OK, here's the story:
Last April (2011) I was on the AAdvantage EShopping web site and noticed that ADT had an offer: 8,000 miles for signing up for a new security monitoring service contract. We were in the market, so I decided to take the offer. I made sure I was logged in and clicked the red "Shop Now" button.
The page the portal took me to had a contact form and also a banner that said, "Fill out this form OR call our toll-free number" so I did BOTH. When I called the toll-free number, I said that I had filled out the form as well, and they said, "Perfect. When they call you back, give them this number so they link that form to this account." I repeatedly confirmed with the ADT CSR that this was the AAdvantage offer, made sure she had my frequent flyer number, and scheduled setup of the service.
When they called to follow up on the form I'd filled out, I followed the instructions of the previous CSR and the person on the phone said, "Yep, I see it right here." I asked if she saw my frequent flyer number and she said she did, and that I would received my miles for the offer.
When they called to confirm the service appointment, I again confirmed that this was the AA frequent flyer mile offer and made sure they had my AA number.
When they came to install the service, I made the installer write my AA number on the order form and he said he would talk with the person in his company and make sure I received the miles.
By August, I still hadn't received the 8,000 miles, so I contacted AAdvantage and they directed me to the (really annoying and impersonal) online form for AAdvantage Eshopping. It took a month of back and forth e-mails with them to find out and send the exact information they needed, and then they had to do research on the matter.
I didn't receive an e-mail back from them until November, when they said, "Your transaction was not made through the proper AAdvantage eShopping channel."
No explanation, no nothing. Just that.
I called AAdvantage Customer Service and was told that all they could see in the notes on my account was that I didn't make my purchase properly, and maybe I didn't click right to get the cookie sent through when I ordered. I explained (repeatedly) that it wasn't an online order like one would make through, say, Barnes & Noble, but that it was a phone call and that I had called the number on the page I arrived on through the AAdvantage Eshopping portal, but the CSR said there was nothing she could do to help, so she passed me to her supervisor.
The supervisor, Bridget, who was extremely helpful, said she understood exactly the kind of offer I was talking about, but that from what she could see in the notes, it was ADT that said I didn't complete the offer properly. She gave me a phone number for the department at ADT that she said deals directly with AA.
I called ADT and talked with a woman named Mia. Mia said that I needed to talk to the billing department.
I called the billing department and was told that I actually needed to talk to the authorized affiliate, SafeStreetsUSA, who installed the system.
I called SafeStreetsUSA and was told that I had to talk to the authorizer reseller, Security Choice, who sold me the system.
I called Security Choice and spoke with Angie, who said she would absolutely help me. She looked up my account said, "I see your frequent flyer number right here, of course you should've gotten your miles." She said she'd take care of it the next day. She asked me to call her the next day to confirm.
This was in early November, and I explained to Angie that the cut-off date for the Million Miler program was December 1, and I needed to make sure the miles were in my account before the cut-off date. She reassured me that everything would be taken care of.
When I called the next day, Angie wasn't there, so I spoke with her supervisor, Selwyn, who said it would be taken care of.
December 1 came and went, and I had no miles. On December 6, I called Security Choice again and talked with Brian who apologized profoundly for how this had been handled. He said that what no one made clear in the offer was that you had to call Security Choice to get them to take care of your frequent flyer miles- that it wasn't automatic, and he didn't know why Angie hadn't taken care of it, but he would make sure I received the miles.
I explained to Brian that I wanted to make sure he contacted someone in AAdvantage and explained that the miles needed to be backdated because I really had earned them back in April, and he reassured me that he would take care of everything.
It's been over a month and I still haven't received the miles.
I called AAdvantage Customer Service today on an unrelated matter and ended up mentioning it and getting passed to a supervisor, who a) couldn't understand that there are offers on AAdvantageEshopping that aren't online purchases like you'd make at Amazon or Barnes & Noble, b) said that if Eshopping and ADT weren't willing to help me, it wasn't really her problem, and c) said there's nothing ANYONE could do to get the miles backdated anyway.
Now...look. Here's my take:
I've asked AAdvantage Customer Service for help and can't get anything done.
I've asked ADT/Security Choice for help and despite their repeated confirmation that I did complete the offer properly and their promises to take care of things, I can't get anything done.
I followed the rules of the offer and did exactly what I was supposed to do. I average 7-10 Eshopping purchases every month and believe me, I know how to use the portal better than most of the CSRs I've talked to. So I know I did exactly what I was supposed to do.
But now, coming up on a year later, I still don't have those 8,000 miles. And I'm
really mad about it- not just about the miles, but about the miles that should've counted toward my Million Miler status (regardless of what you think of the goal), about the inefficiency, the ineffectiveness, and about the fact that
someone should be able to fix this.
Here's what I want:
I want the 8,000 miles and I want them backdated so they count toward my Million Miler status
because it's the right thing to do. And frankly, I wouldn't mind a few compensatory miles to say, "Gee, we're awfully sorry you spent so much time on the phone arguing with people so you could get something that was rightfully owed to you per the terms of the offer that you completed properly."
But the question is, who the heck can help me? I have no doubt that someone can-
someone makes the rules, and that someone should be able to make this right.
Any suggestions about who I can talk to?
Thanks,
GG
