So I’ve had Monzo premium since it launched and recently my metal card is splitting.
I reached out on Twitter to Monzo and they said order a replacement and it’s trying to charge me £50
Should I be being charged this when the card is clearly faulty?
Wear and tear is not a description of a faulty card unfortunately.
If you’re looking to voluntarily order a new card, then yes you’ll have to pay for it.
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They make these cards valid for 5 years… it shouldn’t be peeling apart already
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Downgrade and upgrade. Then it will be free but recontract you Or tell them it’s been stolen.
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It’s all a personal thing - some people’s will, some won’t - depending on how much you use it, and how you treat it, and whether you keep it in a wallet or decide to put throw it in the bottom of a bag. etc.
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I agree that this shouldn’t be charged for if it’s normal usage and relatively new.
How long have you had the card?
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They said “premium since it launched” - it was launched October 2020, so I’d imagine it’s 2 years & 9 months.
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Tricky as that is a long-ish time. Personally I think Monzo should be replacing these where the customer has reasonably done all they can to treat it well.
After all they are paying in part for the metal card.
I can’t condone telling lies but… well, should the card stop working…
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I’d argue that it is in fact faulty.
Unless the user has deliberately caused the damage. Not sure who bears the burden in this situation though. But almost 3 years being subscribed? C’mon Monzo. Just waive it. That’s a loyal customer you’re doing a dirty to otherwise.
If a card peels, ever, during its expected life span, it isn’t fit for purpose. We’re not talking about scratches, or scuffs, or dings. But peeling.
Monzo’s metal card is already at thickest end of the specs for ATM compatibility. A peeling card can very quickly become unusable.
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How do you test that? How do you limit it? What’s to stop everyone requesting one after 2 years (if you set a time threshold on it), but not requiring it and then costing Monzo loads of money?
The limits were introduced because people were taking the absolute p*ss with how many cards they were requesting. I remember an old staff member saying someone used to order one every day or so.
Unfortunately there has to be a limit somewhere, and it’s (I imagine/guess) helped Monzo get on the right side of profitability at some point.
I’d argue that the The Consumer Rights Act doesn’t agree with you, as it’s deemed faulty if it doesn’t “last a reasonable length of time”. A card lasting over 2.5 years, would, in my mind be reasonable, but there’s so many external factors that can contribute to the wear/tear of it. Was it being used as an ice scraper? Should that mean that the card’s faulty? Probably not.
Personally, I think Monzo should give a new card if you’ve been a paying premium member for an extended period of time - and hope they take on board feedback from customers who have a card falling apart to work out what that timeline is - ie, they know they last 3 years, so get a new one every 3 years.
But then, you may get people complaining about getting a replacement card, when they didn’t want one. 
Reasonable is the crux of their wording. Who decides what’s reasonable here? Certainly not you or I, though we have different opinions on that.
To me, reasonable would be lasting until its natural expiry as determined by the bank, at which point it gets replaced anyway. Especially since you have to pay in most other circumstances for a replacement.
That’s not the consumer rights act disagreeing with me, that’s you using your interpretation of the act to disagree.
There’s no fixed expiry they have to use. Banks are given a range and they’re supposed to choose a suitable expiration they expect the card to last for, factoring in things like wear and tear.
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Nothing. In the same way there’s nothing to test nor limit any bank being told “my card doesn’t work anymore” for a new one.
If they absolutely wanted to then require the card to be posted back to Monzo on the condition that should it not be considered reasonable they will be charged £50 for the replacement. I’m not advocating this as it’s just a faff but they could do.
Just use common sense. A metal card. £15 a month for 2.5 years from the customer. Customer loyalty. Customer retention. A nice thing to do.
Monzo throw £20-50 constantly for the most minor of complaints. This has higher value to retain a premium paying customer.
There’s no advantage to the customer in requesting a new card unless they need one. If there’s an influx of customers all reaching half the “shelf life” of the card and needing replacements well then Monzo need to look into that. Whether we agree or not, the metal card forms part of the premium service. If they aren’t lasting the 5 years they are valid for then Monzo should be reducing the validity, increasing the quality, or allowing more than one card through that time.
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If it can’t last 5 years, don’t set a 5 year expiry.
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Just to jump back to this point … even this doesn’t get you a new Monzo Premium Metal Card for free… The only use cases are:
We’ll never charge you for replacements where your card expires, is faulty, or has been swallowed by an ATM.
I imagine they take “faulty” to mean - not functioning to make payments - and not deeming peeling as “faulty”.
Where as with normal plus (you do also get 2 free replacements for any reason if you qualify):
We’ll never charge you for replacements where your card expires, is faulty, has been stolen, has been swallowed by an ATM or if we’ve cancelled your card because we’re concerned about fraud.
Which makes me think that even if they cancel your metal card 'cause of concerns about fraud, you aint getting a new one free.
I’ve had it since October 2020, I rarely use my card as it’s much easier to just use Apple Pay rather than get my wallet out and the card. Rarely take out cash so i don’t get why the glue is coming apart
I’ll try raise it with a customer service advisor as out of principle I’ll just close the account completely if they expect £50 for a replacement
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And that’s a good approach, vote with your feet.
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Solution seems to be staring us right in the face, then. Stick the peeling card in an ATM and let it get swallowed, await free replacement. Albeit this does come with a card-less period.
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If it’s a lamination issue then chat should be able to replace this for free AFAIK.
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It’s great if this is the case, though the T&C’s might need to be changed to show this.
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Actually I think in terms of consumer rights it’s not so much the length of time but the fact it’s still working.
It might not be as nice to look at but that’s a subjective quality, not really essential to its function. I don’t think a CRA case based on that would go anywhere.
Monzo should still just replace it though.
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