Annual fee posted at the beginning of the month on UA (former CO) MC, 3 days before card anniversary. Now, I have been using the card as my main card for the last 6 months, so that might make a difference, but after reading this thread I was a little discouraged.
Called (on a weekday) and spoke to first CSR. She didn't offer any bonuses, but did say I could use miles (ostensibly the opening bonus miles) and save the cash to pay for the cost of the annual fee at united.com/choices. Sure enough, there's a link there for "Redeem for annual fee reimbursement". She said it would be just north of 10,000 miles. I asked for a miles bonus to cover that - no dice.
I asked for a retention specialist. She said there's no such thing, but there's a closing dept (challenging me to seriously want to close the acct). I accepted the challenge. Next on the line comes a senior CS rep, who offers a $100 statement credit. I said yes and thanks. Just made $15!
9 minutes well spent.