Creation Financial Services bashing

[stevenhp1987]

Finally got my response from Creation… which they sent by email.

Naturally, they refused to uphold everything.

I’ve replied back by email as most of what they said was utter nonsense. For starters you cannot simply remove the benefits without giving 60 days notice as per section 19 of the CCA. And, like others, they’re relying on point 6 in the IHG points T&C… which were not included in my DSAR. They have confirmed everything I agreed to was in the DSAR…

They even said my benefits ended on the account closure date NOT the date of any given notice… but gave no reason why points were not transferred on previous statement dates just that because the card is closed, they will no longer offer me the benefits or transfer points.

Now, to MCOL or go to FOS…

[HughM]

How much does IHG pay the hotel for an anniversary night voucher spent there?
At Kimpton Fitzroy London, IHG compensated the hotel USD 102 for a room priced at GBP 200 last July, but booked using the free voucher.
So, about £80.
So, if Creation paid the same figure to IHG, it was making £10 profit on the annual fee charged for the IHG Premium Rewards card.

[stevenhp1987]

HughM wrote:

How much does IHG pay the hotel for an anniversary night voucher spent there?
At Kimpton Fitzroy London, IHG compensated the hotel USD 102 for a room priced at GBP 200 last July, but booked using the free voucher.
So, about £80.
So, if Creation paid the same figure to IHG, it was making £10 profit on the annual fee charged for the IHG Premium Rewards card.

Assuming it’s the amount in the IHG app. Kimpton Paris got paid $248.11 USD (or £214.44) on 17th October last year.

[AirMax]

It’s full rack rate if 95% occupancy. or a nominal amount for cleaning if not.

[BP]

I’ve not used my card since November when I made a payment to Che and paid the full balance on the same day. This attracted a small amount of interest on the December statement which I paid off 2 weeks before the statement due date. I’ve now been charged more interest in January despite the card not having been used and having had no balance.

No idea what Creation are up to!

[Paul B]

Would somebody be happy to share a template to send to the FOS?

I’ve received my generic response offering me nothing

[pbcold]

I`ve had my card stopped but have had a refund paid to it. Will they pay me?

[harley]

It seems they may be playing very fast and loose and relying solely on the term that points are linked to the IHG terms ( the IHG terms seem to change on a weekly basis)https://www.ihg.com/content/gb/en/customer-care/member-tc and that they are not responsible for informing comsumers of any changes to the IHG terms – so unless you decide you want to check the ihg terms page every week you are disadvantaged. Very sneaky indeed but im sure the fos will find this as unfair. And as i nentioned previously the terms i signed up to as per DSAR were dated in 2016 so creation has not informed me at any stage of the differnet terms on their website https://www.creation.co.uk/ihgcctermsandconditions/

[marks7389]

harley wrote:

It seems they may be playing very fast and loose and relying solely on the term that points are linked to the IHG terms ( the IHG terms seem to change on a weekly basis)https://www.ihg.com/content/gb/en/customer-care/member-tc and that they are not responsible for informing comsumers of any changes to the IHG terms – so unless you decide you want to check the ihg terms page every week you are disadvantaged. Very sneaky indeed but im sure the fos will find this as unfair. And as i nentioned previously the terms i signed up to as per DSAR were dated in 2016 so creation has not informed me at any stage of the differnet terms on their website https://www.creation.co.uk/ihgcctermsandconditions/

Have they tried to tie their refusal to award your night voucher/points back to clause 6 in your complaint response then? If so, as we’ve discussed before, that’s a whole load of nonsense in its own right. It simply says that issued points and rewards are subject to IHG’s terms and conditions and is clearly there primarily to protect them against IHG moving the goalposts, e.g. a points devaluation.

[JerrySignfield]

Approaching 6 weeks now since them asking for more time to resolve my complaint, rather pathetic since thats a total of 14 weeks when it could have easily been resolved if they had wanted it to be.

