So I am a shmuck who is paying $250 pa(plus $90 supp fee) for plat card

[Dave Noble]

Why am I thinking there should have been pro-rata refund of the annual fee is one decided to cancel early?

There is no reason why there would be a pro-rata refund unless it is in the T&Cs.

Take out a year's membership and decide part way through the year that it isn't wanted anymore then there is no right to any refund on a membership fee

 

[Dave Noble]

They didnt comp mine either and said as the charge was already on the card even if I cancelled i would have to pay.So in july they will get a call from me saying bye bye.

Was the charge applied to the card after renewal date or in advance of the renewal date?

Personally I wouldn't phone to cancel, but put it in writing and post it to them

 

[trippin_the_rift]

All credit providers have a legal obligation to ensure you can service your debts.

Tell them you cannot meet your debt and you are under severe financial hardship.

They are then legally obligated to pro-rate the difference.

Also, in my experience - ANZ, Westpac, St George, Combank and Bendigo all pro-rate yearly fees for credit products. No reason to see why citibank would vary.

Simple!

 

[clifford]

All credit providers have a legal obligation to ensure you can service your debts.

Tell them you cannot meet your debt and you are under severe financial hardship.

And, no doubt, this will do wonders for your credit rating as well.

 

[JohnK]

There is no reason why there would be a pro-rata refund unless it is in the T&Cs.

No need for it to be in the terms and conditions. I have been given a pro-rata refund of annual fee in the past.

Also I recently called Amex saying I wanted to cancel the Qantas Amex card. They advised that I should wait until the annual fee was charged to the card before calling back. I did get the annual fee waived as well as $5 extra or being a good customer.

Do you actually believe that Amex could have refused to credit back the annual fee if I had decided that I no longer wanted the card a few weeks after it was charged?

 

[Dave Noble]

Do you actually believe that Amex could have refused to credit back the annual fee if I had decided that I no longer wanted the card a few weeks after it was charged?

if you had waited until after the start of the new membership year before cancelling then yes they could. There is nothing that requires membership of a cluib/credit card etc to refund membership fees if someone just decides that they did not want it

if the charge is applied before the new year starts and is cancelled before year starts then they would indeed need to refund

 

[JohnK]

if you had waited until after the start of the new membership year before cancelling then yes they could. There is nothing that requires membership of a cluib/credit card etc to refund membership fees if someone just decides that they did not want it

You just keep believing you are right while other people are actually posting real life experiences not theroretical ramblings from terms and conditions....

 

[zig]

Also, in my experience - ANZ, Westpac, St George, Combank and Bendigo all pro-rate yearly fees for credit products. No reason to see why citibank would vary.

Interesting. I tried to cancel with ANZ last year when they introduced the Amex card and reduced points earning on the VISA. I asked for a pro-rate refund on the annual fee and they denied that this could be done. This was only 2 months after I had renewed.

 

[Dave Noble]

You just keep believing you are right while other people are actually posting real life experiences not theroretical ramblings from terms and conditions....

You mean like the experience in posts 16 & 28 perhaps?

 

[JohnK]

You mean like the experience in posts 16 & 28 perhaps?

No. I mean like the experiences in posts 19, 23 and 25 perhaps....

 

[guybaxy]

The secret is to cancel or threaten to cancel BEFORE they actually charge the fee. They will not refund once charged. For the last few years I have been getting the $250 waived, however, last year I accidently let it be charged, then they refused, so card cancelled, no offer of refund or rebate on the $250. So I thopugh not worth risk fighting for a rebate on fee, they cancelled my o/s points, about 4,000 and even though got it reinstated they did not refund my points, however, after much haggling they have me 5,000 points. This year I wil cancel just before they charge the $250.

 

[zig]

The secret is to cancel or threaten to cancel BEFORE they actually charge the fee. They will not refund once charged. For the last few years I have been getting the $250 waived, however, last year I accidently let it be charged, then they refused, so card cancelled, no offer of refund or rebate on the $250. So I thopugh not worth risk fighting for a rebate on fee, they cancelled my o/s points, about 4,000 and even though got it reinstated they did not refund my points, however, after much haggling they have me 5,000 points. This year I wil cancel just before they charge the $250.

I have had annual card fees reversed after they have been charged (but not paid for) many times. I usually wait until the statement with the annual fee applied shows up and then I ring up and request a fee waiver. So I don't think there is any need to contact them before the charge is applied. However as I posted above I was unable to get ANZ to provide me with a pro-rate refund after the fee had been actually been paid and I wanted to cancel the card. After all they already have my money and they don't want to give it back.

 

[jamesD]

When getting annual fees waived I used to threaten to cancel my card or use such lines as "the fees are waived annually on all my other cards so why don't you, you are not being competitive in the market by charging an annual fee".

However, my new improved strategy is to ask for the fee to be reversed and when questioned as to why I respond by saying "Come on, I'm a good customer, I pay off my monthly statement in full etc etc." This I find is much easier and more successful than going in on the belligerent angle.

JamesD

 

[oz_mark]

I respond by saying "Come on, I'm a good customer, I pay off my monthly statement in full etc etc."

Do the banks consider such a customer a good one?

 

[jamesD]

Do the banks consider such a customer a good one?

It appears so; they are generally (as has been expressed to me on more than one occassion) looking for something to put in the "Reason" field when doing a reversal. "Good customer, history of paying off monthly statement in full" is one that is acceptable.

This is with AMEX and WBC.

 

[serfty]

One thing I have seen on another forum is the signature used by a poster:

"An Anecdote is not Data".

In regard to this thread, it may happen that with a particular bank/time/agent/phase of the moon/term&condition that a pro-rata refund might be granted in some circumstances.

Whether this will or will not happen is so variable, that my modus operandi would be consider the worst case scenario and work from that.

 

[mumof2sydney]

update : called and asked them to reverse charge as am a good customer etc , no authority - case manager will contact you within 3 working days to discuss, missed a call on working day 4- message left that will respond to my request "by MAIL" - wow- and we wait...presume it to be snail mail as no email received in next 24 hrs...will keep you updated!

 

[jamesD]

update : called and asked them to reverse charge as am a good customer etc , no authority - case manager will contact you within 3 working days to discuss, missed a call on working day 4- message left that will respond to my request "by MAIL" - wow- and we wait...presume it to be snail mail as no email received in next 24 hrs...will keep you updated!

Doesn't sound good - which bank?

Sorry - I see its Citi

 

[drron]

Was the charge applied to the card after renewal date or in advance of the renewal date?

Personally I wouldn't phone to cancel, but put it in writing and post it to them

Sorry just caught up with this.I asked in July.When I got the card initially the start of the year was 1/8.They told me though it was now 11/7 hence year had started.I have had 4 cards cancelled due to "compromise" and each time i was issued a new card the payment date came earlier-no mention that this reset start of year date.
Doesn't worry me-Citi have exceeded their quota of financial irregularities and are now past their use by date.

 

[mumof2sydney]

hi all - so snail mail letter arrived today - short and to the point - summary - bad luck - pay the fee or complain to the ombudsman! Very exciting. Excellent way to build customer loyalty - westpac here we come!