Citizencard

Bennyblanco187

I purchased a Citizencard in July 2020. The card is very poorly made and the hologram has rubbed off just from being in my pocket. I tried asking for refund they said that I have to pay for a new card because it was in 2020. I tried quoting consumer law that the card is faulty and not fit for use. I talked to a manager and administrative officer and they have all denied a replacing or a refund without me paying for a new card. In the end they have now agreed to a replacement card if I send it back they will send a replacement "if it applies".

I don't know what that means and have emailed for an explanation. I know these cards are designed that the hologram comes off so people keep having to purchase new ones, they are now offering a replacement card at the expense of me paying postage. And I am sure once I send it back and pay for postage the hologram wil lstart rubbing off quickly. will I then be entitled to a refund?

I have a severe mental disability and this is causing me anxiety and have tried explaining this to them, but they ignore any attemot to rectify the issue and keep asking why I didnt tell them then. I told them because I barely use it and didn't realize the hologram starting to rub off affected use of the card, when I found out I have told them. They ignore my email and then just ask the same question over.

I am having trouble finding the transaction on my credit card and ask them for any payment details to help me find it and they blatantly refused because of "data" law. That doesn't make sense to me as its my own information?

I would do a chargeback but I think because its over 190 days old I am not sure if I can do it?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated, is there any chance of me suing them through moneyclaimoniline? 

I think I read a consumer law stating if the replacement is no good a refund should be offered. Should I try and accept the card and then when that rubs off go for a refund (assuming they are still made faulty)?

Thank You for any advice

MattMattMattUK

My guess is almost any card, left loose in a pocked for two years would wear considerably, on that basis I do not really think you have a right to a replacement free of charge. 

Data protection would not allow them to tell you the transaction date, you should have that data yourself. In theory you could submit a SAR, but I am not sure that applies in this case and I do not see the relevance of the transaction date either as you already know it was at some point in July 2020.

I do not think that a Chargeback is applicable, even it was within the allowable timefrane. 

My advice would be to buy a new one (cost of £12), or accept their offer of only needing to pay the postage (less), then keep the card in a wallet, or accept that it will wear over time.

bris

You have had it 2 years your consumer rights have hurdles in this time frame, it's the cost of postage, you need to pick your battles. 

Bennyblanco187

Thank you for replies, I have spoken to 2 different people at Citizens Advice. I have been exchanging emails with Citizencard. Citizencard has now offered me a replacement card, which I will not be accpeting due to the low quality. 

Thank you for stating it is most likely too late for chargeback, that appears to be the case.

Consumer Law states you have up to 6 years to claim a refund, and when I purchased this card the card was valid for lifetime, so there is no way I am paying for a new card that was faulty to begin with. It began to rub off just from being in my wallet, I have never had any card that has had this problem.

I have had many emails back and forth with Citizencard, and from advice from Citizens Advice. I will be mailing them a final right to reject due to significant inconvienience. If they refuse refund I will be taking them to county court.

I have bad memory problems, but if I remember, once this is resolved I will report back so people can see how it played out.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Appreciated,

Benjamin

CardinalWolsey

The county court will throw out your application under de minimis rules.

You have now incurred far more cost in terms of effort than the value of the service you are complaining about. Citizencard charge £12 for a replacement card. They now also have a digital version to complement the physical card. You could leave your new shiny replacement at home, never to be tarnished by your wallet, and just use the digital version.

Manxman_in_exile

Hi Benjamin

If CardinalWolsey is right in saying there is a digital version of the card available, then you should go for that - unless your disability means that you can't use one for some reason.

I suspect he might also be right that if you tried to sue them over the sum of £12 for a replacement card, the court would likely chuck it out - especially if they have already offered you a free replacement.  (Have I understood that correctly?)  I'm a bit surprised if CAB have advised you that it might be worthwhile suing in these circumstances.  Of course it's your choice what you do, but I'd suggest it would be a waste of time and money.  You still might want to do it as a point of principle, but that is almost always a certain waste of time and effort.

And just to clarify the bit about consumer law and 6 years - because this is a mistake that many people make and you might be one of them.  Six years is generally the time limit for suing anyone.  (There are exceptions but that is the general rule).  It does not mean that anything you buy must last for 6 years or that you can get free replacements for up to 6 years.

If you prefer a physical card to a digital version then - as others have suggested - you might need to keep it in a wallet to give it better protection in your pocket.

(Just a final thought - I presume you need photo ID for something and that a Citizencard is the only option realistically available to you?)

Good luck anyway.

