The promo was posted on a number of blogs. Depending on their readership there could be a number of non FTers who registered.
Sure, and most of those bloggers credit FT and most of that readership lurks here as well, even if they don't post. It is how we found FT a few years back...
If you add in the friends and family due to FTer's quick workings, in this case it might be one or two short of all accounts.
I got an email about this that was CC'd to many people, and it wasn't a bunch of FTers from what I could tell -- not that I would be able to recognize it. I forwarded it on to about twenty people myself and got questions back from at least some about whether they should transfer their hotel points to do this. None of them have a clue about FT.
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Like TSA, DL SkyMiles management treats airline customers as if they are the enemy or sheep to be fleeced and it shows.
I got an email about this that was CC'd to many people, and it wasn't a bunch of FTers from what I could tell -- not that I would be able to recognize it. I forwarded it on to about twenty people myself and got questions back from at least some about whether they should transfer their hotel points to do this. None of them have a clue about FT.
Redacting the "all" comment, but reinforcing the idea that FT is the grease on the wheel...as well as the information desk.
Programs: UA 2MM, DL 500k, CC Gold, HH Gold, Miracle Fruit-su Club, GP 1M
Posts: 7,868
Quote:
Originally Posted by ADLFO
I don't have an aluminum hat on, but what if this is a bit more nefarious than just a mistake? Now I'm not casting any doubt on the OP. However, what if DL wanted to run a test to see how many people would sign up for a "mistake promotion" that was "accidently" released on FT? What if they wanted to know the names and SM numbers of those who would sign up? Just sayin'.
I wouldn't go this far, although I love this kind of stuff. But again, in the context of the rental car promos being pulled or altered without notice within the same few days as this, I don't believe for a minute that it's a technical gremlin.
Now, giving further benefit of the doubt... These moves, in concert, are uncharacteristic of DL -- love DL or not. They're as shabby as Carlsen, and as bush as Amtrak (last year's too-good-to-be-true debacle involving CO, Choice and Southwest). How about this scenario:
Yield management hands up their early 2009 numbers, and a Power That Be calls promotions and says,
"Pull 'em. Now."
"But..."
"I said now. Damn the torpedoes."
I'll happily take my crow sauteed in lots of garlic if this one really was a technical glitch, and I'm proved wrong later this morning.
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Try to look at the overall picture ...
I've little doubt that it was a technical problem, likely software QA -- either it wasn't set up to guard against improper registrations or the requirements weren't clearly spelled out. This is not the kind of situation that any middle or upper manager would deliberately get into, especially not on top of the Coach Choice reversal & the 3-tier debate. Like CO & Plat for $90, they're finding out what happens when thousands of people find their way into your web site on a pathway that includes an enticing promo with an excessive reward.
Now they have to figure out what to do for Act II.
I've little doubt that it was a technical problem, likely software QA -- either it wasn't set up to guard against improper registrations or the requirements weren't clearly spelled out. This is not the kind of situation that any middle or upper manager would deliberately get into, especially not on top of the Coach Choice reversal & the 3-tier debate. Like CO & Plat for $90, they're finding out what happens when thousands of people find their way into your web site on a pathway that includes an enticing promo with an excessive reward.
Now they have to figure out what to do for Act II.
I would have agreed but software quality assurance doesn't normally come up with the text of the promotion (which didn't mention anything about it being targeted) or decide to build a site/page and who should have access to it (or not have access to it).
Management can fail by its acts and it can fail by its omissions (i.e., failure to act). I am pretty certain that this isn't a matter of acts by management it's a matter of management failings by way of omission. Management is responsible for directing and supplying the content of these promotions and making sure that the web development team know who is and is not to get access and when.
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Like TSA, DL SkyMiles management treats airline customers as if they are the enemy or sheep to be fleeced and it shows.
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fellas, let's chill for a while. let's give them at least one or two working days to come up with a fix and an answer.
while we have conflicting reports about whether the promo was supposed to be targeted or not, we have phone call after phone call with CSRs saying the promo was still on, so those of you who were worried about your SPG points, I feel for you, I hope you managed to reverse your transactions, but let's slow down.
The "campaign not active" message is a default message that displays online even when you try to register for an expired survey.
i think we're getting off track with firing people, provocating some elusive "delta apologists", declaring this promo for dead, speculating about elaborate shemes by Delta to take the pulse of the SM members etc... . it's a large organization and little gets done on a weekend. i'm not saying that's right, but that's the way it is. let's see where Delta goes with this before we tear each other apart...
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Our buddy Rick over at the FrugalGuy blog today shows a copy of an email response he received that says "transferring points from yourS tarwood account to your SkyMiles account would not qualify as eligible activity. You may earn a 50%, 100%, or 150% bonus on miles earned by qualifying non-airline partner activity." So lets just see what happens after the smoke clears.
Wow, I go away from my computer for a couple of days and look what happens. On Friday I transferred 30K DL miles to my wife's DL account and she did the same. I also transferred 20K SPG points for the 25K DL miles. All of the above actions have been completed and show up in our respective DL accounts. We had each signed up on the first day of registration for the promo. Had I been online I would have anguished with everyone about the situation but, being away, I now feel like my wife and I are still in pretty good shape. We have the T&C including "Starwood" and "Transfer Miles" explicitly stated, we completed everything before the promo site went down and we have the confirmation of registration. Admittedly, DL could probably void the whole process but that seems less likely given all the info FTers are getting from their calls to DL CSRs. (The post immediately above this one aside.) However, I AM delighted that I did not follow my first impulse to do SEVERAL maximum transfers of miles since even if all goes badly our "loss" will not be intolerable. Seems reasonable to just wait and see what happens in the next couple of days from DL's end. May just be a tempest in a teapot.
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The transferred Starpoints arrived in my DL account early this morning, complete with Starwood's 25% bonus. I'm not expecting the 150% bonus to be posted for several weeks, if ever.
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I just called SM service and the woman was very nice and did a ton of research, but told me that the T&C that she currently sees does not indicate that transferring miles is a qualifying activity. I'm emailing Delta, with a copy of the original T&C.
Mike
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I don't have an aluminum hat on, but what if this is a bit more nefarious than just a mistake? Now I'm not casting any doubt on the OP. However, what if DL wanted to run a test to see how many people would sign up for a "mistake promotion" that was "accidently" released on FT? What if they wanted to know the names and SM numbers of those who would sign up? Just sayin'.
Is DL REALLY that smart
If I had a chance to look at this before it became available and had agreed to comment on it to DL, I would certainly have told DL "Did you really want to allow SM members to 'Convert' point to miles and are you really sure that you understand the ramifications of this? I still think that someone with real smarts did not give it enough though before it became www.delta.com/maxmiles. Perhaps they set up the link, not intending for it to be public until they geve it final scrutiny, and IT just screwed up and it became viewable. But I would like to know then how the OP 'found' the link.
Perhaps they set up the link, not intending for it to be public until they geve it final scrutiny, and IT just screwed up and it became viewable. But I would like to know then how the OP 'found' the link.
I don't think it was a test link. Someone meantioned they got emailed about this promo and got a confirmation after they signed up for it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulcan
...But I would like to know then how the OP 'found' the link.
Asked and answered earlier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by andymo99
...As for my sourcing, I called DL just yesterday to inquire about missing MQMs from an April flight (!). I had a friendly conversation with the helpful agent. I don't remember how it came up, but she volunteered info on this promo to me...
