10,000 bonus points per 20 transactions

[Rick93]

I just have no luck, whatsoever....

After seeing this promo discussed here, and not being one of 'the chosen few' to have been formally invited by AMEX, I tried to follow the link, and sign up.

I did this on the 28th. December 2008. The promo T&Cs stated, the promo expires on 31st. December 2008.

The site wouldn't let me sign up !! The message read, that the promo had expired....

Over the stated prom period, I used my Plat. AMEX CC around 40 - 50 transactions per month ( my wife has a secondary card ).

I got nothing from this promo.... yet, I had been using AMEX as a primary card. Surely they could see that.

How did others get 'invited' ??? (maybe that has already been stated, somewhere in the last 424 pages of responses )

regards,
GORDO

 

[Mal]

I just have no luck, whatsoever....
How did others get 'invited' ??? (maybe that has already been stated, somewhere in the last 424 pages of responses )

Start off by having a look at the Amex Promo Wiki pages that have been set up:
HomePage

.........

 

[vet]

Gordo, at least one regulator is looking into persons who were Velocity members who a) were invited by Amex to the 5/5 etc promos but attempted to enrol after Amex lowered the boom, and b) weren't invited but responded to website offers or phoned in and tried to enrol. I know of some who have complaints with Jacinta at www.fos.org.au about Amex closing the door too quickly: there's no sufficiently prominent term saying 'offer closes in days'. (And the Fair Trading Act and other laws and cases like Free v Jetstar suggest Amex can't rely on certain terms.

Go via www.fos.org.au rather than writing to Amex. Fos will then give Amex 30 days to make you an offer. Then if that offer/decision is unacceptable, fos gets cracking.

If you write to amex first, you lose a month because fos gives amex another month. So just go first to fos, imo.

 

[oz_mark]

Gordo, at least one regulator is looking into persons who were Velocity members who a) were invited by Amex to the 5/5 etc promos but attempted to enrol after Amex lowered the boom, and b) weren't invited but responded to website offers or phoned in and tried to enrol. I know of some who have complaints with Jacinta at www.fos.org.au about Amex closing the door too quickly: there's no sufficiently prominent term saying 'offer closes in days'. (And the Fair Trading Act and other laws and cases like Free v Jetstar suggest Amex can't rely on certain terms.

I understand the supreme court in Victoria recently set aside the decision of VCAT in this matter following an appeal by Jetstar.

 

[oz_mark]

Not all tx post the next morning.

ie my local 7/11 virtually always requires an extra day to show up...and I was often buying paper in the morning.

Also I have noted with a number of businesses that tx after about 4pm seems to take an extra day as well.

When they do post, they do post with the correct date and so they should count for your promo count.

two of the four are there this morning, with 2 still MIA. At the moment sitting on 99tx posted for Dec, so hopefully one of them will appear with a Dec 31 date!

 

[QF WP]

Mal, I think you must have mis-read Gordon's post. He said he tried to sign up on 28 December, so my understanding was that only people who received the postcard could sign up after they "tightened" the rules on or around 23 September.

Gordon, some people were sent a postcard from Amex on or around 10 September, advising them to sign up via the web site. Of course, like here, friends were advised and we found out that anybody could access the promo, so we did . Amex obviously saw a huge uptake in the promo, found out their errors in not properly denying access to those non-postcarded members. The Wiki then gives you a good idea on just what a dog's breakfast this promo became .

 

[paulpaul27]

Warning Warnig Warning (The Trap is SET)

:shock: :shock: :shock: I had a conversation with an Amex Customer Relation Person and I was told:



"... DO NOT TRANSFER YOUR POINTS or
REDEEM A REWARD!!!

We are still investigating, and don't know what would happen to

your account if you make use of those points while you are

Suspended ... "


I Hope none of you guys have transferred points yet





What a headache ... does anyone have an aspirin ?

 

[simongr]

This could be hilarious - go online, redeem award for say a TV and then get suspended from the promo... umm what promo - they are all over....

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Warning Warnig Warning (The Trap is SET)

:shock: :shock: :shock: I had a conversation with an Amex Customer Relation Person and I was told:



"... DO NOT TRANSFER YOUR POINTS or REDEEM A REWARD!!!

So now it is a Clayton's Promo...

Earn lots of points....but do not dare to actually use them. Use of MR can be deemed suspected abuse :shock:

Enrole in the promo...but beware. Use it a lot and be suspected of abuse.

Use it a lot and be suspended because you MIGHT have abused it....but Amex will not say how, or which tx.

No minimum spend.
No limit to the bonus you can earn.....

But also no limit to the way evidently that Amex can re-interpret the T&C...or at least they think they can. The BFSO and others may not quite see it their way though..

 

[edman]

Well Dec 31 less 10 weeks is Oct 22....and so perhaps those that received Dec 31 points are being made up to date till Oct 22???

No, still doesn't work. Seems to be relatively random.

I had to ring Amex today about another matter and asked them to confirm my rego. They tell me I'm on 10t/5k now as I'd registered in 2 promos (20/10 and 5/5) even though I cancelled the 20/10 and this was confirmed in 2 separate calls. Anyone who has been thrown into the 10/5 had any luck getting back on the 5/5 yet through dealing with Amex? Would prefer to go down this route first before lodging a complaint with FSO.

 

[delfredo]

I don't think that in the eyes of a reasonable person, transferring or redeeming points could be seen as abusing the system. Also, the letter does not specifically prohibit this. The statement provided in the letter about abuse in relation to the transfer/redemption is general in nature and a reasonable person would read that as a reminder of the T&C rather than a prohibition statement.

