Annual Fee Issue

When canceling a credit card several months prior to the annual fee date, is it standard policy to receive a prorated refund of the annual fee? I was recently denied a prorated refund of the annual fee and had about 5 months left till renewal.

See my other post below for the update.

The only company I know of that pro-rates the annual fee is Citi. I'm sure there are others, but my impression that is more the exception than the norm. Unless it says in the membership agreement that they will pro-rate the fee, there's probably not much you can do unfortunately.

I know American Express and Citibank offer prorated refunds for annual fees. All others are non-refundable (Chase, US Bank, Diners Club, etc). You will need to ask and check the terms and conditions as this does vary from card to card and company to company.

I had the NW WorldPerks Visa Signature (US Bank) and received a pro-rated refund. The terms stated that within 30 days of paying the fee you can receive a full refund. After that it was a tiered refund structure - I got $45 back ($90 fee), which was better than nothing. Paid annual fee on April 11th, closed card on July 1st.

Did you have to ask for yours? I cancelled mine mid cycle and never got a refund. Maybe I was just unlucky, but I didn't ask for a refund or anything.

I should elaborate here; I had the Chase Visa Infinite Card with an annual fee of $150 paid every November. In January I received notification from Chase that the rewards program was being reworked and I would receive information about the new rewards system in June. Additionally, no points would be earned during that period, but in June I would receive 8,000 bonus points.

Well, come June I received a letter stating that Chase was discontinuing the card and would change me over to another card that has no annual fee. Therefore, I opened a dispute with the company to attempt to get a prorated refund of the remaining 5 months of the annual fee. I received notification in the mail referring to the terms of the card, which stated that the card must be cancelled within 30 days to receive a refund of the annual fee. My dispute was denied.

It all seems a bit shady. I believe Chase likely knew of the cards discontinuance before January and was simply attempting to pocket the annual fee here. What recourse do I have, now that my dispute was denied?

Well, it is certainly not your fault that they discontinued the program. I don't know what else you could do since you already complained to their disputes department. Since it was an involuntary change from their Visa Infinite product to, I would assume, a Signature product I would note that you are losing the infinite benefits that you have pre-paid for. That's almost $75 that you are losing.

I have always had mediocre to bad experiences with Chase and will discontinue my relationship with them once my renewal for the Chase Continental World comes up.

Thanks for the reply. I should also mention that Chase effectively held my rewards points hostage during the January to June period. I couldn’t use the points as they claimed the rewards program was being restructured. Furthermore, once I was notified of the discontinuance in June, I still could not use my points and was automatically enrolled in the replacement card. I had no choice but to accept the replacement card, a Visa Signature product, and was given no access to my points until the card was officially issued to me during the last week of June. I would like to file a complaint with the FDIC or FCC, but I’m unsure which authority is the appropriate contact here. If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it.

I think it would be the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission. I might also contact the Better Business Bureau and your state's Attorney General. In additon, I have heard that comments posted on www.planetfeedback.com do reach their intended recipient.

I agree that their actions were out of line. To hold your points and not let you use them while they decide what to do is ridiculous. What if AMEX decided to stop any usage of Membership Rewards points while they "restructured" the program, and then decided to cancel the program, or convert all to MR Options. Just a crude analogy, but I think it works. You were not supplied the product for which you paid; therefore, a refund is indicated. But the greater issue is the loss of all your accumulated points. Will they compensate you for those?

Yes, I asked for it, and make sure you then also request a check be mailed to you. Even if they credit you for the fee, you need to request that they actually send you the money . After requesting the check it arrived in a few days. I'd still call in to see if they can give you something back for your fee.

I cancelled more than a year ago. I think it would be a little too late now, but I'll just be more pro-active next time in asking for a pro-rated annual fee refund.

I would also file a complaint with the new york state banking commission.

I was recently contacted by the Executive Office at JPMorgan and received a full refund of the annual fee. Thanks again!

I applied for the Worldperks Visa Signature card and then downgraded it to the no annual fee Worldperks Visa card within 30 days. I did have to ask for a refund of the annual fee, and got the entire amount credited. They said that if you downgrade within the first 8 months you would get at least some of your annual fee back.