[marks7389]

JerrySignfield wrote:

Approaching 6 weeks now since them asking for more time to resolve my complaint, rather pathetic since thats a total of 14 weeks when it could have easily been resolved if they had wanted it to be.

No doubt they’ll eventually send you the same poor response as everyone else, not answering all your points and refusing to uphold complaint points you never even made…

Finally got confirmation from FOS today, nearly a month after my submission, that its going to take another four months to assign it to a case handler.

[BP]

Got my response today. It was sent to the wrong address so someone in my street had it for 5 days while they worked out where it was meant to go.

Think I’ll go after then on data protection grounds too.

As for.my complaint it was the same as everyone else – points not fully addressed and complaint not upheld based partly on IHG T&C’s nothing to do with the card.

[Aston100]

marks7389 wrote:

JerrySignfield wrote:

Approaching 6 weeks now since them asking for more time to resolve my complaint, rather pathetic since thats a total of 14 weeks when it could have easily been resolved if they had wanted it to be.

No doubt they’ll eventually send you the same poor response as everyone else, not answering all your points and refusing to uphold complaint points you never even made…

Finally got confirmation from FOS today, nearly a month after my submission, that its going to take another four months to assign it to a case handler.

FWIW, I submitted a complaint to the FOS about some unrelated matter with another finance organisation six months ago. I received acknowledgement in October, but it hasn’t been assigned to a handler yet.
I wonder if Creation are aware of the huge FOS backlog and are privately hoping at least some people will die of old age?

[Rui N.]

BP wrote:

Got my response today. It was sent to the wrong address so someone in my street had it for 5 days while they worked out where it was meant to go.

Think I’ll go after then on data protection grounds too.

As for.my complaint it was the same as everyone else – points not fully addressed and complaint not upheld based partly on IHG T&C’s nothing to do with the card.

Yes, do complain to ICO regarding data protection issues.

[wideboys182]

Creation has until 3 Feb to reply to my complaint. So 1 more week before I raise a complaint with FOS.

Has anyone raised a complaint with IHG directly?

[Lady London]

!!!!! The system has just lost =another= painstakingly typed reply again. Logged in, passed earlier captchas. All it’s taken is 4 buses + 3 buses and this stoopid system has lost my post. !!!!!

[C]

BP wrote:

I’ve not used my card since November when I made a payment to Che and paid the full balance on the same day. This attracted a small amount of interest on the December statement which I paid off 2 weeks before the statement due date. I’ve now been charged more interest in January despite the card not having been used and having had no balance.

No idea what Creation are up to!

Unfortunately that’s how several credit cards calculate interest for transactions that aren’t considered purchases. Outstanding interest billed on a statement date is itself incurring more interest until it is repaid. There is no interest free period even if the bill is paid off by the due date. To prevent this you need to overpay the first bill that shows an interest charge, to cover the interest on interest as well.

This is set out in clause 8.1:…. We will charge Interest on Interest you already owe, at the rate, which applies to the relevant part of the Agreement (for example, Standard Purchases, Cash Advances, Balance Transfers or Promotional Purchases)….

and clause 8.2: We calculate Interest on the average daily Outstanding Balance since the previous Statement Date. Any residual Interest calculated on the Account, but not shown on the latest Statement, shall be shown on the following Statement and be payable by the due date shown on that Statement. Where some interest is payable in any Statement period we will charge at least £0.50.

Clause 8.3 clarifies that only Standard Purchases qualify for an interest-free period.

[JDB]

BP wrote:

Got my response today. It was sent to the wrong address so someone in my street had it for 5 days while they worked out where it was meant to go.

Think I’ll go after then on data protection grounds too.

As for.my complaint it was the same as everyone else – points not fully addressed and complaint not upheld based partly on IHG T&C’s nothing to do with the card.

There is a delicious irony in the (joint) player who started Creationgate with boasts of MS suddenly waving the ‘data protection’ flag…

[BP]

JDB wrote:

BP wrote:

Got my response today. It was sent to the wrong address so someone in my street had it for 5 days while they worked out where it was meant to go.

