Not true at all. It is a very normal thing these days to offer a VGC as a rebate or "extra" on a purchase. Cell phone companies, car dealerships, it's all over the place. Hell, even Amex offers a gift card incentive for buying a giftcard from their own website. "I noticed other people do it for their customers, and thought I would try it too." Chill and don't scare yourself (or other people), there are plenty of legit reasons for purchasing VGCs. To the cc companies, it is just another purchase they make a fee on, and they want you to use their card.

I am pretty sure my business is legit because there are other more established businesses selling similar merchandise as I do. My merchandise are physical and they have nothing to do with gift cards but I won't disclose what they are. AMEX has no problem so far paying me the MR points, but I only put around $20K on that card per month.

I did set up the business with BoA and got $30K+ CL on their business travel rewards credit card but I use it up in a couple of days. They refused to give me more CL so I was cycling on the Premium Rewards CC. All my selling proceeds go to my BoA Business checking account via ACH (and I suspect this could be a problem).

What is not true?? The $100 GC some companies throwing at you is very different from the $200,000/month GCs some people are buying these days. Also you statement has nothing to do with the BA shutdown we are talking about.

Cycling the CL is clearly the prob. Bank deposit could be a factor, but it can be still legit. If you buy bulks of DVD and deposit your sales $ into BA, there is nothing wrong. But with they way you set up the business, BA clearly sees this is MS cycling activities to get reward $$.

One more thing, banks normally care more about their own returns. BA may care less about Alaska or Amtrak miles. But it does not want to lose a lot of $$ with the 2.625% CB on huge spending each month.

They let you back here, MM?! Welcome back! You were one of my original heroes before I got asked to quit posting here.

I always say if you're not getting shut down, you're not doing it right!

4.5X cycling will almost always get you shut down. Even constant 2X can be dangerous.

The BoA Premium Rewards card is also a personal card right? Not business. Might have contributed also.

Update, points posted to my account and SO's account, clearly visible in online banking but not redeemable. In total points worth ~$12K. We are unable to redeem the points as cash back. We called customer service and they just told us points are forfeited and they won't redeem the points for us.

We are going to report BoA to CFPB. But it looks like BoA does not pay anything for such incidents.

We'll probably join some class action lawsuits against BoA. I don't think we have the resources to sue BoA alone.

check this to gain some insights on what you're getting into.

take note of this: "Class-actions can bring about change too by giving individuals a powerful, collective voice. While technically not a class-action, when 46 state attorney generals took on big tobacco on behalf of their states (see 5 Biggest Class Action Settlements or Verdicts Ever), they did more than win $206,000,000,000, they exposed the misleading advertisements of tobacco companies and forced them to change their marketing practices.On the other hand, the financial gains from successful class-actions disproportionately favor lawyers over clients while producing no meaningful results for consumers. In a preposterous case, consumers sued Red Bull for false advertising because the drink did not ‘give them wings’ as the advertisement promised. When the case settled, the attorneys received $4,750,000 and the consumer received a four pack of Red Bull."

$12K is a lot of rewards to lose, you may have to file an individual case, instead of just getting "crumbs" in a class action suit. Check Alex at his website bachuwalawdotcom. Keep us posted if you decide to file a case against the bank.

The only winners are the banks and the lawyers. Might as well do a CFPB but it won't do anything for you individually other than get someone from an "executive" group to contact you. B2rclays was the worst. They canned me a day before bonus miles were going to post. I asked them to honor the bonus miles and they told me if there was a good option they would see what they could do. I think I lined up 4 doable options for them and they then stood back and said that hey couldn't do any of them do to audit. Give me a break.

Good luck with boa, I had the same issue and they forfeited my points. If you have anything else with them move it now. I ended up having to file a complaint with the SEC when they liquidated a bunch stocks. By the way they take sec more seriously than cfpb.

Sorry to hear that! These banks think they're gods (and really they are). If you write the CEO and complain enough they may cut you a check. See my USB story.

