AvantCard - MBNA

listermint · 19-03-2013 12:35pm

quenching wrote: »

Just phoned the contact number listed, 0818 409 511, after 25 minutes on hold I go through to a grumpy "customer support" agent. She said that they hoped the website would be working later today but after that she knew nothing, I managed to check my current balance with her but she couldn't wait to get off the phone. Its years since I've experienced such bad customer service.

Irish based ? or elsewhere ?

A2LUE42 · 19-03-2013 12:41pm

Irish based. Just off phone now. Seems their systems are down and they couldn't even check balance for me. Would it be too much to expect that they would put an automated message instead of the silly music while I was on hold, to save me waiting to have someone tell me that other than answer the call, there is nothing they can do.

Shocking service, but not the fault of the person who did answer.

They are hoping that their systems would be back up in an hour or so. But didn't sound like they had a clue if that would actually be the case.

BuffyBot · 19-03-2013 1:08pm

Irish based ? or elsewhere ?

Call centre is still the MBNA UK/Ireland operation in Leitrim, probably as part of the sale deal that support services will be provided for X amount of time.

Solair · 19-03-2013 1:22pm

Sounds like they're having serious teething issues migrating customers over to their IT system then.
I'd be very surprised if it went without any kind of hitch. These systems are usually huge, quirky and old.

Pablo1802 · 19-03-2013 2:04pm

I just checked my cc account on mbna.ie and it shows my card account is CLOSED despite the fact it was fully working one before 15/03.
A switch over from mbna to avancard with a problems like that is unacceptable.

SteM · 19-03-2013 2:11pm

Solair wrote: »

I'm a bit confused too. Got new card and have no idea how to activate it.

Are they sending out new cards to all of their customers? I haven't received an new one yet.

readyletsgo · 19-03-2013 2:42pm

Ok, just tried to check on the new site, still down.

I am gonna guess this will not be fixed up for a few days, as someone said already, these CC systems are so old, and prob a pain to set up, not just a simple transfer.

Also, whats the story with people saying their CC account is closed? Why?

Yggr of Asgard · 19-03-2013 3:12pm

readyletsgo wrote: »

Also, whats the story with people saying their CC account is closed? Why?

If you go to www.mbna.co.uk (yes the UK site) and you log on (with your Irish username/pass) you will see that the account comes up as closed there (0€ credit line) possibly with a small outstanding balance (i.e. last open payment from your last bill).

I think some people are interpreting this as to their card account being closed, I interpret it as my account with MBNA is closed and I still hope that my account with Avantcard still exists and will be available online soon.

But giving that several people (myself including) are unable to use their cards there is reason to be concerned that this is more than a simple our systems are not ready yet.

jogara · 19-03-2013 3:19pm

I also have been on line for nearly an hour now and it's getting really frustrating, as I have called all of the phone numbers listed on the website, I also sent an email to customerservice@avantcard.ie and recieved the below response-. I also tried to use my card on Sunday and was told it was no longer working!
This email address is not monitored. If you have a Customer Service Query, please ring our dedicated Customer Service number 0818 409 511 Monday to Friday 8am – 8pm, Saturday 8am – 2pm, Closed Sundays.

Pablo1802 · 19-03-2013 3:25pm

dublin-texas wrote: »

I think some people are interpreting this as to their card account being closed, I interpret it as my account with MBNA is closed and I still hope that my account with Avantcard still exists and will be available online soon.
.

Yes, that's probably correct interpretation that mbna account has to be initially closed to allow account reactivation by registering a new one with avancard.ie :cool:

j3nk0s · 19-03-2013 3:25pm

Ok, heres a good one I made a payment to MBNA on 16th March in the post office, worried now it did not go through. Tried to ring them this again now and it comes up . "the phone has been switched off by the user please try to send a text message".

Worried now that the payment did not go through

Yggr of Asgard · 19-03-2013 3:36pm

j3nk0s wrote: »

Ok, heres a good one I made a payment to MBNA on 16th March in the post office, worried now it did not go through. Tried to ring them this again now and it comes up . "the phone has been switched off by the user please try to send a text message".

