I have heard the same about this card. Many people take the platinum and it seems to be a successful brand. Maybe that is why they refuse the fee waiver.

One thing you can do is just cancel every Dec and re-apply every Jan. Seems to work. Then you use the free first year every time.

It also matters of course how much you spend every year.

Are you really based in the UK? Your name is CLK and you use a HKG credit card.