Earth Platinum Card - annual fee waived?

[kort]

Has anyone managed to get the annual fee waived for the Earth Platinum card? I have managed to get it wavied for the Amex Rewards Maximiser card, however given the Earth brand is via westpac, are the banks as generous?

 

[medhead]

I have but only by accident. If you haven't got it free by now my method won't help

 

[Dougo]

Kort, if you had a plat CC with Wpac and did a product switch, you could ask for any annual fees paid on you old CC to be taken into account. They may not do this voluntarily so you will have to ask.

 

[xco]

I've just had my annual fee waived for another 12 months and from then on reduced to $180 per year. All I did was call them and state I was transferring accross to the new ANZ Frequent Flyer Platinum.

When the next annual fee of $180 is due I'll look at other cards and call them for another waiver.

Good Luck

 

[pirmecard]

I was given a choice of a $180.00 annual fee for the life of the card or a continuation of $125.00 for a further year.

I took the $125.00 option, as I have no particular loyalty to Westpac. Further, the Platinum Card Priority Service advised that I can always bargain again in 12 months.

I do not have any other banking business with Westpac (other than the credit card), only spent about $50k on the card last year, and I always pay off my card in full each month...so maybe my business was not worth waiving the full annual fee. :-|

 

[Jacques Vert]

Mrs JV & I took an Earth+ card when they had a 10,000? points bonus for joining a couple of years ago.

Then they changed the rules (surprise, surprise) and I decided to cancel my card and took a platinum Citibank card at a reduced fee.

Mrs JV kept her Earth card and has received no special offers. However, she also has a stockbrocking account with HSBC, BUT NO CC! In fact, no other accounts with HSBC at all.

A couple of weeks ago she received an offer to take a fee free CC for life from HSBC! All out of the blue.

On the other hand, most of our expenses go on my card and I am a very good customer; Mrs JV spends very little (on her card that is!).

I am unable to explain the logic of how the banks decide their CC policies; my advice is to just accept the best deal you are offered and don't try to work our why. It will send you crazy!

 

[Gold Member]

I recently chose to cancel my Earth Platinum card after about 8 months of usage. I had racked up about $30K in spend. I was immediately offered the annual fee waived to which I declined and stated that unless they could offer me 2 or 3 points per dollar that I would be using my Amex Ultimate (with free flight) which also has fee waived every year.

Waiting for next big CC sign-on bonus offer... the 40K QFF points days are gone though I'm afraid.

 

[futago flyer]

Just called and got my annual fee halved so $125 for the plat.

I had a spend of just over $40K. They won't go lower than that - I asked to have the fee waived and that was the best they could do.

 

[Febs]

I had a spend of just over $40K. They won't go lower than that - I asked to have the fee waived and that was the best they could do.

Sorry mate, they were lying. It really is up to the individual consultant you get on the phone.

I got the whole fee waived for the next year about 3 weeks ago. My spend is well under $40k (probably around $25k, haven't really looked) but I do pay my bill in full every month.

First offer was half-price, I said "Thanks, but I still don't think it's worth it to me, I'll just speak to cancellations." Then a "Senior card supervisor" took the call and offered to waive it. The trick is to just be really nice, and tell them you really like the card, but just can't justify the annual fee (which in my case was true).

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[wombatcountry]

I recently signed up with the Earth credit card, but I'm having second thoughts now because of the appalling customer service I've had so far with Westpac. None of it involved solving problems, just routine interactions, so I shudder to think what would happen if I indeed had a problem. When does Westpac charge the annual fee? At the beginning or towards the end of the membership year? If they charge it early on, do they prorate a refund if I cancel within a certain period (say, 60 days from getting the card activated)?

I'm leaning towards applying for a NAB QF card (there is a 7500-points enrollment bonus right now and I already bank with NAB anyway), and we don't need both (mr. wombatcountry already has a QF Amex which works best for all non-VISA/MC charges). In my limited experience, NAB customer service is not brilliant either, but I'm used to dealing with them anyway...

 

[Febs]

I recently signed up with the Earth credit card, but I'm having second thoughts now because of the appalling customer service I've had so far with Westpac. None of it involved solving problems, just routine interactions

Wow, my experiences have been the complete opposite (a large part of the reason I wanted to keep the card). I always get an Aussie, they always answer in a few rings, and I can call them at 2am, and I *still* get an Aussie who answers in a few rings.

