ACK!!! I Am So Out of This! When Did THIS Happen?

[BethR]

Just checked into my WC account. Have not put any funds in there since last year this time. (the last time that I got enough of My Points ).

And the account had accrued $18 in Account Dormancy fees!

ACK!!! Boy am I mad! Probably over a year's worth of clicking down the drain!

When did they institute the account dormancy fees?

 

[Maleficent2]

I had heard that they had these but $18 that is crazy!


Sorry Beth.


Mal

 

[chip1]

excuse my ignorance...what is a "WC" account?

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by chip1
excuse my ignorance...what is a "WC" account?

She's talking about her Webcertificate Account. They instituted an account dormancy fee of $3.00. They define a dormant account as the following:

• It's been 6 Months since the last Webcertificate was claimed to the account.
• There have not been funds added to your Webcertificate Account in last 90 days
• There have not been a purchase made with your Webcertificate in last 90 days

The fee is applied monthly for every month in which the account remains inactive. So, after 6 months of not claiming a webbie, adding funds or spending any of the balance, the fees start to add up. In the following 6 months, the fees amounted to $18! YIKES!!!

 

[Eilonwy]

And that is why I took my card to DS this weekend and got my DD!

But I can't remember. If there's nothing in you account during that time, will they "close out" your account?

Guess I could go read the fine print again....

If nothing else I suppose I could add something to my account every few months and then use my plastic card to spend it. (Should make a note of that somewhere....)

 

[Maleficent2]

I quess I had better cash out at Mypoints and add some funds it has been over 90 days for me.





Mal

 

[Maleficent2]

just cashed out for a $10 webbie I hate cashing out at that level but better to do that than start losing money.

Thanks Beth for the warning.



Mal

 

[jdads2]

Check all of your gift cards!! Quite a few have a fee taken from the value of the card if you don't use them after a certain period of time. Dick's sporting Goods, Red Lobster and Chi-Chi's are a sample. I thought that I read somewhere that people loose an average of 30% of the value of the card by not using them in time.

 

[Maleficent2]

it is illegal for them to do that CVS tired to do that to me and I called them on it.

I just happened to be watching the news the night I had tired to use a GCard that day and it was denied.The news report was about Gcards and how many states have made it illegal for them to expire or be charged a fee for inactivity. If I had missed that broadcast I would have never known that.

Check with your state about the laws there and don't let them get away with it.

But since a Webbie is actually a debit card they are probably allowed to do this....would love to know if the same laws apply here.


Mal

 

[BethR]

Glad to know that I was not the only one in the dark here.

I e-mailed Webcertificates.com and told them that I was very disappointed in this policy, and that I did not recall being warned by e-mail regarding this very significant change in their Terms of Service. I am curious to hear their response.

Well, for now I will cash in 1500 points for another $10 WC, and then I will probably add $10 every couple of months. (I will be sure to use my Disney VISA account to do so so that I can get the points there. )

But it sure still gets me mad about losing over a year's worth of points. Reminds me of when I lost about $60 worth of Beenz when I did not move fast enough when they closed shop. You would think that I would learn.

 

[bcorso]

I don't know about other states, but in MA, giftcards/certificates aren't allowed to expire. I had $15 in Amazon expire and I emailed them that in MA they don't and Amazon put my funds back into my account. I've also noticed on giftcards that if you don't use them, they start to remove funds each month, but my Toys R Us one was 2 1/2 years old and all $25 was still there. Also, paper money certificates like from Pizza Hut and McDonald's will say when they expire except for which states.

You may wish to check for your state.

Bonnie

 

[dtuleya]

Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Beanie]

Bonnie, that is the same in NH...Most Gift Certificates don't expire here either...I have never had a problem anyway...

Sorry to hear Beth, that just stinks!

 

[BethR]

But still never answered the question that I had asked. Here are copies of my correspondence with WC.com:

Dear Beth,

We received your inquiry regarding the dormancy fees on Webcertificate
accounts.

The dormancy fees are applied to cover our expenses and to aid
in the maintenance of accounts.

This fee simply ensures that the MasterCard
numbers are being utilized and that we are not paying the
licensing fees for extraneous account numbers.

The account dormancy fee is applied to an account if 6 months have
passed from the last time you claimed a Webcertificate into your
account. If you activate or claim another Webcertificate, this will
reset the dormancy state so that the $3.00 fee will not be applied until
another six months passes.

If you use the Webcertificate for a purchase or if you add funds to
your account, this will reset the inactivity state for another 90 days.

An inactive account is defined as an account that meets ALL three of the
following criteria:

You have not claimed another Webcertificate for 6 months or more.
Your Webcertificate has not been used for a purchase for 90 days or
more.
Your Webcertificate has not had funds added to it for 90 days or more.

Example: Six months after you received your last Webcertificate, the
balance in your account is $7.00 and you haven't added funds to or spent
your Webcertificate for at least the past 90 days. Your account will be
assessed $3.00 and your account balance will then be $4.00.

If you claimed a Webcertificate into the account in January and haven't
used the account for a purchase until the following June, the fee WILL
NOT be applied, as you used the account for a purchase before the end of
the 6 month period (June 30th). The dormancy fee would be applied 90
days after June 30th unless you used the account again for a purchase,
claimed a Webcertificate or added funds to it.

NOTE: The dormancy fee cannot make your account balance go below $0.00.
We will never send you a bill for any dormancy fees, as they are ONLY
applied to your Webcertificate account balance.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have additional questions or
comments.

Webcertificate Customer Service
800-511-1781

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
I was just wondering when this fee was instituted? I just logged onto my
WebCertificate Account and see that is has been charged $3 a month for
the past six months since I have not added or used funds in the last 12
months.

I do not recall that being in the terms of service when I opened my WC
account or ever receiving an e-mail concerning this.

I have lost $18 because of this fee. It is really disheartening. :-(

Beth Rosko

And then I sent them this:

Thank you for you response. Unfortunately, you did not answer my question.
Although your explanation for WHY there are dormancy fees does not convince
me that they are "right," that was not my original questions.
I asked WHEN these fees had been instituted and mentioned that I did not
receive any warning about these fees (which are pretty significant) being
instituted in any e-mails.
I feel that we should have been notified of these fees so that we did not
accrue the fees out of ignorance in the Terms of Service. Which was
definately the case with me. I have lost $18 - 10% of my account - due to
not knowing about the institution of these fees.

Thank You.

And THEN I recieved THIS:

Dear Elizabeth,

We received your inquiry regarding the dormancy fee that was applied to
your Webcertificate account.

We researched your account and have reversed the dormancy fee for the
months of April 2002 through March 2003, as a courtesy. Please keep in
mind that the dormancy fee is now in effect as a policy, and keep track
of your account accordingly.

Your current balance is $185.00.

I went to add $10 to my WC with my Disney Visa and there was a 20 cent charge to do so.

 

[Eilonwy]

Beth,

I listed a bunch of info in another thread. I copied the part where it says you will be charged a 2% fee for any funds you add to the account. I think you can add funds as low as $1.00, however, they'll still take their $0.02 out of that.

I agree that they should send some kind of warning email when you're getting close to one of the conditions that will cause you to be charged a fee. I guess they just assume everyone knows what the current policy is.

I'm expecting a Webbie from MyPoints anyday now. Once I do get it, I plan to put something in my Yahoo calendar to remind me to add to my funds in a few months.