TheDapperDon

It depends on the company and the demographics of their customers.

fwoomp

(First new thread I've started, please be gentle. I did look for duplicates but couldn't find anything.)

So, I'm a T-Mobile customer (U.S.) and decided to upgrade to an iPhone 5. Even if T-mo still had "contracts," I was extremely far past the end date of my old one, which means that I'm buying an iPhone on an installment plan. For various reasons, I went to my local T-Mobile store to arrange this. I paid these costs with my Ink Bold (down payment on new phone, plus some extra beyond the $100 required, plus first month's service).

Imagine my surprise when I got my statement and didn't get the 5x telecom bonus for any of this. (The monthly bill earns bonus points just fine.)

I sent a secure message and inquired about why I didn't earn bonus points--the response I got is that the store does not have the right classification for the bonus. Now, first of all, what else would I be buying at a mobile phone store besides telecom equipment, and secondly, had I not paid a higher down payment on the phone, I'd at least be earning points now as it gets rolled into my monthly bill. (I'm also glad I didn't plunk down the full cost.)

1. Has anyone else run into this problem?
2. If you have, how did you get it resolved? Is calling better?

Many thanks.

wcj

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...-5-points.html

Here you go.

jjmiller69

I just upgraded my AT&T iphone5 the end of June. I did get the 5X but it was billed as normal AT&T service so coding does help. See if can get T-Moble to change the coding at least for future payments?

fwoomp

Aha--didn't try a search with the names of other carriers. Thanks!

I do find the posts saying equipment doesn't count interesting. So often that stuff is just rolled into regular bills, they're giving points for it whether that's their intention or not (modems for Internet service, various bits of cable equipment, etc.). Also, I didn't find anything to that effect in my agreement, but it may be in some update.

fwoomp

I have autopay set up to bill to that card, and that seems to be working OK. Probably some combination of 1) not being billed from a store and 2) just lumped together with "service," not a separate bill for equipment.

jjmiller69

I have autopay also and it just came with the normal bill so that helped. Sounds like the rest is working out all right. ^

mia

A previous thread on this topic has been merged into the one started by fwoomp.

Chase doesn't care what you buy. They offer a bonus in this category because it is likely that you will setup the card to be billed automatically, and the hassle of updating recurring charges increases the probability that you will keep their card.

gujuraja

I bought a phone at sprint store and i was able to get 5x points on my ink bold. I think you have to make sure it's original sprint store.

wise2u

boughta cellphone at a metropcs store it didn't code as telephone even though telephone was in the name of the store. I noticed I didn't get the bonus and CALLED. phone rep was able to manually correct it as a curtousy and didn't mention anything about equipment was not eligible. 2 months later I went back to same store and bought a phone for my wife, once again I waited for the statement and CALLED and told them they overlooked my phone purchase because the store was not coded right, and once again they credited the bonus manually for me. I like Ink phone customer service, you get a real person right off the bat, they are usually helpful, and lastly they are real Americans......none of this outsourced call center crap you hear so often today.

jalm1

Curious to know if people have been successful with this? i have two new phones (upgrades on the same carrier) to buy in the next month or so and looking for my best shot at getting the 5x.

TOMFORD

I remember reading on here somewhere that if you buy the phone online through your service provider page, while logged into your account, it gets charged as a service?

mintcilantro

wish I had read this thread before buying iphone 5s from t-mobile. I started the purchase on internet and finished it on the phone. I didn't get the 5x bonus. I was counting on those points to make a couple of hyatt bookings before the devaluations set in.

I'll try sending a SM but it doesn't seem like it's going to help

XP1

Would charging a $700-$800 phone from AT&T website to Chase Ink earn 5%?

mia

Please research this question in the Chase forum. I would start with this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...old-bonus.html