Reply To: Creation Financial Services bashing

[indo555]

There has been a considerable amount of speculation about the outcome of claims against Creation. Some users state that there are precedents where the Credit Card company has succeeded in its position of not awarding ‘benefits’ from the day that a notice of closure is issued. However, I cannot find any comments on the position if you contest that the notice of closure is not valid. The T&C states that there should be at least 60 days’ notice of closure. I received my letter on 20th October although it was ‘dated’ 30th September. The letter was sent unregistered second class post. The legal advice that I have taken is that in England a legal notice is deemed effective the day it is received not the day it was sent. In this case I have not received 60 days’ notice of closure and therefore the closure notice is invalid. Furthermore, I have not received any notice of updated or revised T&C’s since my card was first issued nor have I been advised that points awarded since the ‘closure notice’ would not be added to my account. In UK law fraud is defined as ‘making a dishonest representation for your own advantage or to cause another loss, dishonestly neglecting to disclose information when you had a duty to do so’. It can be argued that Creation had a duty to disclose that points would not be awarded and that free nights earned would not be honoured in the ‘notice of closure’ letter. Not disclosing this information has caused cardholder loss and could be regarded as dishonest. If T&C’s have been revised Creation had a duty to advise cardholders.

Whilst I am writing I want to add that I take great offense at those contributors that assume that all those who have received ‘notices of closure’ from Creation were in their words ‘naughty boys’ (or girls) hell-bent on cash recycling to gain points and free nights. This is clearly not the case. I have never used my card for NSI payments or the like. I did have a short period of about 25 days when I linked the card to Curve for about 20-30 transactions but found Curve customer service so bad that I delinked the IHG card before receiving the ‘closure notice’. I am convinced that it is a weeding-out process by Creation of non-profitable heavy card users that had earned a free night.

There has also been some bashing of IHG for its role in all this. I have had several communications with IHG and all responses have been quick and helpful – I think that it is just caught in the crossfire.