Illegal Post Office charging to access my money on Travel Card?

allforms59

I have sent the following to the Post Office. Any Forumer thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Paul

Dear Post Office:

The Post Office has €157.26 of my mine in an orange card Travel Money account which I have discovered is a type of account the Post Office no longer operates.
I wasn't sent a multi-currency Travel Money blue card as a replacement when my card expired in June 2017.
I discussed with one of your phone helpdesk colleagues the options for me to gain access to my money.

Option 1.
Pay a further £50 to the Post Office to open a new account. £50 would get me €53.15.
After I gain access to my new account I can then withdraw the €53.15 to get back the £50 I have just paid in.
However, when I convert €53.15 back into Sterling I will receive just £41.85.
Therefore, opening a new account to gain access to my €157.26 will cost me £8.15.

Option 2.
The Post Office can refund to me my full €157.26 which, after you convert it into Sterling, will give me £123.83.
However, I am going on holiday in September and would like to use a Travel Money card, on which I would like to have €157.26.
To get €157.26 will cost — not the £123.83 refunded to me — but £147.94.
Therefore, gaining access to my €157.26 by this method will cost me £24.11.

Can you please forward this on to someone in your legal department to check whether this is actually within the law?

Regards,

Paul

peachyprice

A refund of £ 123.83 is pretty decent considering the Post Office don't give the best rates, why not just take the refund and use it to open a different travel card account elsewhere?

WAYT

allforms59 wrote: »

I have sent the following to the Post Office. Any Forumer thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Paul

Dear Post Office:

The Post Office has €157.26 of my mine in an orange card Travel Money account which I have discovered is a type of account the Post Office no longer operates.
I wasn't sent a multi-currency Travel Money blue card as a replacement when my card expired in June 2017.
I discussed with one of your phone helpdesk colleagues the options for me to gain access to my money.

Option 1.
Pay a further £50 to the Post Office to open a new account. £50 would get me €53.15.
After I gain access to my new account I can then withdraw the €53.15 to get back the £50 I have just paid in.
However, when I convert €53.15 back into Sterling I will receive just £41.85.
Therefore, opening a new account to gain access to my €157.26 will cost me £8.15.

Option 2.
The Post Office can refund to me my full €157.26 which, after you convert it into Sterling, will give me £123.83.
However, I am going on holiday in September and would like to use a Travel Money card, on which I would like to have €157.26.
To get €157.26 will cost — not the £123.83 refunded to me — but £147.94.
Therefore, gaining access to my €157.26 by this method will cost me £24.11.

Can you please forward this on to someone in your legal department to check whether this is actually within the law?

Regards,

Paul

This seems to be much ado about nothing.

£50 at the best possible exchange rate will get you 55.36. If the PO will actually give you 53.15, what exactly have you lost??
So you'll have the 53.15 in Euros to add to your existing 157.26€ which you claim that you are going to use in September anyway.

So what is the issue? You haven't lost a thing if the information you have given is correct.

allforms59

Thanks for your response, WAYT, though I wonder if I maybe didn't explain well enough?
Perhaps take away the exchange aspect and consider this:

Say you went to your UK bank to withdraw money and they told you they don't do your kind of account any more so you need to open a new one and deposit £50 to get to your money that's in your old account.
Now, of course you are going to be needing to use a bank again in the future, so you will definitely be spending that £50 at some time.

But wouldn't that make you just a little bit peeved that they're making you do that?
Wouldn't you be asking them why they can't just open the new account using the money they already have in your old account?

To some, it's a matter of principle —to others, it's much ado about nothing.

Thanks for your input.

allforms59

Thanks for your response, Peachyprice.

Why do I not want to take the £123.83 refund?
Because the value of my €157.26 is actually £147.94 — that's what it would cost to replace it.

I don't understand why they won't open the new account using my money which they already have.

Regards, Paul

WAYT

allforms59 wrote: »

Thanks for your response, WAYT, though I wonder if I maybe didn't explain well enough?
Perhaps take away the exchange aspect and consider this:

Say you went to your UK bank to withdraw money and they told you they don't do your kind of account any more so you need to open a new one and deposit £50 to get to your money that's in your old account.
Now, of course you are going to be needing to use a bank again in the future, so you will definitely be spending that £50 at some time.

But wouldn't that make you just a little bit peeved that they're making you do that?
Wouldn't you be asking them why they can't just open the new account using the money they already have in your old account?

To some, it's a matter of principle —to others, it's much ado about nothing.

Thanks for your input.

Did you read the T&C of the product that you purchased? Was there an obligation to supply you with a new card for free indefinitely?

It seems to me that you are making a drama over nothing. You can choose a refund as per the T&C of the product that you purchased.
Since we all know that isn't good value and you state that you have the much better option of them transferring the Euro amount to a new card, grab it with both hands.
If you don't like it, accept a refund as per the T&C of the account. The T&C to which you agreed when you purchased the product.

My advice? Don't be a drama queen.You have an excellent solution. Obtain a new card and enjoy your holiday in September spending your Euros. .

allforms59

A quick update in case this is helpful to anyone else with one of these cards:
The Post Office has transferred all the funds from my old card to a new card and has not required me to make the £50 initial deposit — i.e, they've done what I asked them to do in the first place.

With grateful thanks to all the Forumers who offered helpful advice and support and who weren't dismissive, patronising or judgmental in the manner of their comments.

WAYT

allforms59 wrote: »

A quick update in case this is helpful to anyone else with one of these cards:
The Post Office has transferred all the funds from my old card to a new card and has not required me to make the £50 initial deposit — i.e, they've done what I asked them to do in the first place.

With grateful thanks to all the Forumers who offered helpful advice and support and who weren't dismissive, patronising or judgmental in the manner of their comments.

Who were the forumers offering "helpful advice and support"?
You were given advice based on what you told us. We advised you on the best course of action from the options that you stated you were given.
It's not nice to come back with snidey comments because we didn't tell you what you wanted to hear.
If the PO decided to issue you a new card in spite of what they stated, more power to you.

z1a

What would be illegal about it anyway?