. Just watch the Judge Judy video below to see an extreme reaction to abusive terms and conditions.

In the USING YOUR ACCOUNT section we find out that any "foreign transaction occurring outside the United Kingdom will be converted into sterling at our rate of exchange...” Now what makes that section intriguing is that the telephone representative said no commission was charged for foreign transactions but every bank changes a profit in the exchange of foreign funds, they don’t do it at cost. So if the bank marks up the exchange for more than it costs them, isn’t that a commission? The definition of a commission is a fee or percentage allowed for services rendered

We see that we can’t “assume that the Credit Limit is still valid if there is a breach of the Agreement” but how do I know if there is a breech?

Balance Transfers

The 0% balance transfer is a marketing point that is used to encourage people to use the card but the fine print says “We reserve the right to refuse a Balance Transfer or limit the amount for any reason” So I could actually apply for this card over the phone, get it and be refused a balance transfer.

The terms also say that “Each Balance Transfer is subject to a fee, as set out in “Key Information” but there is nothing on the Post Office website or the terms and that is labelled “Key Information” for the credit card. All I could find was a page of Key Information for their insurance product.

Fees and Charges

This section begins with “The amounts of our fees and charges and details of when they will be payable can be found under the heading “Other Financial Information” and “Key Information”. These fees and charges will be debited directly to your account.” Well that’s great but I still can’t find anything called “Key Information”.

“We may at any time increase or decrease any fee or charge payable under this Agreement or introduce a new charge for any service provided under or in connection with this Agreement.” I seriously doubt we’ll see much of a decrease in fees and apparently you are granting the Bank of Ireland carte blanche to change their fees and charges whenever they want to.

Interest

“The rates of interest payable by you under this Agreement and details of how and when interest will be charged can be found under the heading “Other Financial Information”. I give up, where is that section is. It certainly is not on the Post Office website and I can’t find a section in the terms and conditions called that.

Changes

8.1 We may at any time change:

• the Credit Limit;
• the rate of interest;
• any charge or fee payable under this Agreement;
• any other term of this Agreement.

8.2 Changes in interest rate, the Credit Limit, or in any of our charges or fees may be personal to you and may be as a result of a change in your credit risk.

8.3 Changes (other than those specified in Clause 8.2 above) will be caused by a change in market conditions or banking practice, alterations in the costs of maintaining the Account, complying with legal or regulatory requirements or recommendations or codes of practice, changes in technology, to introduce a new service or improve the service we already offer you, to correct any errors, to make the terms of this Agreement clearer or more favourable to you or for any other valid business reason.

8.4 Before increasing the Credit Limit we will carry out appropriate checks. If you do not wish us to increase the Credit Limit, you should contact us.

8.5 We may also change this Agreement by adding new terms or deleting existing terms, or both. 8.6 We will tell you about any changes (including any changes in interest rate) by:

• advertising in the press;
• advising you in your monthly statements; or
• sending you a separate written notice.

8.7 If the change is to your benefit, we will implement it as soon as possible and tell you within 30 days. Otherwise, most changes will occur at least 30 days after we tell you about them. Changes in the rate of interest may apply immediately, but we will tell you about the change within 30 days. All notices and notice periods will observe the requirements of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and any other relevant law.

So unless I read this section wrong, what it is saying is that the Post Office credit card can, at any time, change the Credit Limit, rate of interest, any charge or fee payable under this Agreement or any other term of this Agreement. They could have saved themselves some ink if they had just said “We can change anything or everything whenever we want.”

I’ve Got to Stop on Page 2

I’m only on page two of seven pages here. If I keep going I’ll wind up writing a book but there are some real standouts in the following pages that I’ve highlighted in the PDF copy that I’d just like to point out. Take a close look and let me know what you think about those additional sections. I'll be napping. After reading the seven pages of terms and conditions I feel like the dog below.

Summary

There are a lot more terms and conditions that apply to applicants and users of this card and while I applaud the marketing department of the Post Office for their clever flyer that is handed out at the local Post Office, doesn’t it seem a bit beyond reason to encourage people to apply for this financial liability product over the phone when there is almost no possible way for them to be fully informed about what they are applying for? Are we all to assume that every customer will faithfully read the enclosed terms and conditions when they arrive with the new shiny Post Office Platinum Card?

Just keep in mind that even if a consumer applies over the phone for this card, receives it, reads the terms and conditions and latter decides to cancel the card within the 14 day window, they will still have a new entry on their credit report which could harm their credit score.