Refund of credit card foreign transaction fee?
Dec 3rd, 2007, 02:11 PM
#1
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Refund of credit card foreign transaction fee?
I guess this isn't really a travel question, but it pertains to most everyone here who uses a credit card when traveling so I thought I'd post here.
I received a packet in the mail today from the U.S. District Court saying I was eligible for a refund of foreign transaction fees incurred on my Mastercard between Feb. 1996 and Nov. 2006. Has anyone else received this?
Please excuse this post if this has already been discussed.
I'm just wondering which option to choose (there are three to choose from) and how to go about getting the information they ask for.
Thanks
I received a packet in the mail today from the U.S. District Court saying I was eligible for a refund of foreign transaction fees incurred on my Mastercard between Feb. 1996 and Nov. 2006. Has anyone else received this?
Please excuse this post if this has already been discussed.
I'm just wondering which option to choose (there are three to choose from) and how to go about getting the information they ask for.
Thanks
Dec 3rd, 2007, 02:23 PM
#3
I got this too. I'm wondering if it's worth figuring out (and documenting) how much I've spent in the last 10 years. 2-4 international trips a year and lots o' shopping has to add up to something. Or just go for the $25. It's free money.
Dec 3rd, 2007, 02:27 PM
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I just got it, too, and tried to do some on-line searching to see if this is legitimate. All I found were the same website given in the letter. The first two forms don't ask for credit card information, so that's good. I'd be grateful to hear any more information about this. Seems too good to be true!
Dec 3rd, 2007, 02:52 PM
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We got this letter today also. We have been out of the USA a total of 38 days. My husband filled out the form online and just had to put in the number of days and whether it was leisure, business, etc. I guess we will see what we get.
Dec 3rd, 2007, 02:52 PM
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I just received a document in the mail from the US District Court Settlement Administrator, with attached refund forms. There are three options for receiving a refund:
1) Request an EASY REFUND of $25.00 (recommended if you travelled outside the US for less than one week during the period of 1996 to 2006).
2) Request a TOTAL ESTIMATION REFUND (recommended if you travelled more than one week and had more than $2500 in foreign transactions).
3) Request an ANNUAL ESTIMATED refund (recommended if you had extensive foreign travel & transactions and are willing to provide year-by-year information). Refunds will be a maximum of 1% to 3%.
Deadline for applying is May 30, 2008.
Somehow I missed the mailing in the spring, so I'm glad the court followed up with an official mailing. Luckily I still have all my credit card bills from 10 years ago, so I'm going for Option 3.
Robyn
>-
1) Request an EASY REFUND of $25.00 (recommended if you travelled outside the US for less than one week during the period of 1996 to 2006).
2) Request a TOTAL ESTIMATION REFUND (recommended if you travelled more than one week and had more than $2500 in foreign transactions).
3) Request an ANNUAL ESTIMATED refund (recommended if you had extensive foreign travel & transactions and are willing to provide year-by-year information). Refunds will be a maximum of 1% to 3%.
Deadline for applying is May 30, 2008.
Somehow I missed the mailing in the spring, so I'm glad the court followed up with an official mailing. Luckily I still have all my credit card bills from 10 years ago, so I'm going for Option 3.
Robyn
>-
Dec 3rd, 2007, 02:55 PM
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I have not seen this specific mailing, in general I object to these kind of settlements and choose to abstain on principle.
These include shareholder lawsuits about stock price going down, things like that.
My objection is the $$ lawyer fees. I'm suspicious that lawyers initiate these actions in the name of the public good when they know well and good no one individual complainant will get more than pocket change and they'll get a silver pocket lining for themselves.
These include shareholder lawsuits about stock price going down, things like that.
My objection is the $$ lawyer fees. I'm suspicious that lawyers initiate these actions in the name of the public good when they know well and good no one individual complainant will get more than pocket change and they'll get a silver pocket lining for themselves.
Dec 3rd, 2007, 03:04 PM
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J62 -
The lawyers will request 27.5% of the estimated $313,000,000 in the settlement. They will also request reimbursement of their expenses, not to exceed $5,000,000. Total comes to over $86,000,00!
Robyn>-
The lawyers will request 27.5% of the estimated $313,000,000 in the settlement. They will also request reimbursement of their expenses, not to exceed $5,000,000. Total comes to over $86,000,00!
Robyn
>-
Dec 3rd, 2007, 03:20 PM
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ok, so maybe silver isn't the right metal for the lining. Platinum perhaps?
So if I spent $10,000 over to years, a 1% refund amounts to $100. Fortunately I keep line-by-line spreadsheet of all my charges so this would be easy to calculate.
I have in my hand a (winning?) lottery ticket for Tue 12/4 Mega-millions. Winning jackpot is just $82,000,000. Still falls short of the lawyer's take, even before taxes.
So if I spent $10,000 over to years, a 1% refund amounts to $100. Fortunately I keep line-by-line spreadsheet of all my charges so this would be easy to calculate.
