My ANZ Visa was coming due for renewal in May 2020 with its $495 annual fee. I have another card with Bankwest which also give 1:1 Qantas points (but with a lower dollar threshold before the point earn reduces) so I decided I should cancel the ANZ card for now due to significantly reduced spending as a result of COVID-19. However, I decided to call ANZ instead. I put it to them I was thinking of cancelling before the fee was due because the fee pays mostly for travel benefits (it’s the Qantas Black card) which I can’t use. The guy I spoke to was lovely. He said he was more than willing to waive the entire $495 fee but that I’d need to wait for it to be charged before it could be reversed. He made the appropriate notes so I can call back again next month. Worth asking the question if you have a card with travel benefits. I think it’s the least financial institutions can do at this time. Anyone else given this a go?
Thanks for sharing. Great win!
Always good to ask. You won’t get if you don’t ask.
Great win, well done.
I tried doing this last week with my Amex Platinum UK card, they weren’t interested unfortunately (even after being a member since 2004) so I cancelled it outright given the hefty annual fee.
If you ignore the marketing hype … suddenly they need to work hard for your business. Annual fees quickly evaporate, and companies that don’t get it? Well I closed my Amex too. In these times high fee cards are not returning value. You are in control of the products you pay for, it’s the wrong mindset to be meek, as these companies are raking in the profits, and there is plenty of competition.
I phoned ANZ yesterday regarding my travel adventure card and asked the same thing since I am not getting most of the benefits and would like my fee which was recently charge waived. They popped me on a hold for a while and came back with that a decision is being made in the next week regarding this card and the fees and to phone back in two weeks time. So I will phone back in a fortnight and hopefully my fee will be refunded.
I don’t get it. The decision on what financial products you purchase is yours, not theirs. Why didn’t you close your card on the spot if you are not happy with the annual fee they propose?
MarkMelbourne, because cancelling the card would mean changing all the direct debits. If I can get it for free, why not? If they couldn’t accommodate me, then I would’ve happily cancelled and taken my business elsewhere. It was a fair negotiation in my book. No pressure from me.