This is more of a public service announcement than anything, but thinking about the history I had in the last twelve months I wonder why no one noticed anything before. This is the story of my Petro-Points MasterCard.
I signed up for the Citibank MasterCard in 2005 and it came with a four year shelf life which expired January 2009. As we entered January I still had not received my replacement card and called MasterCard’s customer service inquiring about the status of my new card. I was told not to worry and that it would be delivered by the middle of the month.
Last week, the final week of the month, I still had not received my new card so I called MasterCard again and confusion abound. The agent I spoke with said that a replacement card was not sent because the last card they sent me was in 2008.
What?
In the last twelve months I have made several calls to MasterCard for various things (out of country usage, etc.) and they called me when some large items were charged (wedding reception) and no one, at any time, mentioned anything about a card being sent out in the beginning of 2008 or that I was using a card that was to be replaced.
The agent I spoke with did not provide any help or comfort in this matter, no explanation other than that it would take 7-10 business days for my new credit card to arrive. As it was the end of January I would not receive the replacement until February.
Normally this would not be a bad thing, I’m sure I can go weeks without using my credit card but when you are physically without it you do not realize how many things are tied to your credit card: iTunes, Amazon, PayPal, monthly renewals for products and gas to name just a few. All of those rely on a card that is now void and expired and I have no replacement.
I would have canceled my card with MasterCard at this point but I have developed a fairly nice credit limit and was afraid what would happen to my large collection of Petro-Points if I did.
Of course, over the last four years I have found no use for Petro-Points because they either have promotions not available in Alberta or only limited to participating locations.
I have been left fairly scorned by this whole experience, and this is not the first time a company has failed to send me a replacement card (Alberta Treasury Branch). I will wait patiently for another week and hope this is the last sour experience from MasterCard/Citibank as I will not hesitate to drop them and whatever redeemable points I have at Petro Canada.
