American Express Membership Rewards - 10,000 MR points for £30 or less...(UK)

Snail mailshot received this morning:

"..whenever you use your Card online, you can earn 500 Bonus Membership Points with every purchase made throughout June and July 2003*"

*At selected online retailers. Maximum bonus miles available from this offer is 10,000.

More details at www.americanexpress.co.uk/doubleclick. (http://www.americanexpress.co.uk/doubleclick)

The selected retailers are:

www.amazon.co.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk)
www.hmv.co.uk (http://www.hmv.co.uk)
www.comet.co.uk (http://www.comet.co.uk)
www.empiredirect.co.uk (http://www.empiredirect.co.uk)
www.edirectoryamex.com (http://www.edirectoryamex.com)
www.marksandspencer.com (http://www.marksandspencer.com)
www.argos.co.uk (http://www.argos.co.uk)
www.easycar.com (http://www.easycar.com)
www.easyjet.com (http://www.easyjet.com)
www.ryanair.com (http://www.ryanair.com)
www.ebookers.com (http://www.ebookers.com)
www.octupus4amex.co.uk (http://www.octupus4amex.co.uk)
www.ctshirts.co.uk (http://www.ctshirts.co.uk)
www.net-a-porter.com (http://www.net-a-porter.com)
www.hamleys.com (http://www.hamleys.com)

Argos have a gift box for £1.49 and you can collect from a store instead of paying delivery http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Now, can anyone finds something cheaper? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by GRM (edited 06-04-2003).]

E-books at Amazon. Cheapest ones seem to start from £1.24, including Sun Tzu's Art of War, The Haunted and the Haunters et cetera.

As these are just files, there shouldn't be any shipping charges either.

Is this targetted or open?

------------------

This is open; I just got off the phone to Membership Rewards and verified that it is definitely not targetted.

I don't know about buying junk e-books or box sets, I'm just going to buy my holiday reading one item at a time from Amazon.co.uk, pay £1.40 extra P&P on each item, convert my 500 MR at 2:3 into Alitalia MilleMiglia miles for a cost of less 2 tenths of a penny per mile.

Definitely promotion of the month for me!

does this include purchases in Amazon's 'Marketplace' ?

Would anyone like to buy some Hot Air - free delivery, only 1p per litre?

(trnsaction charge 25p + 1% to Amazon.....)

What about packs of batteries at Argos?

£1.99 - More money than the gift boxes but much more useful.

Top find by the way!

Thanks,
Richard

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by matthewuk:
does this include purchases in Amazon's 'Marketplace' ?

Would anyone like to buy some Hot Air - free delivery, only 1p per litre?

(trnsaction charge 25p + 1% to Amazon.....)</font>

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

However, this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/3149301/ref=w_h__brbx_c_1_1/026-9766840-4475629) suggests Amazon charge a 75p transaction charge plus 15% plus they keep at least a £1 of the mandatory postage fees.

So 20 e-books @ £1.24 = £24.80 still looks better at the moment.

how about gift certificates on Amazon.

You can order 20x £5 e-certificates, spend £100 on something you want (or were going to buy anyway) and shipping is free!

I was also thinking about £1 e-fares on Ryanair or Easyjet - but then there's the taxes.......(unless anyone knows a one way route on Ryanair or easyjet with no fees and a £1 ticket.)

And if anybody was thinking of using AmEx with easyJet or Ryanair, they will presumably pay a surcharge of around £4 for the privilege.

I just checked the AmEx link and see that LiarAir have already disappeared!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">

Argos have a gift box for £1.49 and you can collect from a store instead of paying delivery http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[B]</font>

Yes that can be done but you will have to ask the cashier to swipe your card 20x.!!



[This message has been edited by jonnye (edited 06-04-2003).]

Great thread. Just a pity they limited it to 10K points!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by matthewuk:
how about gift certificates on Amazon.

You can order 20x £5 e-certificates, spend £100 on something you want (or were going to buy anyway) and shipping is free!</font>

The gift cert is a great idea. These promotions often don't apply to things like purchases of gift certs / cash advances etc. Does anyone know if that is the case here?

