10,000 bonus points per 20 transactions

[QF WP]

I, like many others it seems, have started monitoring my points very closely since this promo started, almost on a daily basis. IMHO their sytems seem to be a little unreliable at best, I've noticed transactions where no standard bonus points are accruing, others where the bonus points are not at the correct rate (I have a Platinum Credit Card) and others where I am getting extra bonus points for no known reason. Little wonder this promo was able to get to the stage it has!

That's interesting, I have no similar problems with MR - all my transactions have posted correctly (other than sometimes not posting the next day, but that probably has something to do with system transfer of information). Sure enough, the following day they have posted with the original date of transaction, so no issues. Strange that you have had a different experience :-| - are there others here that have had issues?

I too was happy to receive whatever bonus points I managed (pre 19/9, 5/5000 no postcard). But I suspect Amex will never again run a promo of this nature do to the shambles that has followed, so if they try to put me on a different rate or limit the points, I may look at the options. By my calculations I'm currently owed about 100k points.

Without a doubt, they have already tightened up on a further promo - the Amex/BP one (see separate thread). The T&C's were much tighter (predictably) and an auto sign up meant clarity of offering to only the addressee.

We all await Amex's next move (hopefully, catching up with the uncredited points).

 

[Flashback]

I can say that I've had no issues with bonus points (AMEX Platinum CC) crediting the correct amount...

 

[NSWhere]

Having followed this thread in detail from the very start, it seems to me that people posting in this thread have finally been beaten into submission by American Express. Am I wrong?

Here is the evidence for my tentative conclusion:

1) Several posts implying (and in at least one occasion explicitly stating) that the poster will accept whichever of the promos that Amex determines they should be on;

2) At least one comment (and others that appear to be the same in spirit) that the poster will now happily accept any bonus that Amex grants them;

3) Apparently unanimous acceptance that Amex has the right to remove people from multiple promotions without providing oral or written notice (notwithstanding that several [most?] multiple sign-ups have been POCed);

4) Evidence of people self-limiting themselves to transactions that they think Amex will approve of, despite the very wide net cast by the original term 'transaction' and even the more recent qualification of 'everyday'; and

5) No one yet challenging this logic.

Comments?

 

[snufl]

And on that note, I was wondering if someone could please post an update/summary as to the state of play with Amex and the points, as the basic issues seems to have been lost in all of these posts.

In fact, I'll be a little bit selfish and say that I'm really only interested in how it actually affects me , so here is my situation:

- not sure if I received a card or not
- registered for the promotion online on 18 September
- I was registered for 5,000 points for 10 purchases (mybonus ?)
- I have recieved 1 x instalments of 5,000 points (for Sep, even though I had 30 relevant transactions in Sep)
- I have recieved nothing for october, even though I have had 30 relevant transactions so far in Oct.

What is the current state of play ?

I don't know if you found this link posted earlier in the thread, so here it is again American Express, Bonuspoints FAQ

It should answer some of the questions you may have about your individual circumstances. Bonus points stopped posting to accounts around 24th September (mine included).

 

[oz_mark]

Comments?

Possibly in a calm phase which may erupt again once the points start flowing.

 

[simongr]

Having followed this thread in detail from the very start, it seems to me that people posting in this thread have finally been beaten into submission by American Express. Am I wrong?

Here is the evidence for my tentative conclusion:

1) Several posts implying (and in at least one occasion explicitly stating) that the poster will accept whichever of the promos that Amex determines they should be on;

2) At least one comment (and others that appear to be the same in spirit) that the poster will now happily accept any bonus that Amex grants them;

3) Apparently unanimous acceptance that Amex has the right to remove people from multiple promotions without providing oral or written notice (notwithstanding that several [most?] multiple sign-ups have been POCed);

4) Evidence of people self-limiting themselves to transactions that they think Amex will approve of, despite the very wide net cast by the original term 'transaction' and even the more recent qualification of 'everyday'; and

5) No one yet challenging this logic.

Comments?

I have yet to decide on the multiple promos thing yet. If I feel bloody minded then I might push for the maximum number of points - but that will depend very much on what appears in my account around week 8-10.

I am not changing my spending to make sure transactions are acceptable to Amex - similarly I did not nor would want to pay my bills in $1 increments so if Amex make any adjustment for what they think are spurious transactions then again I will push the issues.

 

[NSWhere]

Cheers guys,

I am thinking along the same lines as you simon. oz_mark, I am sure you're right; once we have some action from Amex to stoke our greed and fear this thread will get very interesting again.