Worried now that the payment did not go through

I just called 0818409511 and was greeted with an option for an automatic system which after entering my credit card number and my date of birth gave me information about my balance, last statement and payment due (but not credit limit or available funds). But at least there seams to be some progress.

Cruisej · 19-03-2013 3:49pm

No cash saturday, no online payments monday, no website, no phone contact, card invalid, customer service zero. Thanks MBNA and Avant you really know how to treat your customers. I'm off elsewhere. Stick it.

readyletsgo · 19-03-2013 3:55pm

Thanks Dublin-T. I just rang 0818409511, yup my card is still alive, just inputted my card number and DOB and got my balance as of the 11th of March, I guess thats when they started to transfer our cards over to Avant.

Dont panic people, give it a few days for them to get it all up and running, will all be back to normal soon, deep breaths.

SteM · 19-03-2013 4:00pm

dublin-texas wrote: »

I just called 0818409511 and was greeted with an option for an automatic system which after entering my credit card number and my date of birth gave me information about my balance, last statement and payment due (but not credit limit or available funds). But at least there seams to be some progress.

That's more than I was getting this morning at least. It was not recognising my CC number then.

Galadriel · 19-03-2013 4:06pm

I am due to make a payment this week, if the website is still not back up what is the best way to make a payment (I've only ever paid this way), can you do it in the post office?

j3nk0s · 19-03-2013 4:08pm

Ok Got through they said Post office should be ok it was just a "name change" on the account. But my payment was still not received and thats why they knocked my card off.

My guess would be post office and keep the receipt.

birchtree · 19-03-2013 4:25pm

SteM wrote: »

Are they sending out new cards to all of their customers? I haven't received an new one yet.

Do you people not read mail? MBNA / Avantcard have sent out letters outlining how the changeover will take take place. Cards will be replaced in phases, as they expire.
I've got a new MBNA card early in March - activated it over the phone (its on the card), just not sure whether this is MBNA replacement card (why do it before changeover), or the new Avantcard (branded as MBNA, not Avantcard).
As for unable to process payment to the card - should have expected that there may be difficulties at changeover, and paid in early - thats what I did.
Big changeovers seldom go smooth, as it was noted previously, and I was expecting this! However, I'm not saying its normal, of course they should have done better.

SteM · 19-03-2013 4:29pm

birchtree wrote: »

Do you people not read mail?

No need to get your knickers in a twist. It was a simple question that required a simple Yes or No answer. If the question bothered you that much you didn't have to reply. :rolleyes:

BuffyBot · 19-03-2013 5:14pm

Are they sending out new cards to all of their customers? I haven't received an new one yet.

Only when your existing card expires.

If you go to www.mbna.co.uk (yes the UK site) and you log on (with your Irish username/pass) you will see that the account comes up as closed there (0€ credit line) possibly with a small outstanding balance (i.e. last open payment from your last bill).

Tried that earlier, and got "Currently, there are no accounts registered for this user ID. In order to proceed, please register an account." So it's possible the migration of data is taking longer than expected and some folks are still live on MBNA's system while others have been moved off.

Galway 11 · 19-03-2013 6:15pm

I wish they would hurry up about it. It's crazy that this is happening. I have been trying all day to access site and log in, utter waste of time. It's a total shambles. Why they won't even update website and let people know when it's likely to be up and running or let people register over the phone. It's a terrible service. I wasted all my credit this morning trying to get through. I hope they aren't going to have the cheek to charge people late fees etc because of their cock up.

Morg1969 · 19-03-2013 6:36pm

Yes, one wonders how can they run a credit card business if they are not able to set up and run the support services? :-)

Will we face similar situation like Ulster Bank customers did last year messing up the IT background because of incompetency...?

This is the 21st century, one would expect that the online banking was set up and functioning when the take-over of the credit cards have been done.... and do not come with "any changover..." they did notify us ages back thus they had ample time to set everything up instead of making us become upset :-P

Sleepy · 19-03-2013 6:38pm

The landing page on their website looks incredibly amateur. Have been checking it regularly to try and get a look at the credit card balance!

