Montreal, sorry to hear of this circumstance, but it appears that this is primarily an issue with the restaurant you dined at, and not with Rewards Network (RN).

Regardless of what your signed receipt says, if your card was only billed for $24.99, then the dine doesn't qualify. And in RN's T&C, it states: In no event will Rewards Network be liable for any damage caused by any act or omission of a Participating Merchant, Third Party Provider or an Other Program Operator. If anything, you should take this up with the restaurant which improperly billed your card and prevented you from receiving the bonus miles.

A couple rules I follow to avoid issues like these:
- Always complete bonuses several days before the end of the bonus period, to ensure dines are properly posted to the credit card before the end of the bonus period.
- Always spend at least $1 over any minimum requirement.

I know RN can be a pain to deal with at times, and RN isn't perfect, but what company is? Could RN have given you the miles or some miles as a "goodwill" gesture, sure. But you can't always count on that happening.