Methinks they will just be looking for the individual retailers Merchant ID's on the stetement to credit the MR points.

Torn between e-vouchers and batteries from Argos at the moment.

Thanks,
Richard

I've just ordered 20 e-books - one at a time - from Amazon.

5 clicks and a password per order - not too bad. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I'll keep you updated as to when the points post....

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GRM:

I'll keep you updated as to when the points post....</font>

Could be interesting, it says on the webpage

" Bonus points from purchases at edirectory will be added to your Account in August. "

Was wondering if this includes purchases from the online partners mentioned

Nigel

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RichardMannion:
Methinks they will just be looking for the individual retailers Merchant ID's on the stetement to credit the MR points.

Torn between e-vouchers and batteries from Argos at the moment.

Thanks,
Richard</font>

Each link on that webpage leads to a dedicated AmEx/Argos (or whatever) page, so Doubleclick will be monitoring the transactions. I guess that's how they will track and award the points.

Best buy for AA batteries is at Argos for 20 x Panasonic Power-Max3 @ £5.99 + £3.95 delivery = £9.94 for the 20 batteries.

Our local Robert Dyas would be slightly cheaper, but wouldn't give me 500 extra MR points!

Ordered a book from Amazon that I wanted anyway. Again, paid slightly over the odds compared with Blackwells, but so far have 1,000 extra MR points.

Only another 18 transactions to go ...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Roger:
Each link on that webpage leads to a dedicated AmEx/Argos (or whatever) page, so Doubleclick will be monitoring the transactions. I guess that's how they will track and award the points.
</font>

I doubt that very much! I am sure they'll just automatically add 500 MRs for every transaction on the appropriate merchant accounts; there's nothing there about 'you must use our portal' etc. and it seems it would just be extra administrative nausea.

OK, this is good and well done for the post. But surely this is the cheapest deal !


Earn 500 Membership Rewards Points just for calling for a no-obligation quote!


Need a new life assurance policy? Think you may be paying too much for your existing policy? Then call American Express Independent Financial Advisors for a quote. We will search the market for the policy that is right for you. Earn an additional 5,000 MR points for purchasing a policy through us (subject to terms & conditions).

For complete details call, 0800 783 6034 or email us at IFA@aexp.com


Offer closes 30th June 2003

Argos Small red love heart bag only £0.74

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Vijian:
Argos Small red love heart bag only £0.74</font>

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Also, I noticed some items at amazon.co.uk for £0.01 + postage (second hand books) and there are many classic e-books at £1.12 (no delivery charge!).

I've done transactions both through the AMEX link and by directly going to Amazon and all of the bonus points have posted.

So it looks to me as if they are picking up merchant ID's on your bill (if anyone was interested).

Oh I wish the Oz AX program would do something like this! I'll just stick to their 1 QF FF point per AUD spent.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by danam:
I've done transactions both through the AMEX link and by directly going to Amazon and all of the bonus points have posted.
</font>

How long did it take for you to receive your bonus points? None of my bonus points have posted, despite regular points posting.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MatthewClement:
How long did it take for you to receive your bonus points? None of my bonus points have posted, despite regular points posting.</font>

They posted the day my statement closed. I don't use this card so when 4545 extra points arrived in the account it had to be £45 spent at Amazon on 9 gift vouchers and 4500 bonus points!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by danam:
They posted the day my statement closed. I don't use this card so when 4545 extra points arrived in the account it had to be £45 spent at Amazon on 9 gift vouchers and 4500 bonus points!</font>

Did you just do 9 purchases on the same day or spread them out over time?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TonySymons:
Did you just do 9 purchases on the same day or spread them out over time?</font>

I did 13 on Amazon on the same day. The 6,500 points have posted.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TonySymons:
Did you just do 9 purchases on the same day or spread them out over time?</font>

I did one a day on my card, my supplementary cardholder did a few too. Now I know you can do multiple transactions in a day I'll just get another 11 £5 vouchers!

Anyone know if this applies to Corporate cards?

Is this only for amex/uk?

You can do multiple transactions with the same retailer in one day.

