chocaholic22

Hi all, we have always found Deutsche Bank's service excellent-until now.

We took out a mortgage with them last year and with that mortgage came conditions, which I presumed we had adhered too. One of the conditions was to spend 3000 Euros per year on their credit card. We have in fact spent 4011 Euros, but apparently this was not good enough. I paid one month off early, and by paying the bill mid way through the month I have fallen short of their requirements.

This is where my problem lies. As I paid the bill early, they will not count this month! Unfortunately, this takes me just below the 3000 euros, and now they have told me they wish to increase my mortgage by .15% - which I think is unfair.

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so what did you do??

Porth

I know nothing about Spanish Mortgages but lots about UK and French.

So I cannot comment but I find it absolutely impossible to comprehend that one of the conditions of a mortgage is that you spend and yes that is the word spend money on our credit card.

You did not hit the mark so sorry your rate goes up by .15%

Very seriously in the civilized world the concept is I borrow 100000 euros over 15 years I pay interest at ? and then the monthly installment is this. We reserve the right to increase the interest rate. Simply put that is the way things go. And you with respect entered into a contract where one of the clauses is that you spend say 3000 per month with them on their credit card. That is 36000 euros a year? Surely there is more to this than that? I would prefer to pay 36000 euros off the mortgage?

Porth

sorry 3000 per year. I would still prefer to pay that off the mortgage.

chocaholic22

Hello, thanks for your reply, but I think you have misunderstood. The amount is 3000 Euros per year NOT per month. We easily spend 3000 Euros in one year, so this clause was supposed to be a help not a hindrance! This clause then brings our mortgage rate down not up, if applied correctly. I forgot to add in the original post that my rate would drop by .15% if the clause was applied as agreed.

Porth

Hi if you look at the last post I corrected myself.

With respect DB is one of the leading banks in Europe and they are encouraging to borrow money on the CC. Surely that ethically is madness. What if you cannot repay the CC and then the mortgage suffers?

I bank with DB but no mortgage and I cannot see this happening. But what do I know

Porth

Then it goes further do you repay in full every month? The supplier of the service pays a service charge. Seriously this does not seem sensible.

Are you sure as to this for I have looked tonight at their mortgage packages and I cannot find it. In France and the UK you could never but never link mortgages with use of a cc but again I do not know Spain.

Porth

If you do not repay in full every month what rate applies? so if you follow Barclays in the UK say at 18.6% surely that must be taken into account.

chocaholic22

Porth, thank you for the replies. We are not mad, in fact I think we are quite sensible. We pay the credit card off in full each month, so there is no interest to pay.

We decided to take the credit card because it is useful when out shopping, easier than carrying cash about.

3000 Euro's is not a lot for one year. The only error I made was paying it off before the end of the month and not waiting for the bill to come!

Anyway if anyone has any experience of this situation, please let me know-thanks.

Rosemary

You can use a debit card in the same way. I use mine for the vast majority of my shopping.

Rosemary

Porth

Of course I am absolutely not saying you are mad - quite the opposite. However I have never seen a mortgage document and I say that as lawyer with some years experience having a clause that one has to use the credit card.

You pay it off in full so no interest to pay so what is in it for the Bank?

Of course there is a deduction from the supplier?

However there it is so you are face with .15% of the outstanding balance or .15% each month on the mortgage. Same thing really but a penalty.

chocaholic22

Well thankfully the bank are looking into it, as we have adhered to all their clauses. It appears it may be a computer glitch!!

Have to wait and see.

chocaholic22

Just a quick update. Our manager at Deutsche Bank has sorted out our problem and the bank agrees we have adhered to the conditions.

At least it shows they are one of the fairer banks.

amideislas

Well, that's "fair" I reckon, but these kinds of "mistakes" happen all too often, not just in banking, but in utilities, insurances, taxes and so on. Especially in Spain, where the burden of recourse isn't always palatable.

It seems to be the "norm" nowadays to routinely "accidentally" overcharge, and unless you watch everything like a hawk, counting every penny, establish proof of it and take action against it, they just keep the money. Endesa is a poster child for this.

I often wonder how many billions are collected this way.

chocaholic22

Quite agree, it's a constant battle checking you are not being overcharged.

Only today my Pet insurance went up by 50%, when I challenged them, they said oops, sorry computer error!! Really, I don't think so. They just hope people won't notice.

HBG

I think more than trying to catch people out, the major Spanish institutions are just plain inefficient. I've had to correct minor mistakes with all of them; banks, utility companies, supermarkets, government offices, all of them.

They're not malicious, they just can't be bothered. I queried a 43 Euro bank charge recently and a very laid back lady bank official reluctantly switched on her computer to check my account.

I pointed out the offending item and asked what the charge was for. She shrugged her shoulders, wiped it off the computer and called out NEXT.