Pablo1802 · 19-03-2013 7:01pm

Now my mbna card profile on mbna.ie has been completely removed and on next page I was given an option to register a card on mbna.ie which I didnt

BuffyBot · 19-03-2013 7:30pm

Morg1969 wrote: »

This is the 21st century, one would expect that the online banking was set up and functioning when the take-over of the credit cards have been done.... and do not come with "any changover..." they did notify us ages back thus they had ample time to set everything up instead of making us become upset :-P

I think anyone who has worked on large scale projects like this will agree to disagree. You can plan, and plan, and plan but when the day comes, you're thankful when it all goes right. More often than not it can also go horribly wrong. Just ask some of the airlines that switched reservations systems in the last few years, and the passengers travelling with them on the day/days after

Morg1969 · 19-03-2013 8:18pm

I do understand what you're saying and I can agree with it in general... but==>

- appropriate and timely response (IT section at ready to rectify any potential issues, glitches)
- adequate communication towards the customers.

Nothing makes customers feel more abandoned and nothing makes them feel more angry/ annoyed than lack of information, lack of communication.

Most of the posts here are complaining about the lack of information about the uncertainty. If there would be some information posted on the website like:
- you can expect the site up and running by ...
- if you miss a repayment due to the non-functionality of this web site - you will not be cherged extra, there will not be any penalty/ extra fee or similar.

You have to assure your customers that if your service faces difficulties they would not be penalised for that.
I went paperless with MBNA - and my bank account- ages back and I always do online banking and I believe that there are others in similar situation also. For us this non-functional web-site is just garbage, mocking pile of sh*t...

I tried to contact Avantcard on the phone number displayed and all I got was 15 minutes of listening of music... That's not good enough I think.

Summarising: by my opinion the issue is not the non-functionality of the web-site but the lack of information, lack of assurance.

BuffyBot · 19-03-2013 10:08pm

Oh, I'm not diagreeing - the communication has been pretty poor. If they could put that crappy page up, they could at least update it.

Nonoperational · 19-03-2013 11:00pm

Not really liking the vibe of avantcard at all. If you look at the Spanish site it seems they aren't offering cards anymore. I was hoping with new owners they'd try and make a go of it again, maybe offer reward or premium cards with extras for a fee etc etc.

jock101 · 20-03-2013 12:12am

Will this shower still issue paper statements and allow you pay at the post office! If not, Adios Avantcard!

omahaid · 20-03-2013 8:37am

Login seems to be up, I just registered and logged in. They have the right balance but are missing recent transactions and statements.

quenching · 20-03-2013 9:28am

omahaid wrote: »

Login seems to be up, I just registered and logged in. They have the right balance but are missing recent transactions and statements.

Login pages may be up but I cannot register no matter what password I choose, I've read the password rules and all variations of password comply with them, yet its still saying they are invalid. A further 25 minutes on hold to their customer service number and I'm told some people have registered this morning, and they don't know why I can't.

brettmirl · 20-03-2013 9:31am

Just an FYI - Registering worked for me on IE but would not work on Google Chrome.

quenching · 20-03-2013 9:41am

brettmirl wrote: »

Just an FYI - Registering worked for me on IE but would not work on Google Chrome.

I was using Safari and Firefox on a Mac, neither would work. If I use IE on a Windows 7 PC I can eventually register, but only if I don't use 2 consecutive characters, even though the password rules state "No more than two consecutive identical characters." So maybe the browser makes no difference, its just the rules listed are wrong.

Morg1969 · 20-03-2013 9:51am

It's getting better every day ;-)

I have just tried to register (first time - thus there should not be any data in their system).
I got the following error message: "Sorry - The information provided does not match our records. "

I have entered my credit card details correctly (the one the have sent me out recently and I have activated last week), I entered my date of birth definitely correctly and gave the last 6 digits of my phone number....

I wonder if it's my shoe size or shirt they have incorrectly ....or what else?

Now I am listening to music - I wonder how much I'll be charged for it - while waiting for a customer care agent 10 minutes now and ticking ...

I think the time is approaching when we will be bothering the Bank Regulator or the National Consumer Agency...

boneill82 · 20-03-2013 9:58am

keep getting im trying to register an inactive card. was activated 2 weeks ago

Morg1969 · 20-03-2013 10:08am

Finally... managed to register using Internet Explorer but not Firefox.
After that I could login using Firefox also.