Think I’ll go after then on data protection grounds too.

As for.my complaint it was the same as everyone else – points not fully addressed and complaint not upheld based partly on IHG T&C’s nothing to do with the card.

There is a delicious irony in the (joint) player who started Creationgate with boasts of MS suddenly waving the ‘data protection’ flag…

I was much less open about my MS activities before the accounts got blocked I think you’ll find. I always used code words too. But yes I was (am?) a big MS player and it is all within the rules 🙂

[chrism20]

BP wrote:

Got my response today. It was sent to the wrong address so someone in my street had it for 5 days while they worked out where it was meant to go.

Think I’ll go after then on data protection grounds too.

As for.my complaint it was the same as everyone else – points not fully addressed and complaint not upheld based partly on IHG T&C’s nothing to do with the card.

This is something I find truly staggering as the system should be populating basic details such as the address straight from your account details. There should be no manual intervention for basic stuff like this.

It sounds like someone is sitting with a pre-written junk letter on word and they are merely typing in customers addresses before hitting print.

[JDB]

BP wrote:

I was much less open about my MS activities before the accounts got blocked I think you’ll find. I always used code words too. But yes I was (am?) a big MS player and it is all within the rules 🙂

@BP you may have forgotten your posts of 14 Aug at 22.30 and 22.31! No codes. I heard a few days later and was a sent a screenshot saying that this was « la goutte d’eau qui a fait déborder le vase » and set off a chain of events. To be fair it was in response to another brag and it was after dinner.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[Froggee]

It was quite good chat.

Ming the Merciless says:
14 Aug 16:47
A mini review of Kimpton Fitzroy london.

I’m IHG spire and had booked 2 interconnected rooms. No interconnected rooms available but we’re given neighbouring rooms. One was tiny, one massive.

I’ve stayed on redemption previously and been given complete breakfast but no such joy this time. Having had the hotel breakfast before I didn’t feel like I was missing out eating at Pret first thing or the caffe in the centre of Russel Square.

£30 room credit (£15 per room) was provided.

They have a text concierge service that was very useful (had sheets changed daily, additional bottled water and popcorn).

Great location for Waterloo/Southbank (10 min bus) Covent Garden shopping, (2 stops) British museum, O2 forum Kentish Town (music).

Social hour is going strong with loads of free drinks between 5 and 6.

All in, a great redemption at 48k per night which works out at 3 night a month via my IHG premium card…

I’m also using the hotel as a long term store (3week future booking) to keep my ihg balance below 1m after comments that IHG have previously cancelled accounts with high balances.
SteveKicks says:
14 Aug 16:51
Perhaps it would be better to just give the MS a rest if you want to keep your balance below 1m
TGLoyalty says:
14 Aug 16:58
What happens at 1m?
Swiss Jim says:
14 Aug 17:41
Mine’s way over….
Ming the Merciless says:
14 Aug 18:41
I’ve heard reports of ihg cancelling accounts with very high balances
ChrisC says:
14 Aug 19:10
I read of one case on flyer talk which to be frank the account holder taking the mickey by repeatedly booking points + cash rates then cancelling the booking to have the cash element returned as points so circumventing the annual limits on buying points.
Ming the Merciless says:
14 Aug 18:29
😂😂😂 good one!
TGLoyalty says:
14 Aug 16:59
@Ming is the social hour just red/white? Or any other drinks offered?
Ryan Gill says:
14 Aug 18:00
I was there last night. It was beer, prosecco, wine and soft drinks. I think we were told as we checked in at 5.50 that it was just 1 free drink. Our glasses were refilled. I got the impression that the drinks were free until 6pm, judging by the exodus at this time.
Anna says:
14 Aug 20:39
Are you sure the free drink was a voucher given for status (usually a cocktail for Spire), if that applies? This is in addition to the wine hour.
Anna says:
14 Aug 18:00
Red, white, beer & soft drinks when we were there in May. Served in Burr & Co so we combined it with an early dinner one evening!
StillintheSun says:
14 Aug 17:22
Love the Kimpton! I managed to get Zurich to put me up there when my upstairs neighbour flooded my flat. The bar staff were really lovely, in fact the staff were all really good. One of my fave UK hotels. The Manchester Kimpton is good but does not rival the London one!
BP says:
14 Aug 22:30
150k a month via one IHG card? I thought I was extracting the urine doing £70k some months.
BP says:
14 Aug 22:31
Ohh and booking SSDV was a good way to keep the balance below 1m. 450,000 points for 5 nights!

