Folks, I'm after some advice regarding a issue I have, that I realise now I am being screwed over, and I can't decide whether it is by the bank or the government i.e. the usual suspects.
The situation is this. I had a credit card with one of the main banks through an organisation that I was a member of. Some time ago, the card was due for renewal and I duly got a new card in the post which I stuck in a drawer at home somewhere. I didn't use the card much as I had just cleared a large-ish sum off it, so I left it in the drawer until I couldn't find it any more. By the time I realised I didn't know where it was, I decided not to bother reporting it lost as it was probably due for renewal soon enough and I'd get a new one.
A long time passed however, and no new card was ever sent out. The only thing I got was the annual demand for €30 (government stamp duty), which I always paid. Every year, upon receiving this statement, I thought I better ring up and find out what the story is with that card, but it always got forgotten about.
Fast forward to a few days ago and I finally decide to ring up after another €30 tax demand arrived. I'm told that because the card hadn't been used since 2007 (!), there was a refusal to renew in 2008, so I've effectively not had a credit card with them since then. So why have been paying the €30 government stamp duty every year, I asked. Oh, that's on the account, apparently. Even though there was no card issued since 2008, the account was still there.
I always thought the government levy was a tax on the card, am I wrong about that? This account is purely for that particular credit card, I don't do any other banking with this bank. I do however have an old savings account also with them which has a small amount sitting in it (less that €100) but I don't get charged €30 for that.
From what I can see, the stamp duty is on the card itself, so my question is, should I be looking for that money back from the bank from the time they refused to re-issue the card (which would amount to nearly a couple of hundred Euro)? I presume the bank or credit card issuer charges the €30 to each card, then pays the government for all issued cards, therefore they appear to have been charging me for a card they knew didn't exist, knowing that the duty would not have to be paid?
In short, do I have grounds to make a complaint about this, and get my money back?
Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading.
The situation is this. I had a credit card with one of the main banks through an organisation that I was a member of. Some time ago, the card was due for renewal and I duly got a new card in the post which I stuck in a drawer at home somewhere. I didn't use the card much as I had just cleared a large-ish sum off it, so I left it in the drawer until I couldn't find it any more. By the time I realised I didn't know where it was, I decided not to bother reporting it lost as it was probably due for renewal soon enough and I'd get a new one.
A long time passed however, and no new card was ever sent out. The only thing I got was the annual demand for €30 (government stamp duty), which I always paid. Every year, upon receiving this statement, I thought I better ring up and find out what the story is with that card, but it always got forgotten about.
Fast forward to a few days ago and I finally decide to ring up after another €30 tax demand arrived. I'm told that because the card hadn't been used since 2007 (!), there was a refusal to renew in 2008, so I've effectively not had a credit card with them since then. So why have been paying the €30 government stamp duty every year, I asked. Oh, that's on the account, apparently. Even though there was no card issued since 2008, the account was still there.
I always thought the government levy was a tax on the card, am I wrong about that? This account is purely for that particular credit card, I don't do any other banking with this bank. I do however have an old savings account also with them which has a small amount sitting in it (less that €100) but I don't get charged €30 for that.
From what I can see, the stamp duty is on the card itself, so my question is, should I be looking for that money back from the bank from the time they refused to re-issue the card (which would amount to nearly a couple of hundred Euro)? I presume the bank or credit card issuer charges the €30 to each card, then pays the government for all issued cards, therefore they appear to have been charging me for a card they knew didn't exist, knowing that the duty would not have to be paid?
In short, do I have grounds to make a complaint about this, and get my money back?
Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading.