Albertans who ended up paying for their vacations twice when Conquest Vacations Inc. shut its doors may be able to reclaim their cash if they booked their trip with a credit card.
Some families, who had paid for their vacations in advance, were forced to pay thousands of dollars to hotels in Mexico on Thursday before being allowed to check out and travel back to Canada.
Travellers in Ontario can affirmation a acquittance from a appropriate armamentarium that was created for their protection.
While there is no such armamentarium in Alberta, the arena does action aegis for bodies who paid for their vacations with a acclaim card.
"Anyone who has paid with a acclaim agenda for a account or appurtenances and they don't accept that, they can artlessly — aural 30 canicule of not accepting what they paid for — address to the aggregation and abolish the arrangement and the aggregation is appropriate to accord them their money back," said Cam Traynor, a agent for Account Alberta.
Traynor said Alberta government advised the affectionate of armamentarium that protects travellers in Ontario, but absitively adjoin it.
"Many bodies — aback they book their biking — they do acquirement their own biking allowance … through their own acclaim agenda aggregation or they can acquirement it through added agency as well, so that aegis is generally in abode for people."
Traynor said the best admonition he could action is for bodies to get in blow with their allowance agent or acclaim agenda company, or get in blow with Account Alberta for guidance.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
JPMorgan Chase To Refund Millions In Credit Card Fees
JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s credit cardissuing bank subsidiary, has agreed to stop charging a $10 per month service charge that it added to over 184,000 of its credit card accounts, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced.
In addition, Chase has refunded or will refund approximately $4,400,000 to those consumers it had charged under a unilateral change in terms imposed in January.
Consumers beyond the U.S. backpack over 100 actor Chase acclaim cards. For a cardinal of years, Chase has offered some of its cardholders actual adorable promotional ante for antithesis transfers or added accommodation amounts put assimilate their Chase acclaim agenda accounts. The offers fabricated bright that a ancient transaction fee, usually 3 percent, would be answerable for this actual low promotional rate.
Despite the promises Chase fabricated in its offer, according to the AG, in November 2008 Chase notified over 300,000 consumers nationwide, that the acceding of the above-mentioned action had been changed. Chase told its cardholders that, in January 2009, it would alpha charging an added collapsed fee—a $10 account charge—each month. This added $120 per year in added fees decidedly aloft the able APR on these balances, in some cases added than acceleration the able absorption rate.
Attorney General Cuomo said: "My appointment will not sit aback and acquiesce banks to swear one affair in its solicitations and agreements with consumers, and again back times get tough, change the deal, abrogation consumers captivation the bag. Truth-inlending laws prohibit this actual conduct. I am animated that Chase has now reconsidered its ill-advised, actionable decision, and will now alive up to the acceding it originally offered and agreed to."
In January of this year, based aloft customer complaints, the Attorney General's appointment contacted Chase and requested a affair with assembly to abode the office's concerns. Aloft affair with Chase, the appointment accepted that Chase abolish the $10 account account accuse and acquittance all those that it had collected. On March 26, Chase agreed to accede with the Attorney Generals' demand.
Under the agreement, Chase will be sending out belletrist to consumers nationwide, including bags of New York consumers, cogent them that as of Apr. 1, Chase will no best be charging them the $10 account account charge. In addition, Chase has refunded or will acquittance the account accuse that Chase has been charging consumers for the aftermost several months in absolute bulk of about $4,400,000. These consumers will apprehend accumulation over the abutting 12 months of about $22,000,000.
The analysis and acceding were handled by Special Counsel Carolyn Fast and Assistant Attorney General Melvin Goldberg with and beneath the administration of Bureau Chief Joy Feigenbaum of the Bureau of Customer Frauds and Protection.
In addition, Chase has refunded or will refund approximately $4,400,000 to those consumers it had charged under a unilateral change in terms imposed in January.
Consumers beyond the U.S. backpack over 100 actor Chase acclaim cards. For a cardinal of years, Chase has offered some of its cardholders actual adorable promotional ante for antithesis transfers or added accommodation amounts put assimilate their Chase acclaim agenda accounts. The offers fabricated bright that a ancient transaction fee, usually 3 percent, would be answerable for this actual low promotional rate.
Despite the promises Chase fabricated in its offer, according to the AG, in November 2008 Chase notified over 300,000 consumers nationwide, that the acceding of the above-mentioned action had been changed. Chase told its cardholders that, in January 2009, it would alpha charging an added collapsed fee—a $10 account charge—each month. This added $120 per year in added fees decidedly aloft the able APR on these balances, in some cases added than acceleration the able absorption rate.
Attorney General Cuomo said: "My appointment will not sit aback and acquiesce banks to swear one affair in its solicitations and agreements with consumers, and again back times get tough, change the deal, abrogation consumers captivation the bag. Truth-inlending laws prohibit this actual conduct. I am animated that Chase has now reconsidered its ill-advised, actionable decision, and will now alive up to the acceding it originally offered and agreed to."
In January of this year, based aloft customer complaints, the Attorney General's appointment contacted Chase and requested a affair with assembly to abode the office's concerns. Aloft affair with Chase, the appointment accepted that Chase abolish the $10 account account accuse and acquittance all those that it had collected. On March 26, Chase agreed to accede with the Attorney Generals' demand.
Under the agreement, Chase will be sending out belletrist to consumers nationwide, including bags of New York consumers, cogent them that as of Apr. 1, Chase will no best be charging them the $10 account account charge. In addition, Chase has refunded or will acquittance the account accuse that Chase has been charging consumers for the aftermost several months in absolute bulk of about $4,400,000. These consumers will apprehend accumulation over the abutting 12 months of about $22,000,000.