I have in my hand a (winning?) lottery ticket for Tue 12/4 Mega-millions. Winning jackpot is just $82,000,000. Still falls short of the lawyer's take, even before taxes.
Dec 3rd, 2007, 04:18 PM
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I also received the mailing - probably because I've had an account with one of the memtioned companies for several years and have used it overseas.
Sure the lawyers are going to get their money but I may as well take advantage of the opportunity to get a little too.
I think that I can locate the records. If so, I'm going for the detailed claim. IF, repeat, IF we can get the 3%, it will be worth the trouble.
Sure the lawyers are going to get their money but I may as well take advantage of the opportunity to get a little too.
I think that I can locate the records. If so, I'm going for the detailed claim. IF, repeat, IF we can get the 3%, it will be worth the trouble.
Dec 3rd, 2007, 04:21 PM
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I also received the court notice. It appears legitimate, but then the good fakes always do. I will try to verify this, but looks like the easy way is to take the $25.00 and be glad to get anything. Too bad for us in the US we couldn't get 25 Euros!
Dec 4th, 2007, 08:32 AM
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Here's some info:
http://tinyurl.com/ywldub
Imagine if you unilaterally decided to violate the contract you have with your credit card (CC) company, and withheld 1% of the payments you made to. say, restaurants. I think you would agree your CC would have every right to seek that money back.
The situation is, however, reversed. The CC companies, as determined by the court, conspired together to unilaterally add a charge of 1% of the money you spent overseas, and then violated the contract by not informing you of that charge. Some people would say, to the same extent that the CC companies have a right to get back the money you withheld from them, YOU have the right to get back the money they took from you.
How much, according to the court, was stolen from CC users? About $336 million. Some people would say the theft of $336 million is nothing to worry about. Others would say that a theft of such a magnitude should result in some punishment to the thieves. The court said that the only punishment would be to return the stolen money. This mail-out is simply to ensure that all the victims of this robbery are aware that they can get their money back.
Back in February, I submitted my claim for all foreign CC transactions (being anal-retentive DOES help, on occasion), and, like the rest of you here, have been informed of this settlement. Since the alternatives to this lawsuit would have been (1) allowing the CC companies to steal $336 million with no consequences to them or (2) my taking on these companies by myself; I'm glad this lawsuit has allowed justice to (partially) prevail.
I recognize some people think that corporations stealing $336 million is less morally objectional than lawyers getting $82 million for stopping the theft, but understand why others may disagree.
http://tinyurl.com/ywldub
Imagine if you unilaterally decided to violate the contract you have with your credit card (CC) company, and withheld 1% of the payments you made to. say, restaurants. I think you would agree your CC would have every right to seek that money back.
The situation is, however, reversed. The CC companies, as determined by the court, conspired together to unilaterally add a charge of 1% of the money you spent overseas, and then violated the contract by not informing you of that charge. Some people would say, to the same extent that the CC companies have a right to get back the money you withheld from them, YOU have the right to get back the money they took from you.
How much, according to the court, was stolen from CC users? About $336 million. Some people would say the theft of $336 million is nothing to worry about. Others would say that a theft of such a magnitude should result in some punishment to the thieves. The court said that the only punishment would be to return the stolen money. This mail-out is simply to ensure that all the victims of this robbery are aware that they can get their money back.
Back in February, I submitted my claim for all foreign CC transactions (being anal-retentive DOES help, on occasion), and, like the rest of you here, have been informed of this settlement. Since the alternatives to this lawsuit would have been (1) allowing the CC companies to steal $336 million with no consequences to them or (2) my taking on these companies by myself; I'm glad this lawsuit has allowed justice to (partially) prevail.
I recognize some people think that corporations stealing $336 million is less morally objectional than lawyers getting $82 million for stopping the theft, but understand why others may disagree.
Dec 4th, 2007, 08:51 AM
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Lots of very good discussion with many different perspectives.
I've run the #'s (yes, being anal retentive does certainly help)
~$25,000 in foreign cc expenditures over the last 10yrs. At 1% that = $250. Unfortunately (for my bank account), all but ~10% was company reimbursed expenses, which means I do not have a personal entitlement to the $225, which leaves me with the magic $25 sum.
I've run the #'s (yes, being anal retentive does certainly help)
~$25,000 in foreign cc expenditures over the last 10yrs. At 1% that = $250. Unfortunately (for my bank account), all but ~10% was company reimbursed expenses, which means I do not have a personal entitlement to the $225, which leaves me with the magic $25 sum.
Dec 4th, 2007, 09:29 AM
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We got 2 packets - I guess because we have used two different credit cards on 8 trips to Europe between 1996 and 2006.
I simply can't be bothered to reconstruct what we spent (I am not anal retentive) but wonder if I respond to both mailings if we will end up with $50.
Worth a try, I guess. It will pay for one day's breakfast in Paris on our upcoming trip!
I simply can't be bothered to reconstruct what we spent (I am not anal retentive) but wonder if I respond to both mailings if we will end up with $50.
Worth a try, I guess. It will pay for one day's breakfast in Paris on our upcoming trip!
