I give up Flybuys.
I have been extremely careful to keep my own records of each transaction at Flybuys partners, the number of base points received for the transaction and the bonus points due for each transaction, even when I have taken up multiple targeted and general offers during each transaction. This usually enables me to reconcile the points correctly once they are finally processed, sometimes up to 2 months after the transaction date.
I used to be really good at reconciling, even when bonus points payments were lumped together and I had to add up points from multiple dates. It's just gotten a lot more difficult in the last few weeks and I can't put the figures together correctly anymore. It's hard when I have multiple pending offers with the same reward such as 50, 75, 100, 500 and 1000 points. Given these promotions are paid in different orders it is difficult to see which 500 point payment I have received. I've even had trouble lately reconciling the double and triple points offers even though I'm really good with numbers and calculations. The Tell Coles payments are lumped together with all the Coles Special Bonus payments and the fact that these payments have different timeframes also makes it difficult to reconcile.
I guess at this point I should say thank you to flybuys. I've been very lucky to receive so many targeted offers in the form of email offers, docket deals and coupons. Other members don't seem to be as lucky as me. These points, which I have converted into Flybuys dollars, have helped me save hundreds of dollars a year. I love being part of Flybuys most of the time but it hasn't been too good since the website revamp.
I would also like to thank flybuys for SOME of the bonus point transactions. These transactions show the date of the credit of the bonus points as well as the TRANSACTION date in another section of the entry. These transactions are very easy to reconcile as they correspond to the relevant list of bonus point offers I have taken up on that specific date. Please flybuys, if you can do this for some bonus points payments, would you please improve the system so you can do this will all of the bonus points transactions, especially the Tell Coles payments. If you do this it will be easier to track whether I need to chase up your call center if and when bonus points are overdue.
I've been told that the call center can break up the bulk payments but my personal experience with the call center has proven otherwise. I've chatted to several staff there and they claim they can't look up what each bonus point payment was for. Some of them look up the transactions and try to guess. I've had to correct them on a few occasions about what each payment signifies. I've also heard some bad reports lately about long waiting times on the call center which are impractical for me as I can only use a mobile to contact the call cener and this works out as really expensive.
I know that you are working on improving the bonus point description section. You've been saying this for a long time now and I think it's about time you gave us an approximate timetable for when it is coming rather than keep making the promise of "we're working on it." When you revamped the website it would have been the perfect time to introduce the new system.
I'd love to put all this on the contact us system on your FAQs pages but this feature doesn't work on my Firefox browser since the changes to the website. I only have limited time each week on a public computer to check my points balance, offers and redemptions so I don't have the time to type all this up using that system.
While you're looking at the bonus points system, would you see if you could improve the communications between Flybuys and the partners, Target and Coles Express. Bonus points from these partners have been extremely late or missing. Coles Express bonus points show up as Coles Express Adjustments but sometimes these adjustments are either late, missing or for the wrong number of points. They're not wrong by much and it's not worth chasing up every transaction but it's annoying having to put up with it.
I keep wondering whether your bonus points are added manually or whether they are automated. Sometimes I notice very tiny errors in base points and bonus points which seems to be a case of human mistyping errors. Points only show up in the afternoon on a weekday which seems to indicate there is a human factor involved. Bonus points for everyday rewards credit 7 days a week and at all times of the day and the night which to me suggests that most of the process is automated.
Is anyone out there as frustrated as I am about these issues or had problems with Coles Express and Target bonus points payments?
