10,000 bonus points per 20 transactions

[simongr]

Further to my discussion with the CSO on 26 Sept, I was advised by the CSO that I spoke to on 26 sep to ring back on Mon (29 Sep). I rang back amex today to confirm my eligibility and was advised that the information provided to me on 26 sep iwas no longer valid. This is what has changed, there is now a new T&C for those who have registered prior to 20Sept which we will be receiving in the mail.

Those that signed up prior to 20 sept and did not received a postcard will be subject to a cap of 10K.

Not happy jan!!!!

I was going to comment on this but will wait until I receive written confirmation from Amex. Any speculation on the accuracy of this or action to take as a result of this is pointless until we get it in writing.

 

[gibspmuh]

I guess they're sick of the calls now. There's a FAQ now linked from the revised T&C's at American Express, Bonuspoints FAQ. Hopefully this clarifies things for some people (though it doesn't really assist for those that signed up before the 20th - I guess it remains to be seen what happens in that regard!).

Membership Rewards Everyday Spending Bonus Points Offer

How do I know if the bonus point limit applies to me?
The amended Terms and Conditions, including the maximum of 10,000 bonus points per month, apply to all Cardmembers who enrolled in the offer from Saturday, 20 September.

Does the new limit mean that the maximum number of points I can earn in a month is 10,000?
10,000 per month is the maximum number of bonus points. You will still earn all the Membership Rewards points you would have been entitled to without the offer.

The terms and conditions state that there are no limits. How can you introduce a limit on the maximum number of bonus points that can be earned?
The invitation to participate in the offer was sent to a targeted group of Cardmembers. It proved so popular that many Cardmembers told their family, friends and other people they know about the offer and provided them with the details to enrol.
Rather than put an end to the offer, we decided that the best way to ensure that as many Cardmembers as possible could benefit was to amend the terms and conditions so that they were consistent with the original intent of the offer.

I was unable to enrol as I was told there were operational issues. Will I be credited the bonus points I would have earned had I been able to enrol when I first tried?
We can only capture activity from the time of enrolment. You will only be awarded the bonus points you have earned from the time you enrolled.

What were the 'operational issues' which prevented you from enrolling Cardmembers in the offer?
The invitation to participate in the offer was sent to a targeted group of Cardmembers. It proved so popular that many Cardmembers told their family, friends and other people they know about the offer and provided them with the details to enrol. To be able to manage the unexpected demand we had to redirect additional resources and review our processes to ensure we could confirm Cardmembers were eligible before enrolling. This required us to suspend enrolments for a short period.

How will Cardmembers already enrolled in the offer be affected by the changes you have made?
All Cardmembers enrolled in the offer will be entitled to bonus points based on the terms and conditions communicated to them before they enrolled. A limit of 10,000 bonus points per month applies to Cardmembers who enrolled from Saturday, 20 September.

How can American Express change the terms and conditions of an offer once it has been made?
Under the terms and conditions of the Membership Rewards program we have the right to make changes to offers if we think it is necessary. The amended terms and conditions have been communicated to Cardmembers prior to enrolment - either by our call centre teams or on the enrolment page on our website.

Why was the offer made to some Cardmembers and not others?
This year we have made a significant effort to increase the number of businesses where American Express Cards are welcomed. The purpose of the offer was to encourage Cardmembers to spend with these businesses.



Cardmembers were selected based on:

• Where they live – in areas where we had signed the most businesses
• How often they use their Card – the offer was structured an incentive on a Cardmembers current and likely use.

It is common practice for American Express and other organisations to target offers at specific customers.


How do I know if I will keep all the points I have earned?
You are entitled to the bonus points based on the terms and conditions communicated to you before you enrolled. A Cardmember only has a concern if they have acted inappropriately or have not used their Card in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Membership Rewards program. We will be reviewing all activity covered by the offer to identify cases of suspected misuse. Cardmembers who are found to have acted inappropriately risk forfeiting any points earned through the promotion.

What do we mean by eligible transactions?
We mean the types of legitimate purchases that you make everyday, like buying a coffee, picking up lunch or a movie ticket. Unfortunately we've identified cases where Cardmembers have been found to have intentionally manipulated transactions in order to obtain additional bonus points. For example, splitting a bill that would normally be paid as one transaction into dozens of small transactions.

 

[drewbles]

I guess they're sick of the calls now. There's a FAQ now linked from the T&C's at <removed cause im not allowed to post URL's even in quotes cause im too new>. Hopefully this clarifies things for some people!

That's brilliant gibspmuh! Just what we needed.

Looks like they are dividing us up into 'have's' and 'have nots'. Fortunately I got in prior to the 20th so looks like I'm in good stead for the promo (was targeted with a letter so all good there).

Time to get spending (legitimately of course!). It's a good thing I visit pubs on a regular basis due to one of my jobs, and that involves lots of small purchases!