 

[simongr]

I am not sure I would go so far as to say "interesting"...

 

[edman]

That's interesting, I have no similar problems with MR - all my transactions have posted correctly (other than sometimes not posting the next day, but that probably has something to do with system transfer of information). Sure enough, the following day they have posted with the original date of transaction, so no issues. Strange that you have had a different experience :-| - are there others here that have had issues?

Perhaps its just me then! By way of example, I have an Officeworks transaction at point per $ with no bonus points at all, an Optus transaction for $107 where the bonuses were 62 points (36 Platinum CC, 36 Platinum Points Accelerator whatever that is), and thats in the last week. In that week, I've also got a transaction for WOW Sight and Sound for $215 where they gave me 215 bonus points plus 215 base points, but when I refunded the item they only deducted me the base points!!! I'm not complaining about that one

 

[snufl]

Comments?

If everything ends up the way I hope it will (and I'm feeling fairly confident it will) I'm happy with my situation. I'm registered for one promo, uncapped, even though I didn't get a card. I always intended to participate within the "spirit" of the promotion so no problems there.

As far as being beaten into submission by Amex, if I had been capped I would not be happy and would have based my reaction on that.

I suppose each person has to look at their own circumstances and decide what they consider to be fair and acceptable.

 

[angad596]

Dear Friend
I just joined the frequent flyer communnity. I didnr receive the 10000 points per 20 transaction promotion but have read about it now.
I have 4 different amex cards can i regeister of the promotion now as i have tried codes EARNPOINTS and MYREWARDS but it says the offer has expired.
Please can anybody help me or have i missed the boat

Please help

 

[oz_mark]

Perhaps its just me then! By way of example, I have an Officeworks transaction at point per $ with no bonus points at all, an Optus transaction for $107 where the bonuses were 62 points (36 Platinum CC, 36 Platinum Points Accelerator whatever that is), and thats in the last week. In that week, I've also got a transaction for WOW Sight and Sound for $215 where they gave me 215 bonus points plus 215 base points, but when I refunded the item they only deducted me the base points!!! I'm not complaining about that one

In my experience when you get a refund on an item, you appear to only get the base points deducted. However, you will then get some strange bonus points on subsequent transactions, which will be less than what you were expecting. If you look carefully I am sure you will find that the 215 bonus points will have come out of subsequent transactions. (I will even guess and say your Officeworks transactions was $170! (recovering 170 points from your OfficeWorks Transaction, and 45 points from your Optus transaction))

 

[lovetravellingoz]

But I suspect Amex will never again run a promo of this nature do to the shambles that has followed, .

If you mean of this nature...then of course they will as Amex are ALWAYS running various promos to various parts of its worldwide customer base to either drive up spend or gran new customers. It is obviously something that works very well for them.

I could easily imagine them (if there objective is to drive up more small transactions that otherwise might be cash or on VISA/MC) running another promo of 5 points per tx from retail stores only (and no online tx to eliminate bill splitting).

Since this promo we have already for example seen the BP Promo...anda sign on deal for the Amex Plat card.

If you mean of this magnitude of reward ...then of course not. This was clearly a mistake. Why would anyone or any company repeat a major blunder???

Take last years Xmas promo.. 10 points $ spent at electrical stores and we were all super delighted at the level of it's generosity.

This time either 500 or 1000 points a transaction...meaning one can earn 1000 points per $1, 100 points per $1 for a $10 tx = a dramatic blunder and not an intended reward level at all.

Ignore the shambles of the implementation the real mistake here IMO was the reward level set. It was IMO clearly a mistake and unsustainable in any commercial sense.

Amex will continue to make bonus and other offers...and I will continue to take advantage of them.

However I certainly do not expect them to make a mistake like this again anytime soon, and I certainly also am not going to go and get indignant that they will not make similarly generous future offers.

I regard myself as very very lucky to have been in the right spot at the right time.

This was a once in a blue moon oppoortunity.

 

[edman]

In my experience when you get a refund on an item, you appear to only get the base points deducted. However, you will then get some strange bonus points on subsequent transactions, which will be less than what you were expecting. If you look carefully I am sure you will find that the 215 bonus points will have come out of subsequent transactions. (I will even guess and say your Officeworks transactions was $170! (recovering 170 points from your OfficeWorks Transaction, and 45 points from your Optus transaction))

Hmmm, very good oz_mark, I feel like I'm on the receiving end of a David Copperfield trick!

