dldkjones

I have a US Air Mastercard issued by Barclays Bank last year and received a letter this past week describing my renewal benefits which did not mention the 10,000 anniversary bonus miles disclosed to me at the time I applied. Upon calling customer service, both the agent and the supervisor refused that the offer was valid for my account despite what is clear and unequivocal disclosure issued by Barclays. They both try to send me back to US Air for the matter and then tell me that I must spend 10,000 in the year to get it (the disclosure mentions nothing about spending threshold). Supervisor insists there is no one else in all of Barclays Bank who can actually address the issue which I have. Barclays is totally unconcerned that they have falsely represented the account features to me. Any suggestions, anyone? Has anyone else run into this?

Mykle

What documentation do you have about this 10K anniversary offer? I haven't ever heard of an offer where you get 10k miles at each anniversary. If you spend $25k in a year on the card, you'll get 10k miles for that.

ArizonaGuy

For a brief period the sign-up did include a 10K anniversary bonus. Would be very useful if someone has printed evidence of that offer because I saw it. I know it was discussed in a thread here as that's how I learned of it. I never participated because my account is significantly older (and thus only the 10K Preferred conversion is what I have).

kudzu

Forward any documentation/screenshots you have with a concise complaint letter to your State Attorney-General's Office. That's what I did regarding a complaint with another credit card which did not make good on its online offer. Barclays will respond in writing to the Atty-Gen's office.

One example of the 10k anniversary bonus offer still floating around is here.

beltway

It wasn't brief at all. I signed up for it a year ago, and have the paper T&C booklet (came with card) spelling out the benefit in very explicit terms. And that same offer is still good today:

Yep. From the T&C on that offer:
OP, I think you have a number of options:

• Write to Barclays corporate, enclosing a copy of the letter (which I also got this week, BTW) and a copy of your printed T&C, seeking assurance that they will honor the promise. Cancel if you receive no timely assurance.
• Pay the annual fee & then wait one more billing cycle for the miles to post (which they may). If Barclays fails to post them, you're stuck having to initiate arbitration.
• Do what I did earlier today: apply for a second card. (If they ask why you want a second one, "keeping personal and business expenses separate" is an answer they like.) Instead of $89 for 10,000 miles, you'll pay $0 for 40,000 miles. Cancel card #1 before fee deadline, and enjoy another year of benefits.

There's extensive discussion of this last approach -- used successfully by many (but not all) who try it -- in the latter pages of http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...5k-benies.html.

lkar

Barclays repeatedly seems to have no idea of this 10k bonus, even though they are clearly offering it. I tried to get them to upgrade my current card, which I use, to get the 10k bonus. They had no idea what I was talking about and eventually told me to apply again. I did, and, as beltway notes, got a second card with 45k and no fee, and now I will cancel my original card. I have little doubt, though, that when the year comes around I won't get the 10k bonus, because Barclays seems to have no idea they are offering it. I have a screenshot, but my experience with Barclays is it's about as rewarding as banging your head against a wall to try to deal with them on anything. From their customer service to their web site, they are rinky dink compared to real issuers like Chase and Amex. My guess is that US credit card business is something they just dabble in, and so don't exactly throw the rocket scientists to that division.

Nikolaos

Good luck with that!! I hope you pursuit it and let us know how it goes!!

From my experience with Barclay's, i wouldn't expect much!! I signed up for the Premier MC with 40.000 miles and only got 25K! I did the application over the phone, so no screenshot! BIG mistake!!

In terms of matters like this, there is nothing like Chase customer service..

Beltway, as always, has given you great advice!! +1

PaceLaw2012

This is getting me concerned about when my 1-year anniversary comes up in 2013. I too have the welcome materials which clearly state the 10k anniversary bonus when you pay the annual fee. I guess if it doesn't go through, i'll just cancel the card; I don't have the patience to play these BS games.

lkar

On thing that is interesting is whether they are offering the 10k, or mentioning it, during the in-flight pitch to sign up for the credit card. I usually tune that shpeil out, but I'll listen next time and maybe even grab the brochure. If they are offering it on those flights, one would think they would be familiar with it.

romadaro

Actually, my wife got the renewal letter last month that didn't mention the bonus so she called Barclay's to cancel her card and the agent told her that her account was coded as one that would receive the bonus, but obviously her account would have to be open and in good standing. To confirm before she paid the fee, she then called the DM Service Center and they had no record of the promotion and referred her back to Barclay's. So, she decided to go out on a limb and pay the fee and hope for the best. Lo and behold, the 10,000 miles hit her account this month! Now, I've received the letter and called Barclay's to verify that my account also had the promo code on it to receive the bonus and the agent I got said she didn't know anything about the promo or the code or where to look for it! Frustrated, I've decided to just pay it and wait and see. Now watch me not get it!! To be continued.....

apeortdz

I wish Barclays CS agents would all be familiar with the codes. My wife's card is coded with a "spend $50K to convert 20K preferred miles" (which can be very difficult some years) and mine is coded with a "spend $25K to convert 10K preferred miles." But the agents never seem to know anything about this.

dldkjones

Well said and couldn't agree more.

I may try applying again for the same card and see what happens as others have done. Good idea. Nor sure why I want to continue to deal with these incompetent jerks though. The supervisor went so far as to deny that Barclays even sent the letter to me about the account renewal and that it was instead sent to me by US Air, as if I am a credit card customer of, and the credit card is issued by, US Air. Letter clearly reveals that it was from Barclays.

hitherandyon

In the tiny small print at the bottom of the promotion it says:
Offer subject to credit approval. Benefits will vary depending upon the card for which you are approved. Not everyone will qualify for the Premier World MasterCard. In order to be approved for a Premier World MasterCard and all of the benefits featured here you must meet the credit and income criteria previously established for this offer. If you do not qualify, we will automatically consider you for a Platinum card which offers fewer benefits. See Terms and Conditions for information about the account terms and benefits that will apply if you are not approved for a Premier World MasterCard. This offer is available to new Cardmembers only.

Do you have a Premier World card or the Platinum? Maybe that's the problem?

lkar

Ha. That actually goes both ways. The first year I got my $99 companion cert from Barclays and used it to book a flight, they added $50 to the ticket for booking over the phone. They had never notified me that it would be added or noted that the only way to book was over the phone. After back and forth with USAirways, they ultimately told me to pound sand, supposedly because there was a recording that said phone booking could get charged a fee.

I asked to escalate, and eventually they told me they wouldn't accept further correspondence on the issue and that I needed to make a complaint to Barclays because it issued the certificate. Between the two of them, it was dumb and dumberer.

dldkjones

[QUOTE=hitherandyon;18140231]
Do you have a Premier World card or the Platinum? Maybe that's the problem?
/QUOTE]

It's the Platinum $49 annual fee that I have but this benefit is the same and was the only reason I kept the card, as $49 for 10,000 miles is a very good deal. When I applied last year for the Premier World card I was given the Platinum card instead.