Yahoo!7 charging $100 closing fee to withdraw funds from defunct search ad service
Yahoo!7 is charging its customers a $100 closing fee to withdraw funds from its search accounts, three months after deciding to close the Yahoo Search Marketing platform.
In August, Yahoo!7 announced advertisers would no longer able to advertise on Yahoo’s search engine directly and instead obliged to go directly to Google.
In an email to clients yesterday, the company confirmed its Panama platform would be phased out in the Australian and New Zealand markets in a fortnight’s time and that customers had until this date to use their existing credit or withdraw it from their accounts.
However, the email from Yahoo!7 also warns customers that the company will charge a $100 “closing fee” on any withdrawals and that customers with less that $100 in their search accounts will be forced to use their credit or find that it lapses on November 29.
The email to Yahoo!7 customers warned: “We encourage you to use your remaining credit before this date (November 29).
“We will be providing refunds to those with credit still in their account after this date, less a AU$100 closing fee*.”
In small print of the email Yahoo!7 wrote: “Any accounts with less than AU$100 credit after 29 November will not be refunded as a result of the closing fee. No additional amount will be deducted from your credit card.”
A spokeswoman for Yahoo!7 defended the charge saying the company was actively “encouraging” customers to use their credit before the closure of the service.
“The closure fee is only relevant for clients who have a balance in their account as at the closure date,” said the spokeswoman. “We have been communicating with our clients since the announcement of the changes in August to encourage them to use their remaining credit and in doing so avoid the closure fee.”
The company also rejected criticism from customers that the closure fee was unfair given Yahoo!7’s decision to close its search division.
“The fee is to cover administrative costs associated with account closure,” said the Yahoo!7 spokeswoman.
“It is simple for clients to avoid the fee by ensuring all credit is used before the closure date. If there are any concerns from any individual customers, we are happy to respond to the customer directly.”
The full Yahoo!7 email to customers:
Nic Christensen
all class to the very end
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They fail at their business and try and make us cover their losses? #yaboo
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Originally I thought the headline was just “Yahoo!7 charging $100 closing fee”
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