When you get a new card then the 16 digit number does change - Many years ago when I was on Freeserve I paid monthly on the credit card. Got a new card and the payments stopped as they claimed it each month on the old number. Sorry you lost out on the deal.

Just got my statement and eldest used my card to buy something on the internet in Euroes and gave me the cash. When the statement has come he owes me £2.38 - Seems that the exchange rate he thought he had bought on and the CC company exchange rates differ.

I am not a Euro supporter but it does look like the banks make sure they make money. Even if we were in the Euro I think they would find a way.

fwh

I agree and even though my husband has worked for the bank in question for 35+years he would also agree.

What I still don't understand though is why even if I gave them my new Mastercard number they could not refund that account. Probably something to do with security I suppose.

I will await a reply from the hotel group to see if they will offer us anything. Sad really as they are a very good company and the hotel we like in Majorca really is the best.

Still at least we have not lost anything like we would have done if we had cancelled a package holiday.

Pippa

My opinion is to get in touch with Mastercard and explain the situation, they should be able to sort it out, not really an issue with the bank in the respect that it is not their fault.

When you get a new card then the 16 digit number does change

It does indeed, although the first 4 numbers have always remained the same, whenever mine has expired/renewed and the rest change.

besos xxx
Sanji

You should have protection from you mastercard so give them a ring and explain the situation!

I don't think you have Mastercard protection if you cancel the booking as Pippa did.

I think the protection only works if the organisation/company fails to deliver the goods/services you have booked.

I don't think so either - cancelling the booking was our choice. We would not have had a problem if the card that I paid the deposit on had still been valid. Also Mastercard only really offer you protection if the amount is over £100.

My husband said that a high proportion of the charges made were from the Spanish Bank and not our own.

It is just one of those things really. We are certain that we did the right thing in cancelling and going to a different hotel - not too keen on being surrounded by a building site!!

Still waiting to hear from Protur Hotels - will keep you posted.

Pippa

'When you get a new card then the 16 digit number does change'

Not in my case. Had my current account for nearly 10 years (3+ cards) and it's never changed. The only time the card number changes is if you report a fraudulent transaction. What does change of course is the expiry date and this will result in transactions being refused as this date is required - had the problem with my Virgin Mobile Account, payments stopped being made as the registered card had expired.

My Goldfish Mastercard number never changes either and I've had it for years. Not sure about my Natiowide credit card, I think they may change the number.

luci

I've had a LLoydsTSB card for a good many years now and the only time the 16 digit no has changed is when the card has been stolen (once) or mislaid (once) and in effect they have cancelled the old card/account and set-up a new one for me. The number shouldn't change just because the old card has passed its expiry date and a new one issued. The change of expiry date shouldn't have affected their ability to make a refund to that account because the account details (ie the 16 digit account no) should have remained the same.

Even if your account number has changed, all the hotel needed was your new account number because anybody can pay a credit into a credit card account as long as they have the 16 digit account number. I've bought things on mine on my Mum's behalf over the Internet and she's just gone into her branch of LloydsTSB with my card no and paid it off straight away for me. It saves messing around with her sending me a cheque and me having to pay that into the bank and wait for it clear etc before using the cash to pay of the account.

I would get onto Mastercard or the issuing Bank because the rules regarding refunds on credit cards mean that it HAS to made to the same account it was deducted from in the first place. This is done to stop people getting backdoor cash advances by purchasing something from a shop and then returning it almost immediately for a cash refund and thus circumventing the charges usually levied for a cash advance. They will certainly want to know why this hotel wasn't refunding the card account as required by them.

The reason why you'll have lost so much on this transaction will probably be because the bank the hotel used will have charged for the international transfer and then your bank will have charged for the currency change once it arrived in your account. This always an expensive way of transferring money.

SM

Thanks for that info. We did receive a statement from our bank today with the transfer details on. Our bank only charged £2 - the rest of the charges were from the Spanish Bank as expected.

My husband (who works for the bank) has looked into it and there really isn't a lot we can do. I have had money repaid into my Mastercard acount on previous occasions even if the card used for the transaction had expired. It seems that the hotel group did not have the facility to put in a new expiry date and security number. Mastercard only really want to get involved if the amount is over £100 or the company has gone bust.

I am still hoping that we might get some sort of offer from the hotel - but nothing yet. It won't put me off using them again - we have always had excellent service before. The timing was just against us.

Pippa

Sorry to hear about your problem, Pippa, and thanks for warning us.

Re credit card numbers changing - my credit card number changed recently. it is a joint account with my husband, but when the new chip and pin cards came out, I had to have a new number card with my own PIN.

I had an ordinary Tesco credit card for years and they suddenly changed it to a Platinum one with a new number and told me to notify anyone I'd given direct debit instructions to on the old one. I hadn't asked for the new card and didn't particularly want it - they just sent it!