It seems that what you suggest is exactly what has happened, although there were a couple of other transactions in between those examples that were unaffected, due perhaps in part to the order in which they were processed? Thanks for clearing that up

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Dear Friend
I just joined the frequent flyer communnity. I didnr receive the 10000 points per 20 transaction promotion but have read about it now.
I have 4 different amex cards can i regeister of the promotion now as i have tried codes EARNPOINTS and MYREWARDS but it says the offer has expired.
Please can anybody help me or have i missed the boat

Please help

You have missed the boat...which is all spelled out in the thread (which admiteddly is very long now).
Read this American Express, Bonuspoints FAQ to see where things are currently at for you.

 

[edman]

If you mean of this magnitude of reward ...then of course not. This was clearly a mistake. Why would anyone or any company repeat a major blunder???

Yes I mean magnitude. The BP offer is a good one, and they have obviously applied some of the lessons they have learnt. I'm just glad I found out about the 5/5000 here as I was not targetted, hence my initial feelings that anything I received was a bonus.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Having followed this thread in detail from the very start, it seems to me that people posting in this thread have finally been beaten into submission by American Express. Am I wrong?


3) Apparently unanimous acceptance that Amex has the right to remove people from multiple promotions without providing oral or written notice (notwithstanding that several [most?] multiple sign-ups have been POCed);


Comments?

I think you will find that Amex would argue that they are one promo and never were multiple promos....but rather the one promo with different rates of awarding bonuses.

It would most likely contend that the original awarding of multiple bonuses and allowing multiple sign ups was a mistake.

Whether such an argument by Amex is a fair and reasonable one and sustainable in a court of law I have no idea.


Amex can change T&C as I understand it, and have done so.....so I suspect the best that you could hope for would be to keep points allocated pre-ammended T&C.


I don't think that saying that amex allows multiple bonuses in other instance holds any water as they are different offers with different ways of accruing the bonus.

ie currently some CardMembers are in three bonuses.

* Everday spend: rewarded with points per number of tx for any purchase
* BP: rearded with spoend over $50 at any BP
* Fine Dining Competition: each spend at a restaurnt erans one entry.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Yes I mean magnitude. The BP offer is a good one, and they have obviously applied some of the lessons they have learnt. I'm just glad I found out about the 5/5000 here as I was not targetted, hence my initial feelings that anything I received was a bonus.

Me too (though I did get a postacrd).

For like many of the "mistake promotions" detailed earlier in this thread...I regard it as such, rather than just a good promotion with poor execution.

On the BP offer..I do not so much think it employed some of the lessons learnt, as rather that the Everday Spend Promo did not employ the lessons learnt by previous promotions.

Amex promos normally have reasonably good T&C . There will always be some loopholes that someone will exploit.

But this one had loopholes so big that you could drive trains through them...combined with as I have mentioned a way too generous bonus rate.

 

[QF WP]

Having followed this thread in detail from the very start, it seems to me that people posting in this thread have finally been beaten into submission by American Express. Am I wrong?

Here is the evidence for my tentative conclusion:

1) Several posts implying (and in at least one occasion explicitly stating) that the poster will accept whichever of the promos that Amex determines they should be on;

2) At least one comment (and others that appear to be the same in spirit) that the poster will now happily accept any bonus that Amex grants them;

3) Apparently unanimous acceptance that Amex has the right to remove people from multiple promotions without providing oral or written notice (notwithstanding that several [most?] multiple sign-ups have been POCed);

4) Evidence of people self-limiting themselves to transactions that they think Amex will approve of, despite the very wide net cast by the original term 'transaction' and even the more recent qualification of 'everyday'; and

5) No one yet challenging this logic.

Comments?

Consider your hypothesis challenged subsequently . Now, I can't (and won't) try to answer for everyone who has posted on this thread (certainly there is still a core of members posting, but a lot of the newer members seem to be holding their keystrokes since the new FAQ's). Whilst I can see how you have arrived at it (also having read every post - but not by choice), I think that the sample of people posting their thoughts may or may not be representative of the whole. As I am not a member of any of the 4 sub-groups you mention above, then I am outside your representative sample. I'm sure I am not the only one...

Now, I am a member of the 5th sub-group - does that count

 

[simongr]

I think we need a new thread once the bonuses start posting as I am sick of clicking on view last page and scrolling down rather than going to the last post in the thread...