Alderbank

Absolutely what CardinalWolsey says above.

The OP says ' I will be mailing them a final right to reject due to significant inconvienience. If they refuse refund I will be taking them to county court.'

There is no final right to reject 'due to significant inconvienience' (whatever that is). It is all made up.

The OP would waste his £35 application fee. The claim is not even for £12. Citizencard will replace the card free of charge, the OP just pays postage. The OP has refused.
2nd class postage is currently 66p (goes up to 68p next week).

Bennyblanco187

CardinalWolsey said:

The county court will throw out your application under de minimis rules.

You have now incurred far more cost in terms of effort than the value of the service you are complaining about. Citizencard charge £12 for a replacement card. They now also have a digital version to complement the physical card. You could leave your new shiny replacement at home, never to be tarnished by your wallet, and just use the digital version.

Thank you for reply, you may be misunderstood as there is no mimimum for Moneyclaim online, and there is no basis to dismiss a case because it is below a certain amount, that would be rather perculiar. I have read cases in court that were for a few quid

Bennyblanco187

Manxman_in_exile said:

Hi Benjamin

If CardinalWolsey is right in saying there is a digital version of the card available, then you should go for that - unless your disability means that you can't use one for some reason.

I suspect he might also be right that if you tried to sue them over the sum of £12 for a replacement card, the court would likely chuck it out - especially if they have already offered you a free replacement.  (Have I understood that correctly?)  I'm a bit surprised if CAB have advised you that it might be worthwhile suing in these circumstances.  Of course it's your choice what you do, but I'd suggest it would be a waste of time and money.  You still might want to do it as a point of principle, but that is almost always a certain waste of time and effort.

And just to clarify the bit about consumer law and 6 years - because this is a mistake that many people make and you might be one of them.  Six years is generally the time limit for suing anyone.  (There are exceptions but that is the general rule).  It does not mean that anything you buy must last for 6 years or that you can get free replacements for up to 6 years.

If you prefer a physical card to a digital version then - as others have suggested - you might need to keep it in a wallet to give it better protection in your pocket.

(Just a final thought - I presume you need photo ID for something and that a Citizencard is the only option realistically available to you?)

Good luck anyway.

I do understand that it does not mean you automatically get a refund after 6 years I kept the card in my wallet and used the card maybe twice, which makes the card "Not Fit For Purpose", according to Consumer Law. Thank you for your reply.

Bennyblanco187

Alderbank said:

Absolutely what CardinalWolsey says above.

The OP says ' I will be mailing them a final right to reject due to significant inconvienience. If they refuse refund I will be taking them to county court.'

There is no final right to reject 'due to significant inconvienience' (whatever that is). It is all made up.

The OP would waste his £35 application fee. The claim is not even for £12. Citizencard will replace the card free of charge, the OP just pays postage. The OP has refused.
2nd class postage is currently 66p (goes up to 68p next week).

Alderbank, thank you for reply. It seems that you forgot to read the Consumer Act before you replied. I will paste it below for your consideration as it very clearly refers to and states Significant Inconvienience,

If you could show me where there is a minimum for Moneyclaim online, otherwise the case is automatically dismissed I would appreciate seeing that, asa Moneyclaim Helpline have told me in the past there is no minimum amount you can sue for!

Who's side are you on!  (HAHA)    x

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl

Your right to a repair or replacement

You can state your preference, but the retailer can normally choose whichever would be cheapest or easier for it to do.

If the attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful, you can then claim a refund or a price reduction if you wish to keep the product.

Beyond the first 30 days of ownership you're entitled to a full or partial refund instead of a repair or replacement if any of the following are true:

• an attempt at repair or replacement has failed 
• the cost of the repair or replacement is disproportionate to the value of the goods or digital content
• a repair or replacement is impossible
• a repair or replacement will cause you significant inconvenience
• the repair or replacement will take an unreasonably long amount of time.

powerful_Rogue

Bennyblanco187 said:

CardinalWolsey said:

The county court will throw out your application under de minimis rules.

You have now incurred far more cost in terms of effort than the value of the service you are complaining about. Citizencard charge £12 for a replacement card. They now also have a digital version to complement the physical card. You could leave your new shiny replacement at home, never to be tarnished by your wallet, and just use the digital version.

Thank you for reply, you may be misunderstood as there is no mimimum for Moneyclaim online, and there is no basis to dismiss a case because it is below a certain amount, that would be rather perculiar. I have read cases in court that were for a few quid

There is no minimum, however as was mentioned, it could be thrown out under de minimis rules.