John Lewis halved my credit limit just before Christmas with no notice

The email from John Lewis had me spluttering my afternoon cake ration all over my iPad.

‘Based on your spending activity in the last six months, we’re reducing your credit limit to £5,000. It’ll change on 22/11/2023.’

The email arrived at 14.02 on November 22 so, with Christmas approaching, the firm had given no notice of halving my credit limit from £10,000.

As I wiped clean my iPad screen, I contemplated this insult.

The point of a decent credit limit isn’t that you plan to spend that amount every month, it is to provide flexibility. 

I want to be able to book a big holiday and splash out occasionally without worrying about my card being refused. But based on a few months’ restrained spending a computer algorithm has robbed me of this peace of mind.

This £5,000 limit won’t even pay for major buys from John Lewis, such as its super comfy beds or a wall-encompassing TV. 

Mrs H and I were about to fork out several thousand pounds on bathroom fittings. Fortunately, the store we used accepted American Express.

Why the urgent need to curtail my spending? Is it my age? I may be the age of The Beatles song When I’m 64 — but I am not losing my hair, and my credit record is excellent.

I took out a John Lewis card in 2004, and I have never broken my credit limit and have paid in full every month.

When NewDay took over the John Lewis Partnership card in October last year, it was technically launching a new card although both firms marketed it as a relaunch of an existing brand.

While John Lewis gives the rewards, NewDay is in charge of who gets the card, the interest rate and credit limits.

The former operator, HSBC, used to leave me alone and John Lewis sent me gift vouchers every few months to reward spending on the card.

But the new operator, NewDay, a financial services company specialising in providing credit products to consumers, seems determined to annoy as many customers as possible.

Last year, when NewDay took over, many loyal John Lewis customers were left hacked off when they were forced to reapply for a credit card they’d run without any issues for decades.

Some were rejected, others saw credit limits reduced. Even among those who were accepted many were left severely frustrated by the process.

I witnessed my 95-year-old mother-in-law’s angst as she waited for approval on the credit card that gave her treasured financial independence.

Now it seems NewDay has embarked on a second assault leaving customers like me to wonder why John Lewis linked up with a fringe bank specialising in borrowers with impaired credit records. 

Hoping to quickly restore my limit, I tried to contact NewDay. This proved to be a painful and infuriating experience.

Its automatic switchboard appears designed to raise a caller’s blood pressure to the point where they will feel forced to abandon their complaint and instead dial NHS 111 for assistance.

Passing security is hazardous. You must answer security questions speaking to an automated machine — which seemed to misinterpret everything I said.

Having crossed this hurdle, I asked to discuss my credit limit, but was taken down one blind alley after another. 

When I did persuade the machine I wanted to speak to a human being, it had the nerve to remind me to be polite.

Take note, NewDay: We, as customers, know how to treat your staff with courtesy and respect. You could try treating us with courtesy and respect by letting us speak to a real person rather than fobbing us off with your hopeless robotic switchboard.

As it turned out, the person I spoke to might have been a robot for all the discretion they showed. I received a scripted reply about it being a ‘responsible lender’ and a flat refusal to restore my £10,000 credit limit.

The obvious riposte that I, as a responsible borrower, was quite capable of handling my old credit limit would have been wasted. So what is going on? I suppose, from a lender’s perspective cutting credit limits on ‘under-used’ cards can reduce their risk profile.

The tone of NewDay’s email didn’t make me feel valued. I quote: ‘If you feel your Partnership Card is no longer right for you and would prefer to close your account, you can do this in a couple of ways…’

So, full of righteous indignation, I went to Trustpilot and discovered that I was not alone.

A recently widowed man posted: ‘I have been using this company [John Lewis] for years without any problem. Today without any notice it reduced my credit limit from £4,000 to £1,000.’

A disabled nurse stated her credit limit had been halved to £600, although she paid in full each month. She said this removed reassurance in case of emergencies.

Another reviewer asked: ‘Does John Lewis realise this is damaging its business? What a truly dreadful company for a trusted brand to have chosen to provide its new card.’

Hilariously, between the one-star reviews are several singing NewDay’s praises. But most carry the key word ‘Invited’, meaning NewDay solicited the review via a link.

While NewDay puts robots on the job of answering phones, it does have people lurking to counter negative Trustpilot posts. My review received a very swift response about it being a ‘responsible lender’. Yawn.

You may have thought credit card companies would have to give notice when they are about to slash your credit limit, but they have power to do it on a whim.

One more point. NewDay’s representative rate for John Lewis customers is 27.9 per cent, yet it charges 24.9 per cent to customers of electrical retailer AO. John Lewis’s old partner HSBC charges a representative 23.9  per cent to Marks & Spencer credit card customers.

Thanks a bundle John Lewis.

Where does that leave me? As I write, I am staring at the scissors and my John Lewis card and thinking that M&S vouchers would make an equally good reward.

NewDay says: ‘We serve over five million customers, with a consistently high level of positive feedback, so we’re really sorry to hear of any customer dissatisfaction.

‘Like other responsible lenders, we regularly review credit limits. In this case, we identified a number of accounts where customers routinely spent significantly less than their credit limit. We therefore adjusted this — while still offering sufficient credit based on their spending history.’

John Lewis says: ‘With millions of pounds worth of vouchers given to customers each year, our credit card offers some of the most generous rewards in the market.

‘We’re sorry that customers were surprised by this change. We regularly review customer feedback to improve our service and, as a result, John Lewis Finance’s Trustpilot score consistently averages four out of five or higher. 

Similarly, our customers have independently rated NewDay’s advisors 9.3 out 10, after speaking with their customer service team.’

moneymail@dailymail.co.uk

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