Having said that, MR has one of the best redemption programs available in the marketplace at the moment so unless you need to use it for flight redemptions or you need to redeem it for an award soon, it would be best not to transfer out.

 

[Mal]

Mal, I think you must have mis-read Gordon's post. He said he tried to sign up on 28 December, so my understanding was that only people who received the postcard could sign up after they "tightened" the rules on or around 23 September.

Indeed - I blame lack of sleep Post has been corrected.

 

[delfredo]

I had to ring Amex today about another matter and asked them to confirm my rego. They tell me I'm on 10t/5k now as I'd registered in 2 promos (20/10 and 5/5) even though I cancelled the 20/10 and this was confirmed in 2 separate calls. Anyone who has been thrown into the 10/5 had any luck getting back on the 5/5 yet through dealing with Amex? Would prefer to go down this route first before lodging a complaint with FSO.

I'm not as fortunate. I did the same as you but did not cancel the 20/10 which I was originally offerred for in the postcard. They reverted me back to the 20/10 offer. I am not at all happy as others in your situation managed to get into the 10/5 offer eventhough they are not targetted as evidenced in the postcards. Amex in its letter to me stated that the offer is open only to those targetted for this promotion. I take it to mean that if one did not get the postcard, he/she had not been targetted. I'm not blaming you but just voicing my disapproval of the inconsistency in their approach in rectifying their mistakes. So far I've been awarded points based on 20/10 so potentially there's more to come (or potentially there's more to be taken away from those in your scenario). Has anyone lodged a complaint on this basis yet and with whom?

 

[straitman]

I'm not as fortunate. I did the same as you but did not cancel the 20/10 which I was originally offerred for in the postcard. They reverted me back to the 20/10 offer. I am not at all happy as others in your situation managed to get into the 10/5 offer eventhough they are not targetted as evidenced in the postcards. Amex in its letter to me stated that the offer is open only to those targetted for this promotion. I take it to mean that if one did not get the postcard, he/she had not been targetted. I'm not blaming you but just voicing my disapproval of the inconsistency in their approach in rectifying their mistakes. So far I've been awarded points based on 20/10 so potentially there's more to come (or potentially there's more to be taken away from those in your scenario). Has anyone lodged a complaint on this basis yet and with whom?

delfredo,

Read further back up this page and through the last few pages and you'll see who to contact. You will need a stronger case than a few people here appear to be offering though.

 

[paulpaul27]

Careful

I don't think that in the eyes of a reasonable person, transferring or redeeming points could be seen as abusing the system. Also, the letter does not specifically prohibit this. The statement provided in the letter about abuse in relation to the transfer/redemption is general in nature and a reasonable person would read that as a reminder of the T&C rather than a prohibition statement.

Having said that, MR has one of the best redemption programs available in the marketplace at the moment so unless you need to use it for flight redemptions or you need to redeem it for an award soon, it would be best not to transfer out.

The problem is not transferring the points, the problem is transferring the points knowing that you are suspended and having a note in you suspension letter saying :

"... Abuse relating to the earning of points in the program or redemption of rewards, including transfer of points to participating frequent traveller programs, may result in the forfeiture of points as well as cancellation of the program account..."

They can retrieve points from your Velocity or QFF accounts. I know that because some weeks ago I receive 5K points (by mistake) to my QFF account from Earth CC and they took them back 7 days later

Everyone better be careful.

They suspend you with the condition that you may not use or redeem any Abuse Related Points (in writing). They suddenly give you xx_,000 points (Bait). If you transfer or redeem those points, you may open a way for Amex to cut you off definitely. After that, they may retrieve all points from QFF or Velocity. They may even be able to claim compensation if you redeem your points for other goods or services

I am really confused, and don't want to loose those points I received on the 31st of DEC as Sep-Oct Lump sum.

 

[Andym]

Hi All,

Happy New Year first of all

OK, this morning I have sat and worked out that I have received;

1. 35,000 points from the 35 transactions made from the 17th Sept till 30th Sept. I received these in the following lots; 5K in Sept, 20K at the start of Dec and now 10K on the 31st Dec.
2. 75,000 points in a lump sum for the 75 transactions for the month of October, while receiving no points during the actual month of October.

Now my question is, why have they lump sum backdated the transactions for Sept/Oct, while continuing to issue points every few transactions for the months of Nov and Dec? It seems weird to me to do this...

I am now going to add up my Nov transactions - 91 - and my Dec transactions - ~130ish - and then add up the total points awarded to me during those 2 months, and then I suppose I will get a total of what has been issued and what is still owed...

Overall, I am pretty happy as I will have enough points for 2 x Business Class fares to LA for my wife and I... and that was our ultimate goal

 

[Mal]

I don't know what Amex has credited - the best I can come up with is that they've recredited me for my September transactions, but not credited me for October's.

Does anyone know for sure what date Amex starts counting from? When you signed up? Beginning of Sept?

 

[Rick93]

I've just lodge my complaint with FOS.

Thanks to those who supplied the link.

I also had a 'whinge' about the 'suspension' of Balance Transfers ( without specific notification ).

Still, I won't hold my breathe.....

regards,
GORDO

 

[straitman]

Does anyone know for sure what date Amex starts counting from? When you signed up? Beginning of Sept?

Mal,

Happy New Year.

If you believe the paranoia, histerics, misinformation and general gossip on this thread it could be any or all of the above.

As you are smarter than that I'll give you the real answer which is NO idea.

 

[Andym]

Mal - 17th Sept was when I signed up and from the 17th to 30 I made 35 trans and got credited for 35 so I assume it's from the day you signed up

Just an FYI... that could be wrong lol