*side note to mods*
As I'm new around here I was trying to quote the OP and as it had a URL in it I was told I was naughty and it was filtering me for SPAM effectively. Not sure if it can be excluded from quotes, but just a heads up FYI

 

[file51]

How can American Express change the terms and conditions of an offer once it has been made?

Under the terms and conditions of the Membership Rewards program we have the right to make changes to offers if we think it is necessary. The amended terms and conditions have been communicated to Cardmembers prior to enrolment - either by our call centre teams or on the enrolment page on our website.

pfffffft, pull the other leg Batman.

The original T&C were still online as of the 26th of September, and call centre staff were still advising customers of original T&C through to the 24th/25th.

<bangs head on desk>

 

[snufl]

I phoned and was told the same as Lord Garlic.
If you enrolled pre 20th Sept and received the postcard original T&Cs apply.
If you enrolled pre 20th and were not targetted (even if you did not receive the postcard you may have been on the target list) the cap will apply.
Pre 20th enrolment cardholders will be notified by Amex of the change to their T&Cs.

 

[LordGarlic]

I phoned and was told the same as Lord Garlic.
If you enrolled pre 20th Sept and received the postcard original T&Cs apply.
If you enrolled pre 20th and were not targetted (even if you did not receive the postcard you may have been on the target list) the cap will apply.
Pre 20th enrolment cardholders will be notified by Amex.

What should we do now??

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Dilemma: Virgin or Qantas??

the lass clearly spoke about 5,000 for 5 transactions and said yes a tx would be paying off a $100 phone bill in batches of $20 to get 5,000 pts. Overall,

Hi may I ask what you meant by the part I have highlighted in bold as I am not sure what you mean?

tx means???

Thank you.


EDIT: Vet has kindly advised that tx - transaction.

 

[file51]

What is our course of action now??

Although this will probably be ignored.

Why not start a list of people who will go on an official complian with ACCC, ASIC, DFT etc as "we the undersigned"

Obviously this could only occur after we have recieved something in writing from Amex.

(to start just usernames etc, but when the time comes to sending something, names are provided in private)

 

[lovetravellingoz]

This promotion was advertised on the main Amex website landing page, which meant it was not targetted at particular users as it was visible to all

I would be guessing that that was done in error, and it was not up for very long.

I mean why would you deliberately annoy some cardholders who were sent a postcard for say the 10/20 deal, and then just allow anyone to get a better deal?

 

[docjames]

I received the mailout and enrolled today - the link is working again at amex website/myreward

I should have (dont kill me, work is crazy and i was being pushed off the computer as it was! ) taken a screen dump and posted here but i'm sure it said my points would not be capped.

Perhaps it seems those targetted by the actual flyer will remain with the original T+Cs.


/chill pill on/

At the end of the day, depsite the hysteria going on everywhere (here included!), if i end up with 10000pts/month, or 5000/5 transactions, either way i'm getting at least 40000pts more that i would have otherwise, for no cost or inconvenience.

/chill off/

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Thanks for that Gibspmup. That is most helpful.


What do we mean by eligible transactions?
We mean the types of legitimate purchases that you make everyday, like buying a coffee, picking up lunch or a movie ticket. Unfortunately we've identified cases where Cardmembers have been found to have intentionally manipulated transactions in order to obtain additional bonus points. For example, splitting a bill that would normally be paid as one transaction into dozens of small transactions.

I suspect that this clause will wipe out points for many. I would assume that it would also would aply to someone that say vistied coles and juts went round and round buying small purchases.
The interesting thing for those that silly enough to do this is whether juts those points will be wiped, or whether all their bonus points get wipoed included possible future earn.

 

[oz_mark]

I would be guessing that that was done in error, and it was not up for very long.

I mean why would you deliberately annoy some cardholders who were sent a postcard for say the 10/20 deal, and then just allow anyone to get a better deal?

Agreed.

What do we mean by eligible transactions?
We mean the types of legitimate purchases that you make everyday, like buying a coffee, picking up lunch or a movie ticket. Unfortunately we've identified cases where Cardmembers have been found to have intentionally manipulated transactions in order to obtain additional bonus points. For example, splitting a bill that would normally be paid as one transaction into dozens of small transactions.

I suspect that this clause will wipe out points for many. I would assume that it would also would aply to someone that say vistied coles and juts went round and round buying small purchases.
The interesting thing for those that silly enough to do this is whether juts those points will be wiped, or whether all their bonus points get wipoed included possible future earn.

I suspect that this is probably the biggest issue that they are dealing with, and together with however many non-targetted people signed up would have caused a significant budget blowout.

Interestingly the comments on things like buying a coffee would give a clue as to why there was not a minimum transaction amount specified. The key factor appears to be what would normally be paid as a single transaction.

 

[drewbles]

Thanks for that Gibspmup. That is most helpful.


What do we mean by eligible transactions?
We mean the types of legitimate purchases that you make everyday, like buying a coffee, picking up lunch or a movie ticket. Unfortunately we've identified cases where Cardmembers have been found to have intentionally manipulated transactions in order to obtain additional bonus points. For example, splitting a bill that would normally be paid as one transaction into dozens of small transactions.