I ahd to phone for my points, I was told this is a targeted promotions and Centurion Cards didn't qualify - soon sorted that little issue out - the points posted within an hour.

It is a UK only promo, as for Corporate Cards you may want to chat with MR but then on the website there is no stipulation of which cards qualify.

Thanks,
Richard

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RichardMannion:
You can do multiple transactions with the same retailer in one day.

I ahd to phone for my points, I was told this is a targeted promotions and Centurion Cards didn't qualify - soon sorted that little issue out - the points posted within an hour.

It is a UK only promo, as for Corporate Cards you may want to chat with MR but then on the website there is no stipulation of which cards qualify.

Thanks,
Richard</font>

Thanks Richard - just called Centurion who were completely flummoxed by this and said I shouldn't have seen the site - it was an offer aimed at specific cardholders only and NOT Centurion members. I told her that if that were the case they're bloody stupid to have it visible on their homepage and that it shold have been sent in an html email to the relevant cardholders. She's investigating and will 'get back to me'. You're right - no mention of exclusions for certain card types in the small print, so hopefully should get the points. Did they kick up much of a fight with you?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by horowitz:
Thanks Richard - just called Centurion who were completely flummoxed by this and said I shouldn't have seen the site - it was an offer aimed at specific cardholders only and NOT Centurion members.</font>

This is all very strange, as I spoke to Membership Rewards (who DO know about the promotion; as opposed to Centurion who don't appear to know much about the detail of MR offers in general) who confirmed to me way back in June that it was NOT a targeted promotion, and I just spoke on the phone to a MR person just the other day who confirmed to me that my points would post in due course.

Hmm!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NickW:
This is all very strange, as I spoke to Membership Rewards (who DO know about the promotion; as opposed to Centurion who don't appear to know much about the detail of MR offers in general) who confirmed to me way back in June that it was NOT a targeted promotion, and I just spoke on the phone to a MR person just the other day who confirmed to me that my points would post in due course.

Hmm!</font>

Very strange Nick. I asked Centurion o put me through to their MR people and it was them to whom I spoke. The woman kept going back and forth to her boss and the marketing people and assured me that this was a targeted promotion and not available to Centurion. I asked her to get someone to call me back who could authorise an immediate 10,000 MR points transfer to my account. Still waiting hopefully &lt;smile&gt;

Did they put up a fight?

Err not really - I reminded them that any offer that is available to any other AmEx card is applicable to the Centurion Card, they called me back within the hour to tell me that the point were added.

Though I think there may be a small flash note on my account when they open it up http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks,
Richard

From my experience it is open to all.

I bought a £5 gift voucher from Amazon on Friday, just to make sure that it did actually work for me.

The extra 505 points are on my MR account today. The points posted the day after the actual transaction posted on my account.

I've got a Gold Credit Card and only found out about the offer from here - so it can't be targeted. I also went straight into Amazon.co.uk rather than via the Amex page, so that doesn't seem to be an issue either.

I'll now pile in and get the other 19 vouchers http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Looks like I've finally got an excuse to buy The Simpsons box sets (Season 3 out at the end of July!).

Nick

All dealt with - charming man called to explain that points will be credited accordingly. No flashing note necessary! Still, surprised how messy the promotion was. Pretty naive of AmEx to assume that those mailed wouldn't share details of such an attractive offer.
BTW - anyone see the ad for the $68,000,000 yacht in the Centurion magazine last week? Not quite big enough for my liking but would keep the staff fairly comfortable I imagine http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Well! well! well! Beware ...

Having questioned the lack of bonus posting last week with AX, I was called back. (Yes, it's true! They called back.)

But the news is not good. According to the customer 'service' person today:

1. the offer is targeted;
2. the offer is only available to those who received an e-mail or snail mail from AX;
3. others who click on to that offer page don't qualify, even though there is no restriction once you get to that page;
4. I was not targeted;
5. I am not eligible to get the bonuses;
BUT
6. she will exceptionally credit the transactions I have made to date.

(As I have only made 18 transactions with this offer, I can suffer the 'loss' of the notional last two http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif.)

