American Express Blue Card

I've had this issue before with the banks. I think it may well have been Amex specifically. They rang to check something about a transaction and asked me for my card details. I told them I wasn't going to provide my card details to some punter who rings me up on the phone out of the blue. I asked them to tell me the card number and I would confirm if it was mine or not. After some 'umm'ing and much confusion on their end I had enough indicators to let me know that it probably was Amex alright, so we were able to get down to business.

On a different note . . . I rang them recently because due to a monumental mess-up with very bad timing I got a refund put through to my card within the last few days. The result of this is that I now have a credit balance on my account which is closing tomorrow. I was hoping that the refund would come through before I had to pay off my full balance but unfortunately it was too late.

So, I asked what was going to happen to this credit balance. The first question I was asked was "Are you closing your account or are you transferring to the 2-in-1 card ?" Excuse me ? Am *I* closing my account ? Am *I* ? I was not impressed to be asked this one and when I pointed out that *they* were closing my account this was met with puzzled sounds.

Anyhoo, it appears there is *no* clear provision for transferring credit balances out of the account. It was suggested that I could take the money out of the ATM, but sadly ATMs don't do 'shrapnel' so I will still end up with loose change on the account. I was told that I could go into a bank and withdraw the exact amount, but I don't have easy access to a branch during working hours. Alternatively it is possible that I can get a bank transfer, but this appears to be the very last resort. I am not impressed.

As soon as Monday rolls around (and the account is officially closed) I will be requesting the transfer and I'm not going to be happy if it takes long to happen.

z
 
Has anyone had a problem making an electronic transfer to pay their Amex credit card this month?
Got a call from my bank yesterday to say that an electronic transfer I had made to Amex, via online banking, on 30th October had bounced back due to there being "some problem with the sort code of the destination account". My Amex account details have been set up on the online banking system for a long time and I never have to manually enter them for each transfer. So I checked to make sure that the October payment was sent using the same sort code/ account number as the Sept & August payments (which got through no problem) and everything matched up.
Got on the phone to Amex and spoke to a pleasent lady who told me they had no record of any payment received from me for October. I checked the sort code with her and she gave me a completely different code than the one I had been using. Had the sort code been changed? No, she said, as far as she was aware that was the same code that had always been used.
I have retried the transfer using the new code so hopefully it will go through but I'd say they might try to slap on a late payment charge!!
 
What destination account number were you using? I've been making payments to 901538-99946997 without any problems so far.
 
6000 views on this topic. According to Niall Brady's article there are over 3000 customers. Other than myself has anyone else lodged a complaint to the Ombudsman?

Bank of Ireland declined to enter into mediation so it may be 6-8 weeks before the investigation of my complaint will commence.
 
Liam, on Sep 18th I received a reply from BOI - ...." I am sorry that I cannot waive this charge in full or on a pro rata basis, I would like to assure you that there is no financial gain to Bank of Ireland in charging this to you, our role is to collect the duty and pay it to the Revenue Commissioners."...

If a bank decides to close their customers accounts mid term and get their customers to pay then there is a financial gain for the bank as it is the consumer who is subsidising the banks commercial decision to close the account.
 
How does the bank make a financial gain? The cardholder pays €30. Revenue receive €30.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
zag said:
Anyhoo, it appears there is *no* clear provision for transferring credit balances out of the account.
z
Click to expand...

Is this credit balance greater than €30? If not, the stamp duty will sort it all out for you.
 
In taking the commercial decision to withdraw the card in they way they did, Bank of Ireland certainly created financial gain at the expense of their customers:

1. Cancelling the card mid year and expecting the consumer to bear the full cost of the GSD was despicable. Remember the withdrawal of the card was involuntary on the part of the consumer.

2. In withdrawing the card, Bank of Ireland created the opportunity to conntact over 3,000 of their AMEX Blue customers with the intention of (a) collecting new data and market reaseach on them, (b) updating their records, (c) cross selling and (d) to replace the AMEX card with an arguably inferior financial product.

Their guiding principal apparently offers little consideration for the financial well being of their customers and this goes against the principles of fairness.

Under the circumstances expecting the customer to pay the full amount is inappropriate. It is unacceptable and it is unfair and I feel the consequences of doing nothing, effectively gives the green light to further abuse of consumers in this way.

Regards,

Sumatra
 
I'll be voting with my feet. I paid 'my' €30 off last week and in another few days I'll write to request (again) a letter of closure confirming that the duty has been paid.
I'll explain that I need it in a hurry so that I can attach it to my applications to open new accounts with AIB.
 
Relax, relax....

I've done this before, when I switched from an AIBMC to a BoIAmEx. It's easy peasy and won't cost you a penny bar the price of a stamp.

Unless, of course, you don't switch to a new CC in the next few months, in which case you're down €30.

Gonna get me a BTMC.
 
Brown Thomas Master Card.

Having had a look around this is what I will be opening as well. I don't need a second card but a voucher for €40 cannot be ignored.

I have paid the stamp duty so I may as well enjoy the benefits of the voucher.


Marion
 
I'm due a credit refund on my now closed AMEX Blue account. I requested the refund last Monday 16th having received a statement same day stating the amount was credited to my account on Oct 21st. They said they would send me a bank draft but today they say it could take up to another 5 working days. Is this normal? One would imagine if it was the other way around and I had made a late payment there would be no delay on the charging of interest. How long should a refund take?
 

I find Amex to be one for the most efficient and fast in terms of resolving conflicts. I had a dispute with a merchant once and Amex kept calling both of us until the problem was solved. I am with Amex Flying Blue
 
Has anyone had any issue with tickets bought on Amex card before it was cancelled. I bought tickets for a big show on tomorrow night. Promotors say you must have card and id with you for entry. I rang them and explained that card no longer in existance. They said I need to bring the copy of the letter withdrawing the card, which I no longer have. Rang BOI, they said they can only issue one copy of the letter. Up to ninety now, could be a lot of tears from a 7 year old, at the O2 tomorrow.
 

Dr M - how did you get on with the letter request? I'll be doing the same thing so it would be good to know if you were successful.

Thanks
 
Hi Deano,

Yes, I got the letter OK, and sent it off with my application to AIB for their Platinum VISA card, which came through about a week ago and which I've been using since.

I'm now going to write to BoI to close my MasterCard account with them, as I said I would, and express the hope that they've lost a lot more custom over this besides mine.
 
My Amex statement arrived today to acknowledge that I've paid my EUR30 and that my balance is zero. I'd have thought that they'd included the Letter of Closure. Given their excellent customer service record I'm surprised with this. I wonder if they'll send it seperately? Or do I need to formally request it?
 
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