I suspect that this clause will wipe out points for many. I would assume that it would also would aply to someone that say vistied coles and juts went round and round buying small purchases.
The interesting thing for those that silly enough to do this is whether juts those points will be wiped, or whether all their bonus points get wipoed included possible future earn.

I'm assuming the coles one is a little more tricky. I mean I often visit coles 2 times a day as I don't like doing big shops. Up until this promo I've used either cash of my debit mastercard for my own cash access. As a result of this promo I'm switching to Amex for coles purchases, and will probably end up going 3 times a day and get lunch there as well. If I'm buying things I would usually otherwise buy with other means, it's a legitimate purchase. What right do Amex have to say i'm being abusive of the system? With coles open 24x7 around the corner from me, I don't use convenience stores for small purchases. And I buy daily supplies, daily.

It could get messy for amex. Bill splitting? sure. that shouldn't be on (although the thought had crossed my mind even though it's not 'in the spirit' of the promo nor MR T&C's) but other ones? coffee? that's a few bucks here and there. Same at coles.

I smell a legal quandry for amex on this one...

 

[kamchatsky]

Thanks for that Gibspmup. That is most helpful.


What do we mean by eligible transactions?
We mean the types of legitimate purchases that you make everyday, like buying a coffee, picking up lunch or a movie ticket. Unfortunately we've identified cases where Cardmembers have been found to have intentionally manipulated transactions in order to obtain additional bonus points. For example, splitting a bill that would normally be paid as one transaction into dozens of small transactions.

I suspect that this clause will wipe out points for many. I would assume that it would also would aply to someone that say vistied coles and juts went round and round buying small purchases.
The interesting thing for those that silly enough to do this is whether juts those points will be wiped, or whether all their bonus points get wipoed included possible future earn.

What about to those people who go to different Coles/Woolworths to buy small items? They are technically different merchants!

 

[LDJordan]

I'm assuming the coles one is a little more tricky. I mean I often visit coles 2 times a day as I don't like doing big shops. Up until this promo I've used either cash of my debit mastercard for my own cash access. As a result of this promo I'm switching to Amex for coles purchases, and will probably end up going 3 times a day and get lunch there as well. If I'm buying things I would usually otherwise buy with other means, it's a legitimate purchase. What right do Amex have to say i'm being abusive of the system? With coles open 24x7 around the corner from me, I don't use convenience stores for small purchases. And I buy daily supplies, daily.

It could get messy for amex. Bill splitting? sure. that shouldn't be on (although the thought had crossed my mind even though it's not 'in the spirit' of the promo nor MR T&C's) but other ones? coffee? that's a few bucks here and there. Same at coles.

I smell a legal quandry for amex on this one...

I think your case will be fine.

However, if you check out coles counter, then go in again to grab an gum and check out again, and go in again ......

well then it's abuse....

 

[simongr]

I would be guessing that that was done in error, and it was not up for very long.

It was up for at least 5 days - that is a fair chunk of time when they knew things were getting messy.

 

[gibspmuh]

Keep in mind the example they gave was "splitting a bill that would normally be paid as one transaction into dozens of small transactions.". In the end I'd certainly think there'd be leeway if it could be deemed to be reasonable (such as three transactions in the same store spaced hours apart), as opposed to dozens of transactions in the space of 15 minutes at the same store.

 

[snufl]

How will Cardmembers already enrolled in the offer be affected by the changes you have made?
All Cardmembers enrolled in the offer will be entitled to bonus points based on the terms and conditions communicated to them before they enrolled. A limit of 10,000 bonus points per month applies to Cardmembers who enrolled from Saturday, 20 September.


If what I was told today is correct then this no longer applies. The second change to the T&Cs, lets hope there isn't a third. Oh well, I'll wait for the official word from Amex, although as they have already told me on the phone, maybe that was my official word.

 

[drewbles]

I think your case will be fine.

However, if you check out coles counter, then go in again to grab an gum and check out again, and go in again ......

well then it's abuse....

That's my point. Just because I shop there several times a day, what's to stop amex accusing legitimate shoppers of being abusive towards the promo?

I know i'm doing regular shopping. They may think i'm buying lots of gum and candy.

It's tricky for them on this.

*edit*
as pointed out, I'd hope they'd see 2-3 transactions spaced hours apart as being legitimate rather than 2-3 in a 15 minute period. I hope common sense prevails here.

 

[LDJordan]

That's my point. Just because I shop there several times a day, what's to stop amex accusing legitimate shoppers of being abusive towards the promo?

I know i'm doing regular shopping. They may think i'm buying lots of gum and candy.

It's tricky for them on this.

*edit*
as pointed out, I'd hope they'd see 2-3 transactions spaced hours apart as being legitimate rather than 2-3 in a 15 minute period. I hope common sense prevails here.

Totally, got 7/11 or IGA downstaris, everytime getting thristy, just go down and grab a drink.

no reason to tell me why not buying 3 in one lot.