Well, this raises more questions. For me,
- why wasn't I targeted?
- why do I pay the plat fee having been promised so many special promotions? - the ones I receive are rarely of interest while they didn't select me for this one.

I'm sure they didn't get this right - it doesn't smell of best practice and I can't help thinking that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

But of course, she could be wrong ...

Just to complicate matters further, I have just checked with AmEx Rewards and advised that anyone holding a Platinum card and registered for Reward Points are eligible for this promotion.

On the Argos site you can save postage if collected, but you have to pay in-store. Does the bonus still appy?

I just called them. This is the story I get.

Background - UK Gold Charge card, not 'tagetted' for this promotion, used Amazon about 3 times and Argos once, haven't seen any points in my latest statement.

Points to note:
- Not way to see an itemised statement of point activities (which is what I wanted)
- When I mentioned this promotion, AMEX didn't mention anything about eligibility. She said I'd see my points anytime from next months to 12 weeks away.
- Points can only be earned from those retailers and must be paid for online.

[This message has been edited by Leumas (edited 07-04-2003).]

How do you guys see that the points have posted so quickly?

On my card the MR points are not posted until the statement has been sent then the payment is taken by direct debit!

pmcg

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pmcg:
How do you guys see that the points have posted so quickly?
</font>

Online; if you have signed up to check transactions on your cards online, there is a link to View Your Points.

It shows a total for the points, not a statement. For the details, you need to wait for your card statement.

My plat card only used to transfer points after payment of the previous month's statement, and my gold c.c. as the statement was printed. The customer 'service' person I spoke to said that every transaction was now applied to the account as it happens; I think this is a recent cgange.

I guess my black card must be different as the points balance has been the same for a while now even though there is a lot of unbilled charges.

Seems that the MR points only add when they have had payment.

pmcg

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pmcg:
Seems that the MR points only add when they have had payment.

pmcg</font>

Well, that's certainly what I thought about my plat card, but the customer 'service' person said otherwise.

And 5,500 of my 9,000 bonus points have posted mid-cycle.

It does seem that you get a different answer each time you contact customer 'service'!

How long do amazon transactions take to post to your acount ? I ordered 20 certificates (which I have received) over 1.5 weeks ago, and no transactions appear yet on my on-line account ?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ozzie:
How long do amazon transactions take to post to your acount ? I ordered 20 certificates (which I have received) over 1.5 weeks ago, and no transactions appear yet on my on-line account ?</font>

Mine posted after my statement closed. I've had more transactions with Amazon since, I expect these to post at the end of the month.

Has anyone had these points post from a corporate green card?

Thanks in advance

GRRRR!

So having spoken to someone from MR on 4 June and being told 'no, this is not a targetted promotion, yes, you will get the points', and gone ahead and bought twenty assorted items from Amazon and HMV (no trivially cheap stuff either - about £200 worth), and spoken AGAIN to someone from MR at the start of the month when nothing showed on my statement (was told that the points would definitely post, in a maximum of eight to twelve weeks), I phoned back today and was told this WAS a targetted promotion, that no Centurion members were targetted, etc.

I'm waiting for a 'phone call tomorrow from someone in MR to clear things up. The way I see it, three things can now happen:

a) they give me the 10,000 MR they owe me;
b) they refund me the £200+ I spent on the basis of the assurance I'd received from their MR people;
c) they say 'sorry, no can do', in which case I'll probably close my account and never say anything nice about American Express again - because if I can't rely on what their customer services tell me, what am I paying through the nose for?

Option a) being preferred, obviously.

Regardless, I also want to know why the putative best American Express customers are being excluded from what is certainly the best MR promotion so far this year.

Well, couple of amazon transactions have gone through a couple of weeks ago. No additional MR points yet. Any suggestions for a UK number to ring and try and get them to honour this promotion?

Thanks

I bought £100 worth of amazon gift certificates two weeks ago, and teh transactions haven't even shown on my account yet (I have received the certificates !!), let alone the points ...

An update on my experience.

1. Ordered one gift voucher from Amazon. Checked my Amex account online to see if the bonus points posted. They posted at the same time as the transaction posted on my account(2-3 days after I bought the vouchers).