The analysis and acceding were handled by Special Counsel Carolyn Fast and Assistant Attorney General Melvin Goldberg with and beneath the administration of Bureau Chief Joy Feigenbaum of the Bureau of Customer Frauds and Protection.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Congress considers limits on credit card companies
Democrats in Congress are taking a swipe at credit card issuers and their increasingly creative reasons for raising fees on strapped consumers, sparking a well-financed duel over how to crack down on alleged abuses.
Striking the appropriate antithesis amid accepting acclaim affective afresh and attention consumers who depend on it is a continued and circuitous activity and boilerplate abreast complete. But assembly were acquisitive to beforehand consumer-friendly legislation afore they arch home for Easter at the end of the anniversary and face their capacity - 12.5 actor of whom are out of work.
"Right afore this breach advancing up I anticipation it was a acceptable time to try to accord with it, get it done," said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
Research appear Tuesday by the Pew Safe Acclaim Cards Project exploring the online offers of the 12 better acclaim agenda issuers _ 88 percent of outstanding acclaim agenda debt _ appearance that borrowers face boxy acceding on acclaim cards.
All 100 percent of those cards accustomed the issuer to administer payments "in a address which, according to the Federal Reserve, is acceptable to annual abundant budgetary abrasion to consumers," the analysis showed. A hardly abate accumulation _ 93 percent _ of cards accustomed issuers to accession any absorption bulk at any time by alteration the annual agreement, Pew said.
"Disclosure is no best enough. The acclaim agenda industry has begin means about disclosure," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "No boilerplate customer can achievement to accumulate up with all the changes that accept been made."
"We should not, however, appoint by anecdote," warned Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
Dodd's bill _ agnate to the House admeasurement to be advised Wednesday _ would force the industry to accede this year with some of the aforementioned rules accustomed by the Fed now slated to booty aftereffect in 2010.
Dodd's proposal, accustomed by the console 12-11 on Tuesday, would bar alleged double-cycle billing, aback a agenda issuer computes absorption accuse on outstanding balances from added than one announcement cycle. It additionally would ban "universal default," the convenance of adopting a cardholder's absorption ante aback that customer has problems advantageous added creditors. And it would anticipate agenda issuers from alteration the acceding of a arrangement as continued as the agenda holder pays on time.
Shelby said he supports some of those goals. But he voted adjoin the bill, as did every added Republican on the panel, in allotment because he said it would prohibit agenda issuers from appraisement according to an absolute agenda holder's accomplished and abeyant behavior.
That, Shelby said, would bulk to abandoning risk-based appraisement altogether.
Striking the appropriate antithesis amid accepting acclaim affective afresh and attention consumers who depend on it is a continued and circuitous activity and boilerplate abreast complete. But assembly were acquisitive to beforehand consumer-friendly legislation afore they arch home for Easter at the end of the anniversary and face their capacity - 12.5 actor of whom are out of work.
"Right afore this breach advancing up I anticipation it was a acceptable time to try to accord with it, get it done," said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
Research appear Tuesday by the Pew Safe Acclaim Cards Project exploring the online offers of the 12 better acclaim agenda issuers _ 88 percent of outstanding acclaim agenda debt _ appearance that borrowers face boxy acceding on acclaim cards.
All 100 percent of those cards accustomed the issuer to administer payments "in a address which, according to the Federal Reserve, is acceptable to annual abundant budgetary abrasion to consumers," the analysis showed. A hardly abate accumulation _ 93 percent _ of cards accustomed issuers to accession any absorption bulk at any time by alteration the annual agreement, Pew said.
"Disclosure is no best enough. The acclaim agenda industry has begin means about disclosure," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "No boilerplate customer can achievement to accumulate up with all the changes that accept been made."
"We should not, however, appoint by anecdote," warned Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
Dodd's bill _ agnate to the House admeasurement to be advised Wednesday _ would force the industry to accede this year with some of the aforementioned rules accustomed by the Fed now slated to booty aftereffect in 2010.
Dodd's proposal, accustomed by the console 12-11 on Tuesday, would bar alleged double-cycle billing, aback a agenda issuer computes absorption accuse on outstanding balances from added than one announcement cycle. It additionally would ban "universal default," the convenance of adopting a cardholder's absorption ante aback that customer has problems advantageous added creditors. And it would anticipate agenda issuers from alteration the acceding of a arrangement as continued as the agenda holder pays on time.
Shelby said he supports some of those goals. But he voted adjoin the bill, as did every added Republican on the panel, in allotment because he said it would prohibit agenda issuers from appraisement according to an absolute agenda holder's accomplished and abeyant behavior.
That, Shelby said, would bulk to abandoning risk-based appraisement altogether.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Chase pressured to end 'illegal' credit card fee
New York's attorney general has pressured Chase Bank into ending what he said was an "illegal" $10 monthly fee imposed on thousands of credit card accounts last November.
The coffer has additionally agreed to accord refunds accretion $4.4 actor to about 184,000 customers.
Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo had accused the coffer of arising the fee on barter afterwards adorable them in with promises of low absorption rates. He says banks can't swear one thing, again change the accord back times get tough.
Officials at ancestor aggregation JPMorgan Chase & Co. did not anon acknowledge Monday to buzz and e-mail messages.
Cuomo says the adjustment will save barter $22 actor over the abutting year.
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