You pay the money, and you get
their grade. That's the way it's always worked. Yet you for whatever reason still opted to play a game where they rather than you as the customer make the rules.
So now you're complaining? Why? Granted the fee you paid is long gone. Chalk that up as an expensive learning experience. But you still have the card and you can always break it out of its plastic prison and enjoy it for what it is.