2. Went ahead and ordered another 11 vouchers (got fed up with the ordering process before I got to 19). These didn't post on my MR account when the transactions posted on my account.

3. Phoned Amex MR and explained the situation. The agent checked the account and said there was no reason for the bonus points not posting. Promised to get someone to look into it and get the points posted.

4. Got a voicemail message from Amex saying that they've added the bonus miles to my account http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

The person did mention that each purchase has to come via the Amex page.

To be honest I can't remember if I went via the Amex page or not. Seems possible that they've got it set up in a similar way to the Amazon affiliates programme, and perhaps it is true that purchases must be made via the Amex site to be valid.

Nick

PS. I called the MR line on 01273 863 863 - as listed on the Amex website

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Roger:
Well! well! well! Beware ...

Having questioned the lack of bonus posting last week with AX, I was called back. (Yes, it's true! They called back.)

But the news is not good. According to the customer 'service' person today:

1. the offer is targeted;
2. the offer is only available to those who received an e-mail or snail mail from AX;
3. others who click on to that offer page don't qualify, even though there is no restriction once you get to that page;
4. I was not targeted;
5. I am not eligible to get the bonuses;
BUT
6. she will exceptionally credit the transactions I have made to date.

(As I have only made 18 transactions with this offer, I can suffer the 'loss' of the notional last two http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif.)

Well, this raises more questions. For me,
- why wasn't I targeted?
- why do I pay the plat fee having been promised so many special promotions? - the ones I receive are rarely of interest while they didn't select me for this one.

I'm sure they didn't get this right - it doesn't smell of best practice and I can't help thinking that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

But of course, she could be wrong ...</font>

I just wish the customer 'service' people could be consistent in their untruths.

I had previously called to confirm that my plat card and my gold credit card both qualified for the promotion and was told they did.

The MR person I spoke to on 3 July said she would exceptionally credit my account with the transactions I had made up until 3 July - 18 transactions. Of these, she could see 11 and credited 5,500 points immediately. The balance of 3,500 would appear after her return on 14 July.

14 July: no credit (surprise, surprise)

17 July: no credit, called AX MR customer 'service', spoke to somebody else and got a different story: the situation would be reviewed every 14 days. 14 days from 3 July = 17 July, but no credit - the points would appear over the weekend. They didn't.

22 July: still no credit, called and spoke to yet another person who spoke to the 3 July person and relayed her message that I wouldn't get the points she had promised.

Could I speak to her? No, she's very busy. So am I! Can I speak to a supervisor? She is a supervisor. Can I speak to another supervisor? (After a pause) No, they're all busy - they'll call you this afternoon. (They haven't yet.)

Not good enough so I called the plat 'service' line. After a while, he found an MR supervisor who told me that I didn't qualify (de dah de dah) and couldn't explain why the credits for the period from 25 June to 3 July had not yet reached my MR account but that they would exceptionally be credited - they may take another 2-3 weeks, which could be 6-7 weeks from the transactions.

I'm going into the detail:
(1) as a warning to anybody contemplating whether to take advantage of the offer;
(2) as an indication to any AX lurker that their customer 'service' sucks, just in case they didn't already know.

They pretend there is some kind of elite status with a plat card, which most of us know is bollocks. I just resent paying £275 for the nonsense I have to put up with.

If they could keep a promise, it might not be so bad ...

Mine credited within an hour of speakign to someone in the MR department.

Sounds like some of you are having huge issues, you could always try calling the Executive Office and venting your concerns with the Platinum product _ I know I cetainly did when I had a Platinum card.

01273-576151

Thanks,
Richard

Thanks, Richard - very helpful (as ever http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif).

Just for info, my statement closed today and my final 5500 bonus points were posted to my account.

None of the transactions were done through the Amex click-through, they were all direct with Amazon.

Hope you all get your problems sorted out!

Sorry to be so slow but it's just occurred to me that some of you can see these points show up on line. all i get is a balance and no transactions when i look on Amex.co.uk. is this what you're looking at too or is it something else?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by horowitz:
Thanks Richard - just called Centurion who were completely flummoxed by this</font>

No surprises there, ANY call to ask for anything beyond your balance - and even this results in the suggestion that you should look online instead - is greeted with the same response.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RichardMannion:
Mine credited within an hour of speakign to someone in the MR department.