[Lady London]

3 reply attempts lost after first 2 captchas on the first one and THREE of these B1OODY captchas on the second one.WHAT IS THE FIX DATE FOR THIS????? I’m on my normal connection logged in. I am tired of painstakingly typed replies getting toiletted by this rvbbish or poorly configured software

[Lady London]

Aston100 wrote:

marks7389 wrote:

JerrySignfield wrote:

Approaching 6 weeks now since them asking for more time to resolve my complaint, rather pathetic since thats a total of 14 weeks when it could have easily been resolved if they had wanted it to be.

No doubt they’ll eventually send you the same poor response as everyone else, not answering all your points and refusing to uphold complaint points you never even made…

Finally got confirmation from FOS today, nearly a month after my submission, that its going to take another four months to assign it to a case handler.

FWIW, I submitted a complaint to the FOS about some unrelated matter with another finance organisation six months ago. I received acknowledgement in October, but it hasn’t been assigned to a handler yet.
I wonder if Creation are aware of the huge FOS backlog and are privately hoping at least some people will die of old age?

I’d suggest MCOLing them

With FOS your claim is about you as a little consumer being unfairly treated by a big business, as regards a financial product. Slightly overstated but that’s it. Your hope is that the FOS’s assigned Ombudsman will agree that you were treated unfairly, will tell Creation to treat you fairly, and possibly may make you a small award of ££ as well for inconvenience etc. FOS decisions are supposed to be taken into account by businesses in how they do business generally in future. If a lot of people have complained to FOS and FOS found in their favour then as JDB has explained the FOS has a feedback loop where they can feed back to regulators and legislators which might result, over time, in regulations or laws being clarified or changed.

With MCOL you are simply asking for the judge to provide you what Creation agreed to provide you if you did specified things. You did the things, but Creation having enticed you into doing them, failed to provide what they had promised if you did the things. This sounds like breach of contract, possibly unfair contract terms. So for your specific case you are asking the judge to instruct Creation to provide what they promised, or its value. If you win an MCOL case that doesn’t set any precedent it just gets you your remedy. However obvs it’s instructive to others Creation failed to pay out points and nights earned to. And as each MCOL case is individual Creation will get tired of the time and effort it takes to deal with individual cases. Quite apart from having to pay out serious amounts of cash value of free nights and points, plus MCOL fees, plus attend hearings.

Frankly FOS and MCOL aim to achieve different things. The basis for complaint is different for each. FOS is about fairness in an industry, MCOL is about personal contract enforcement (and possibly Unfair Contract Terms which is a specific legal thing). FOS could change the world and maybe lead to new practices, but that will take a very long time. MCOL is you asking for a personal remedy based on law, now. I don’t see any reason why both should not be pursued, or just one.

[Lady London]

JDB wrote:

BP wrote:

I was much less open about my MS activities before the accounts got blocked I think you’ll find. I always used code words too. But yes I was (am?) a big MS player and it is all within the rules 🙂

@BP you may have forgotten your posts of 14 Aug at 22.30 and 22.31! No codes. I heard a few days later and was a sent a screenshot saying that this was « la goutte d’eau qui a fait déborder le vase » and set off a chain of events. To be fair it was in response to another brag and it was after dinner.

********another carefully typed reply post typed one finger on a phone painstakingly had just been lost thanks to that b l o o d y captcha. **** sick and tired of my efforts being wasted. WHAT IS THE FIX DATE?????