GM Card finishing - what happens to Rebate Points?

calamero

Also, forgot to point out that the best Cashback card I could find for me was the Virgin Money one which pays 0.8% on all purchases (which you can donate to charity if you don't need it and gift Aid then takes it to 1%).

The other cashback cards all seemed to have hidden drawbacks like you had to spend your money with certain partners or the money wasn't returned as cash, or the good old nice headline amount for a limited period falling back to a relatively low level.

I had £7000 credit limit on my GM Card but have only been offered £3500 on the Virgin one (despit my income now being far in excess of that when I received the GM Card limit). To be honest I don't really need any more than that and clear my balance in full monthly - but something to consider before you apply.

jonesMUFCforever

Unless I'm missing something they are giving you 14 months notice before the points are worthless - hardly unfair IMO.
No marketing offer has an infinite life as far as I know.

To me card holders get a choice - buy a new car between now and then or change cards now.
This is always the problem with any scheme where you put all your eggs in the same basket and the reason I prefer to use Egg cashback - it is credited to my card and I can use for anything I like.

opinions4u

dessbur wrote: »

Martin, Please explain our rights.

I'll do it for you. The bank can give you 60 days notice of the amendment or termination of the credit card agreement.

Surely we have earned this money, can we have it even if its vouchers.

It's not money, it's points. There will be rights in the reward agreement that allow them to amend the value of unredeemed points or to cancel them after providing reasonable notice. Based on the other posts here, you have over a year to redeem. That strikes me as pretty fair.

If you add up all of the money that the card holers are owed i bet its millions, why do the big companies get away with daylight robery??

To be fair, the 3% points value provided by the GM Card is, from a purely credit card point of view, a loss leader. So your complaint could be turned round - "How could a credit card company be so generous to its customers for so long?".

syco1

Never takes long for the "I'm alright Jack's" to come out of the rotting wood.

calamero

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Unless I'm missing something they are giving you 14 months notice before the points are worthless - hardly unfair IMO.
No marketing offer has an infinite life as far as I know.

To me card holders get a choice - buy a new car between now and then or change cards now.
This is always the problem with any scheme where you put all your eggs in the same basket and the reason I prefer to use Egg cashback - it is credited to my card and I can use for anything I like.

You are missing something - We're not getting a choice - you MUST change cards now as the card is stopped in two months. And as far as I'm concerned the points ARE NOW worthless.

Being pushed into buying a new car within 14 months (not an insignificant purchase) is hardly fair when currently the points last 5 years, and very few people have the means to replace their car annually.

This is a big own goal for Vauxhall I'm afraid. I have a feeling my next car will not be from any of the GM family.

And Egg (The Pru) are culpable of dodgy tactics like not giving you your cashback after the twelve months as happened in my case after I had a dispute with them - so I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

calamero

"It's not money, it's points. There will be rights in the reward agreement that allow them to amend the value of unredeemed points or to cancel them after providing reasonable notice. Based on the other posts here, you have over a year to redeem. That strikes me as pretty fair. " Opinions4u

Maybe so - but why then are they quoted as a monetary amount? Surely that is misleading for the consumer and the FSA now need to get involved....:rotfl:

Dr_Cuckoo3

opinions4u wrote: »

I'll do it for you. The bank can give you 60 days notice of the amendment or termination of the credit card agreement.

I'm not in favour of banks closing customer's accounts for reasons not related to the conduct of the account or creditworthiness of the customer

In this case HSBC could replace the GM Card holders account with another card from it's range

They still operate this card https://www.hsbconlinecard.co.uk/servicing/index.axp?resetstate=yes although applications were stopped long ago

The bank could spare the customer the inconvenience of applying for a credit card elsewhere but are not doing so

I have a GM Card , although the points are of no interest - the card has a good APR and functions as a credit card

Dumbledore55

You would have thought the GM Card website would have some kind of message on it, it's still promoting the card and the Reward program and even quotes Martin in saying it's the overall best payer. It's disappointing but I will be able to use my points before March 2012 so I won't lose out but many others will. Yes, they are points and not guaranteed cash but people have been spending on it with the intention of buying a car so let's hope Vauxhall come through with some kind of deal for customers who aren't in a position to buy a car before March 2012.

custardy

Dumbledore55 wrote: »

You would have thought the GM Card website would have some kind of message on it, it's still promoting the card and the Reward program and even quotes Martin in saying it's the overall best payer. It's disappointing but I will be able to use my points before March 2012 so I won't lose out but many others will. Yes, they are points and not guaranteed cash but people have been spending on it with the intention of buying a car so let's hope Vauxhall come through with some kind of deal for customers who aren't in a position to buy a car before March 2012.

I think this is the main issue
its not like people can just decide to buy a new car off the cuff to use the points
I dont think its unreasonable for VX to offer some sort of cash out scheme
whether it be in discounts for servicing,accessories or a longer period before they expire towards the purchase of a new cqr.

opinions4u

syco1 wrote: »

Never takes long for the "I'm alright Jack's" to come out of the rotting wood.

Except I'm not in that camp.

I have outstanding GM points that I am very unlikely to be able to use.

My post pretty much stated facts in response to questions raised. My apologies if you are incapable of coping with that.

Dr_Cuckoo3 wrote: »

I'm not in favour of banks closing customer's accounts for reasons not related to the conduct of the account or creditworthiness of the customer

In this case HSBC could replace the GM Card holders account with another card from it's range

I quite agree with you there. It may well be something to do with the contractual arrangement between GM and HSBC that stops this from happening.

I think the most likely outcome is that GM will own the marketing rights to these customers and will relaunch a new GM card in a year or two via another card company. In the meantime they will be able to reduce their liabilities under the existing incentive as points get cancelled.