..you could always try calling the Executive Office and venting your concerns with the Platinum product _ I know I cetainly did when I had a Platinum card.

01273-576151

Thanks,
Richard</font>

Richard: can you share any more about your experience when you did?

Same here Seachain. Going to membership rewards I just get a single number based on the points balance on my last statement. On my unbilled charges screen, all I can see is the costs, no info on membership reward points.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by virtualtroy:
Richard: can you share any more about your experience when you did?

</font>

Yes - phoned Centurion, put thru to MR team. They said promo was targetted, I then told them:

a) Public link, and no mention of it being targetted in the T&C's
b) Regardless, any offer available to other AmEx cards is avaialble to Centurion Card holders.

MR Rep tootles off to speak to his manager and asks if he can call me back within an hour. Sure thing he does, and tells me that the points have been credited - they had.

Thanks,
Richard

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Seachain:
Sorry to be so slow but it's just occurred to me that some of you can see these points show up on line. all i get is a balance and no transactions when i look on Amex.co.uk. is this what you're looking at too or is it something else?</font>

It's only a balance that shows up in the membership rewards area. I hardly use that particular Amex card so it's not hard to work out that the approx 5500 point leap is because of all the bonuses posting!

Thanks for the heads-up on this. I just ordered 20 gift certificates at Amazon, where I had to buy something anyway. Hopefully the points will post!

I STILL haven't even seen the charges on my account from ordering 20 certificates over a month ago !! Maybe I won;t have to pay for them at all :-)

None of my points posted for this promotion, but a quick call to Membership rewards, mentioning the 'DoubleClick' promotion, was all that it took to get someone to enter the points manually on my account.

I've got my doubts about whether they'll actually show up or not, but at least there wasn't an argument about being entitled to them.

Also, it looks like they've pulled the promo page from the website. If anyone needs a copy, I have it saved as a PDF and am happy to send it along. Just send me an e-mail (address in profile).

Just spoke with MR this morning about no extra points for my transactions and have been told categorically that Centurion are not eligible for this offer. Eventually spoke to supervisor and she has confirmed this was the directive given by the marketing department, what can I do about this !!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gbremner:
Just spoke with MR this morning about no extra points for my transactions and have been told categorically that Centurion are not eligible for this offer. Eventually spoke to supervisor and she has confirmed this was the directive given by the marketing department, what can I do about this !!!</font>

You will get them credited - they said the same to me but if you insist they have to credit them - they really don't have a leg to stand on. I spoke with a very helpful woman called Anita at MR (01273576622). All points are now credited.

Ok so spoke to amex again today and they are adamant, as I received no email about this promotion I am not eligible. Apparently this site was only meant for those who received the email and as a Centurion card holder not meant to have accessed this site.

I told them that I received the URL from a colleague and decided to take up on this as their was no mention of exclusions in the terms and conditions. However it appears that they are not willing to budge on this and I'm now rather frustrated by the way this has been handled.

The fact there is nothing about this in the terms and conditions limiting this offer and the fact that you could reach this site via google is purely coincidental. I for one find this behaviour dishonest and unfair, if there had been limitations in the T&C's fair enough, but there was not.

Anyone have any thoughts on this, I have always enjoyed my service from Amex, however as a matter of principle am seriously considering the card over this situation.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gbremner:
Ok so spoke to amex again today and they are adamant, as I received no email about this promotion I am not eligible. Apparently this site was only meant for those who received the email and as a Centurion card holder not meant to have accessed this site.
</font>

This is a definite change in attitude. I was in a similar situation to you (Centurion card holder, received the email from a colleague), and I got the points onto my account in the end. I believe at least one other person (stand up Mr. Mannion) did so as well, although I had a bit more grief than he did.

Membership Rewards staff were obviously not well informed about this offer initially - if you read back in the thread you'll find that the one I spoke to originally (that I asked whether the offer was specially targeted) told me that I would definitely get the points, as did another agent that I spoke to later.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MatthewClement:
Also, it looks like they've pulled the promo page from the website. If anyone needs a copy, I have it saved as a PDF and am happy to send it along. Just send me an e-mail (address in profile).</font>

Smart move http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif.