I hope that their services will be more reliable than their web-site (or web- sh|te) at the beginning :-)

Solair · 20-03-2013 10:09am

Their online banking worked this morning, got registered no hassle.

It looks like MBNA's online banking, but without some of the branding and a slightly sloppier layout, but I suspect it's the same underlying system which always looked a bit rough anyway.

On the plus side, they are now accepting Visa Debit for payment online, which is something MBNA.ie didn't seem to bother updating to.

Downsides:
Looks like the An Post swipe & pay system's gone!
Almost none of the online services, other than payment are currently working - you can't even see recent transactions *lol* ... This lot are great!

Gumbo · 20-03-2013 10:19am

boneill82 wrote: »

keep getting im trying to register an inactive card. was activated 2 weeks ago

Same here, my card has been active since January 2011, not due to expire until October 2013!

On hold the last 10 mins, that stupid robot talking machine is doing my nut in :mad:

brettmirl · 20-03-2013 10:43am

quenching wrote: »

I was using Safari and Firefox on a Mac, neither would work. If I use IE on a Windows 7 PC I can eventually register, but only if I don't use 2 consecutive characters, even though the password rules state "No more than two consecutive identical characters." So maybe the browser makes no difference, its just the rules listed are wrong.

I'm actually getting the Register page on IE, whereas on Chrome I was getting the 'check back soon to register' page.

Solair · 20-03-2013 10:44am

It worked fine for me on both Chrome and Safari on a Mac.

Make sure you refresh the page, as you could be seeing a cached version with the error message.

Gumbo · 20-03-2013 10:48am

kceire wrote: »

Same here, my card has been active since January 2011, not due to expire until October 2013!

On hold the last 10 mins, that stupid robot talking machine is doing my nut in :mad:

Finally talking to someone as i type..............

Gumbo · 20-03-2013 10:50am

kceire wrote: »

Finally talking to someone as i type..............

Have to try again this afternoon

quenching · 20-03-2013 10:54am

Solair wrote: »

It worked fine for me on both Chrome and Safari on a Mac.

Make sure you refresh the page, as you could be seeing a cached version with the error message.

I suspect the problem I was having (Safari and Firefox on a Mac) was more to do with my password having 2 consecutive characters the same, once registered with a different password I tried to change it to another with 2 consecutive characters the same and I got the same error message about password not being valid. So, despite the fact that the rules say you cannot have MORE than 2 consecutive characters the same it would appear you cannot have 2 or more the same.

boneill82 · 20-03-2013 11:09am

kceire wrote: »

Have to try again this afternoon

yeah told same after getting to talk to someone after calling back(waiting 25 mins for someone to pick up the phone say hello then hang up on me immediately after they said hello).due to migrating across of accounts not fully operational

BuffyBot · 20-03-2013 11:37am

jock101 wrote: »

Will this shower still issue paper statements and allow you pay at the post office! If not, Adios Avantcard!

The leaflet I got with the last statement says yes, they will.

readyletsgo · 20-03-2013 11:56am

So i tried to re-reg my card on the new site, took forever to load the page after I put in my details then the page failed, tried again and failed again, so going to leave it and try again in the afternoon.

Again, deep breaths people, it not the end of the world, it will all be back up and running soon, just be patient :-)

missjm · 20-03-2013 12:16pm

I'm being told my card is already registered. Then when I go to login it's telling me to register.

quenching · 20-03-2013 12:54pm

avantcard.ie site down again as of 11.53!

Larbre34 · 20-03-2013 1:37pm

This situation is unacceptable and UTTERLY ridiculous

Between them MBNA and Avantcard have made a dogs dinner of this process. You simply DO NOT initiate a new system of this magnitude without testing it to destruction

I have just made formal complaints to the Financial Regulator under the Central Bank, the Ombudsman as well as alerting the Business & Finance desks of the Times and the Indo as I think MBNA/Avant could do with the same exposure Ulster Bank had last year.

20-03-2013 1:42pm

Tried to register on new site. says site down please try later. Day 3 still down.
Got this message after I filled in all my personal details every time,.

AvantCard - MBNA

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