I would go so far as to say the Earth Plat call centre staff are the best call centre staff I've ever dealt with. Seriously.

I was also very impressed when they got me a reservation at Jacques Reymond, one week in advance (for a Sat night), when I'd called myself and they said they were booked solid 4 months in advance.

I guess everyone's experience differs though. As for the annual fee - my guess would it'd be charged in the first or second month.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Febs]

I recently signed up with the Earth credit card, but I'm having second thoughts now because of the appalling customer service I've had so far with Westpac. None of it involved solving problems, just routine interactions

Wow, my experiences have been the complete opposite (a large part of the reason I wanted to keep the card). I always get an Aussie, they always answer in a few rings, and I can call them at 2am, and I *still* get an Aussie who answers in a few rings.

I would go so far as to say the Earth Plat call centre staff are the best call centre staff I've ever dealt with. Seriously. I was also very impressed when they got me a reservation at Jacques Reymond, one week in advance (for a Sat night), when I'd called myself and they said they were booked solid for the next 3 months.

I guess everyone's experience differs though. As for the annual fee - my guess would it'd be charged in the first or second month.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[wombatcountry]

Actually, the appalling customer service was from our local Westpac branch and the Westpac phone people. Oh, and I think the online Westpac experience is a bit underwhelming as well... but I guess I might give them a bit longer before making a firm decision... Any idea if they give you a prorated refund of the annual fee, in case of early cancellation of the account?

 

[Dougo]

The Earth Platimum Card Centre must be on a diffferent planet to the Earth Gold Mastercard Centre as I've definitely been told wrong information and had to follow up a few times.

I hate that automated female voice on the phone that says something like "I'll just put you through to an Expert on Earth" !! Who is she kidding? Certainly not me !!! Give me a break !!! It's as bad as those C'wealth Bank ads where the C'wealth Bank marketing people are obviously incapable of relaying what they want in the adverts to the useless ad. company !!!

 

[futago flyer]

I was also very impressed when they got me a reservation at Jacques Reymond, one week in advance (for a Sat night), when I'd called myself and they said they were booked solid 4 months in advance.

Febs - just wondering I have a plat card and have never used the concierge service - which I assume you're talking about above. Do you pay them a fee to get this service (in addition to the yearly fee) or is that what our annual fee covers?

 

[Febs]

Febs - just wondering I have a plat card and have never used the concierge service - which I assume you're talking about above. Do you pay them a fee to get this service (in addition to the yearly fee) or is that what our annual fee covers?

Sorry mate, missed this until just now. No additional fee for the service, but if you request something that costs $$$ (e.g. a flower delivery, concert tickets) then obviously there's a charge. For restaurant reservations or guestlists etc.. though - no charge.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[anders]

Has anyone managed to get the annual fee waived for the Earth Platinum card? I have managed to get it wavied for the Amex Rewards Maximiser card, however given the Earth brand is via westpac, are the banks as generous?

Yes. I opened a new Earth Platinum card last week with the year 1 fee waived and 5k bonus QFF points. I called the Westpac CC department directly and not the Earth sales people.

 

[wombatcountry]

Yes. I opened a new Earth Platinum card last week with the year 1 fee waived and 5k bonus QFF points. I called the Westpac CC department directly and not the Earth sales people.

Was the 5K points and no annual fee for the first year a targeted offer to you from Westpac or did you find it somewhere on QF's or Westpac's web sites? (I don't seem to find anything like it now.)

 

[anders]

Was the 5K points and no annual fee for the first year a targeted offer to you from Westpac or did you find it somewhere on QF's or Westpac's web sites? (I don't seem to find anything like it now.)

Neither. I called them and asked for a better offer than what was on their web site.

I referred to their current "Earth basic card, 10k + no annual fee" offer for QFF Bronze members and asked if I could get a better deal since I wanted a Platinum card. They acknowledged that they did not have a tailored campaign for Bronze members looking for a Plat card, so I asked what kind of a deal we could put together (e.g. a fee rebate or miles).

I think the secret was to call the Westpac CC department directly and not bother with the Earth sales desk. I called them first but they could not put any special deal together for me.

 

[token01]

what number should you call? ive had no such luck this morning