I thought they might pull the page so I printed out a copy...just in case. The points have not posted yet so it may come in handy yet!

Just called Amex PCS to tell them that my points have not yet posted. They asked me how I heard about this offer:

"Can't remember, email or mailing or something"

"This promotion was only available to targeted cardmembers"

"That's not what it says on the promotion page which I've got printed out in from of me"

"What page is that?"

http://home3.americanexpress.co.uk/uk/doubleclick/index.html

...but I think that's been shut down

"Well, it was meant to be targeted"

"...but it clearly isn't"

"I'll have to get someone to call you back. In the meantime I'll put a note in your file."

...preparing myself for battle http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LondonElite:
"I'll have to get someone to call you back. In the meantime I'll put a note in your file."

...preparing myself for battle http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif</font>

Ah, yes, the 'we'll call you back' standard response.

I've had several of those, and, to be fair (what, with AmEx??), on one occasion somebody actually did call. Normally they don't; you'll call them again, speak to somebody else and get a different response.

Anyway, FWIW, it seems 14 of my 18 transactions have reached MR and been added to the total. So just 2,000 points missing.

They tell me that it can take up to two months (shock! horror!) for transactions to reach MR. No, I don't believe it, of course, but it seems there is still some hope for the remaining June trsnactions to be posted within the next month.

We'll see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif.

I've just spoken to MR too, as my points haven't posted. I received the leaflet through the post several months back. The lady I spoke with had to check through three different spreadsheets and then told me my cardnumber wasn't in there.

She said that she'd need to email the marketing department in London to confirm that I was targetted and she couldn't add the points until then. I've given her my email address and phone number and await a response. Additionally, i was told that if I could fax the leaflet through she'd be able to credit the points straight away. I threw it out months ago, thinking that this wouldn't be a problem.

I could hear in the guys voice that he had been through a few of these discussions before.

My feeling is that they will pony up the points for those that complain and chalk the whole thing up to the cost of learning an e-commerce lesson the hard way.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LondonElite:
I could hear in the guys voice that he had been through a few of these discussions before.

My feeling is that they will pony up the points for those that complain and chalk the whole thing up to the cost of learning an e-commerce lesson the hard way.</font>

My feeling exactly. I got 1500 MR in June using Amazon 5GBP email vouchers .. once I saw they posted I put through another 13 in July, almost immediately there was a 'glitch' with the orders being processed and guess what .. no more points.

Oh well 1590 odd points for 90GBP is not too bad I suppose.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TonySymons:
Oh well 1590 odd points for 90GBP is not too bad I suppose.

</font>

Why not call them...

Can people let me know how they get on, cause I have hit a brick wall and very frustrated. This is a very misleading offer on a public website (Trading Standards!)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gbremner:
Can people let me know how they get on, cause I have hit a brick wall and very frustrated. This is a very misleading offer on a public website (Trading Standards!)</font>

You must insist - they really don't have a leg to stand on. All my points have posted now but I had to moan and moan in order to make it happen, firstly with Centurion, then with Membership Rewards itself. I don't see how they can refuse if you have a screenshot saved. Particularly if you're a Centurion cardholder. If necessary call and speak to Paul Lambert, or even the executive offices, and demand an explanation.

...still waiting for the promised "we'll call you back"...

Hi guys, sorry I got back froma 2 week vacation this morning and did not take my laptop.

Right, the MR department would struggle to tell you what day of the week it is. Centurion Cardholders are entitled to any offer that is available to any of the other suite of AmEx cards, for those who remember - yes, even the 4:1 VS and 2:1 everything else thingy!

I have had my points credited ages ago for these transactions.

Call MR, and hassle the managers their and get them to work with the Centurion Team.

Thanks,
Richard

I got tired of waiting for my call back, eventually got through to someone at MR, who said that they had "resolved the situation in my favour". The lady promises that she will call me back tomorrow to credit my points. Hopefully it's sorted, but I'm not impressed with their customer service.

