Westpac Altitude Card Annual Fee For deal posted on OzB

snuke on 04/12/2015 - 14:30

I March this deal was posted - Westpac Reward Cards First Year Annual Fee Waived & up to 60,000 Bonus Points

easternculture noticed a possible exploit for no annual card fee forever https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/185666?page=3#comment-2631…

I was speaking to Westpac today about another issue and decided to ask what my cards renewal dates and amounts were. I was told the Altitude Black I got via the above deal was $395. I pointed out that the Financial Table states it says "No annual fee". I was put on hold for a good 10mins+ as she spoke to someone in the know and looked into it. She came back and said that was solely in relation to the first year as per the deal, and not ongoing.

As JohnHowardsEyebrows pointed out, the T&Cs do point out that they can change their fees at any stage.

I can't see a win from this. Anyone else prepared to have a go. I will cancel this card and keep my other one of this is the case.

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Comments

  • illumination on 25/12/2015 - 22:27

    I think it was a stretch anyway.. but having said that, it was a great card, great deal. Not gonna cancel it until just before the annual fee hits.

  • cashless on 18/04/2016 - 11:11
    +2

    raising this old thread from the dead in the hope this might help out some others…
    Noticed that Westpac charged me the $395 annual card fee and spat the dummy.
    Ended up sending them a copy of the letter (which does say "Westpac can do what they want to shaft you" or words to that effect).
    Nonetheless I told them I wasn't expecting them to charge and if they did I was going to cancel the card.
    It got escalated to Customer Services and I just got a reply.
    In essence they said the letter we all got ("no annual fee") was an error. However, they will refund the fee in full.
    What's more, they'll continue not charging an annual fee, but they do reserve the right to make changes in the future.

    If you make a bit of a thing about it you may get the same result - they know about the letter and they seem OK with honouring it, for now.

    • snuke on 18/04/2016 - 13:12

      I cancelled it, as I wasn't prepared for a shit fight that they could have rightly denied.

      Great for you and the no annual fee forever.

  • coxymla on 02/05/2016 - 10:03

    Pretty sure that even though the T&C says "they can make changes at any time" they would have to notify you well in advance of any such changes, probably by snail mail.

  • coolsteps on 06/05/2016 - 01:52

    im in the same boat just got charged $395. spent hours on the phone but they deny the letter exists they wont listen to you and told me to go to a branch and show the letter as proof. shall try that when i get time and see how it goes. if they don't waive it for life then i may consider reporting it to the financial ombudsman.

  • gstfree on 12/05/2016 - 07:29

    Lodge a complaint online.
    That letter is contract, legally enforceable. They must honour their mistakes.
    Bring the letter to a branch and get the fee reversed, they will call the support line and solve the issue for you.

  • TRS-80 on 20/05/2016 - 15:50

    I rang up today to cancel it, I mentioned the financial table but in the end they were refunded the fee based on it only being a month since it was put onto the account. I did end up paying $8 in interest but that's my own fault for not doing it earlier.

  • lilkid28 on 23/03/2017 - 20:15

    It's been about 2 years since this deal. Anyone managed to use the letter and get the fee waived? Does anyone still have a copy of the letter and possibly PM me? Many thanks.

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