Hmmm, now let's break this down, shall we:

ordered an $8 cable that they otherwise didn't want
Ok, well, if doing so brought your mileage account to some award level or it enabled you to make a spend requirement and get something out of it, then why is that wrong? If anything it should be GREAT for the stores, right?

didn't need, and couldn't use
As above, they may not even care. They just got it to get the miles. Again, why is THAT wrong? And btw how do YOU know they did not need it or could not use it? But even if they could not use it, why is it wrong to JUST do something for the miles?

Let's take this off, but FT name-related example, shall we? I once ran a 8 mile road race. I had NO plans on testing out my time, as in how fast I was running a mile, etc, and no plans to win or even place. I did it for enjoyment, but I also joked that I did for the free beer and ice cream they give at the end of such road races in the summer. I had entered, got a runner's bib and started the job just like everyone else. I got to the end, met friends, stretched and did drink a beer and have free ice cream. Now, because my intent was to NOT 'race' against anyone, am I somehow disqualified? And who knew this other than me and now you? I did, after all, complete the run, did I not? I suppose had they actually run out of the eats by the time I finished I would not get anything, but these small road races are a lot different than company promotions that promise monetary or mile-valued offerings for purchasing goods online. My entering and running the race and then completing it is in fact just like completing online sale and paying with a CC for ANY personal reason, right? Right.

expecting to get $1500+ worth of AA miles because of what an obvious typo said

Yup! It said buy this get that, we read the T&Cs and we did everything they asked. now they change it and fail to both deliver or answer with any clarity anything about the issue. We are supposed to what, just take it?

How about this: I shall go to one of the finest colleges in the land, study hard and ace all things related to both the English language and web design. Then I shall complete grad school and even later obtain my PhD. I will then be hired by one of the country's top paying most respected law firms and when I see this 'typo' you speak of on the Cartera website, I shall craft a letter to the CEO before any other customer happens to buy from the ad with the typo in it, and using my vast cache of knowledge and known expertise, I shall point out that they may wish to change that. They will thank me--all before any other customer sees it and buys from the ad, and I shall send them a bill for my services... how about $20,000?

Or, they could have just paid the web dude a couple bucks more an hour to like, check that sh*t before FTPing the XML code. And his manager could have proofread it first too, eh? Probably could have saved a few bucks had they done that. Or they could field hundreds of calls from frustrated customers about the issue and hired a legal team to cushion the blow (their top guy now works at Cartera as we read above, and I already knew that too) and pay them even more money!

And in your example, the $8 cable yielding 1,500 miles is NOT outlandish or obvious at all! not only have there been many high-yield mileage offerings per $1 spent, but also, there is no real way to properly gauge for every single person and every mind set what is 'obvious' or 'normal' now is there? Who are you or anyone to say there is?

We can go on about this but the fact remains that in the opinions of many it all comes down to the company needing to do a much better job at designing and vetting their own offers. Then they need to double check what they put out into the public domain and at the very least, they need to be extra willing to field all calls and concerns about errors or issues that may result from their own website ads. If they are not, I feel they are screwing people and so yes, to answer the final one:

and now feel that they are the victims.
Absolutely. You should too. If you do not, you are being foolish and letting them get away with a lot and that will one day affect you too. I hope it does not.

Look mang, Cartera effed up. You know it as well as the rest of us. It's a freakin' joke. All they are doing now is spinning the wheels and delaying things even more because--get this--so many of us have filed complaints against their OBVIOUS blunders that WE are what is slowing them down from posting the freakin' miles we originally complained about! Point is, you should be with us, trying to stop this mess. Don't fight it. Help fix it. Don't fight us. And just don't 'go there' with me.