I'm very sorry to read that many of you have experienced problems. mine got through (20 x amazon £5 vouchers) without a hitch or any intervention. my point is not to gloat, but to highlight that somehow, somewhere the amex system is picking up some transactions as being okay and others as suspect, and this is worrying and i cant determine the rhyme nor reason, (if that's the right expression).

keep complaining, is my advice, and don't let up.

i should also record my grateful thanks to the post on the thread that first alerted me to this 'offer'... brilliant opportunity and i've been extremely grateful for it, so thanks!

I've now put in a second call.

Someone called back to say sorry, we'll check it and get back to this afternoon, we promise.

It's now 8pm and no call.

AX really do p!ss me off sometimes.

Clearing out my desk, I've found the original mailshot leaflet. If anyone wants a scanned copy, let me know and I'll put on the web somewhere.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GRM:
Clearing out my desk, I've found the original mailshot leaflet. If anyone wants a scanned copy, let me know and I'll put on the web somewhere.</font>

Yeah, that would be great, if only to tell Amex what I read.

Thanks

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LondonElite:
Yeah, that would be great, if only to tell Amex what I read.</font>

www.mason.sh/amex.jpg (http://www.mason.sh/amex.jpg)

Cheers mate http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

Update:

American Express have not credited my points. When I called to confirm why, they informed me that I was not entitled to the points because I was not targetted. After confirming with their administration department that the terms and conditions of the offer did not mention anything about being targetted, they maintained that 'they were still within their rights' to refuse to honour the promotion.

I'm pretty pi$$ed off, actually. I wonder what legal recourse I have here, because I'm prepared to pursue this as a matter of principle.

Sadly, while I'd love to cancel my card in disgust, there is no UK alternative that enables me to earn Starwood points, is there?

Did you ask to speak to a manager?

I'm going to chase this again today.

just had it confirmed that 3,500 points will be added, rather than 10,000 since some charges didn't post until 1 Aug...

I wonder if you would be good enough to pass along the name of the person you spoke to and what you told them?

I've had no joy with the contacts I've made.

I honestly don't know their name. As per the above post, I told them that my points hadn't posted...they promised a call back. That call never happened so I called again. Same promimse and someone called back this afternoon, told me her name, and confirmed that 3,500 points will be added.

I would call back, speak to a manager, and insist that no mention was made of targeting.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MatthewClement:
Update:

American Express have not credited my points. When I called to confirm why, they informed me that I was not entitled to the points because I was not targetted. After confirming with their administration department that the terms and conditions of the offer did not mention anything about being targetted, they maintained that 'they were still within their rights' to refuse to honour the promotion.

I'm pretty pi$$ed off, actually. I wonder what legal recourse I have here, because I'm prepared to pursue this as a matter of principle.

Sadly, while I'd love to cancel my card in disgust, there is no UK alternative that enables me to earn Starwood points, is there?</font>


I'd quess the number of people affected by this is in the tens .. I'd think Amex would be best sorting the mess out now before it gets out of hand.

For me I'm prepared to cancel all involvement with Amex cause others are offering better benefits for less right now in the UK. I've spent too much time on the phone telling the poor C/S rep how crap the product is in the last year to bother with this over hyped carp.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TonySymons:
For me I'm prepared to cancel all involvement with Amex cause others are offering better benefits for less right now in the UK. I've spent too much time on the phone telling the poor C/S rep how crap the product is in the last year to bother with this over hyped carp.</font>

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LondonElite:
I honestly don't know their name. As per the above post, I told them that my points hadn't posted...they promised a call back. That call never happened so I called again. Same promimse and someone called back this afternoon, told me her name, and confirmed that 3,500 points will be added.

I would call back, speak to a manager, and insist that no mention was made of targeting.</font>

After two more calls and inpout from a manager, I finally managed to get the missing 6,500 points. What a hassle.

I'm stunned that they eventually paid up for some folks.

After being told I would be credited the points and then on follow up told I was not entitled and that a decision had been taken not to credit the points, I cut up my (corporate) card. Never regretted it once.

Guess I have a low tolerance to being misled by service companies.