As to legal action, I second @Mamibear's suggestion to contact the Alexes. They do no win no fee arbitration. If you'd rather use the courts, you'd have to represent yourself or hire a lawyer. I'm not aware of any BoA class actions so that's not an option unless you want to start one. There was a successful settlement against Chase for this practice. While $12k is a huge sum of money, even if you win, I don't think you'd be able to recover legal fees from BoA under the American system. And it sounds like you prefer free anyways (who doesn't?). Good luck!!! :D

Just think really hard before you get your expectation high. As many folks say, $12,000 is a huge sum for a lot people. But for layers? Not really. Also, the $12k is not your real losses. This is the rewards (bonus) the bank promises you if you use the cards according to its T&C. Lender has a lot of rights.

Research some recent CC cases. Good luck whatever you do.

I would sue BOA in small claims court, in a state in which the maximum small claims court award is 12K or higher (it must be a state in which BOA has a branch or office or a service agent).

Thank you guys for all the suggestions. I'll probably give Alex a call and see what terms he offers.

I looked at this state law (I am based in California):
https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/civil-c...t-1747-85.html

It looks like BoA violated state law by closing my account immediately without notice. I believe it is hard for BoA to argue that I pose a default risk to them so they need to give me 30 day written notice before closing my account. The closure caused me inability to redeem my points (monetary damage) so I think I have a case against them in court.

I'll probably sue them in SCC in California (and my SO can sue separately). Looks like I can sue for up to $10K which is adequate if I can get that much in the end.

Any suggestions are welcome.

If you actually do sue in SCC, please let us know the outcome. Data points are most appreciated.

Just make sure you talk to a lawyer first. If you violated their terms, they may counter sue you for the cash back you already redeemed. They might still do this if the numbers are large enough. Do keep us posted.

Not surprissing. They liquidated my stocks without even providing me notice. I only found out when I received an email notification confirming brockerage transaction. I filled all the regulatory complaints I could find but didn't take the steps that you are thinking of as I figured it was just going to be a time sink.

Cycling your credit by a factor of two when you have a 25,000 credit limit would put you in their cross hairs. Cycling $90k 4.5x, well.....

[MENTION=910248]minimum[/MENTION], read Vinh's experience with a different card company who closed all his accounts forfeiting >$2K CB from cycling his $35K CL 3x. He said he would ping Alex to recoup his hard earned CB; send him a message in his blog or tweet to find out if he did.

Small Claim Court is a viable avenue. Though California system is a bit tough to navigate. You need to get familiar with the filing procedures in particular how to deliver your complaint. A friend did this several years ago against Citi. Took 2 tries and a total of 9 months (due to the first technical failure and refile) to get a check from Citi which dragged the payment ordered by Court for weeks until the friend sent their legal office a demand letter - the came FedEx the next day with the check.

With Citi, it is different due to Citi has reached agreements with both Alex lawfirms (the other lawyer is Alexander Darr) that if complaints are thru these 2 law firms Citi will settle in a predetermined formula for each account closed in last 2 years.
The agreement was reached in March 2018.

So it is relatively easy to handle a Citi shutdown which also is not permanent like Barclays and BofA. It lasts 30 months or so. Yet Barclays and BofA seem to be lifetime. lol.

Try to find the other Alex on DoC blog if you might. He has written on DoC blog. You may find the contact there. Or google Alex Darr. It does not hurt to contact Darr to see what his opinion is on BofA.

OK, I'm fine not doing business with BoA in the future. I have nothing to lose by suing them.

I'll reach out to Alex Darr and see what he thinks. Thanks!

You should be able to find him just by googling his name. He has done a very good job helping those fight against Citi. Hopefully he would be able to help you.

Good luck and keep us updated.

Sadly this isn't true. At least according to TPOL.

What is TPOL?

Apparently: https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/about/

afaik TPOL is Alexander Bachuwa

The information is from the other Alexander who from what I have read, seems to be one's better option should you need such service. The agreement was reached in Mar 2018 - how long that agreement exists, I have no idea because I only read about this on non English site.

You can easily google the other Alexander and find his firm's website.

I dont cycle dont want a shut down, but I do bring it up to the max. With the way Staples was going lately I was doing it fora few months, today an email from Chase that they are 2xing my CL, w/o me asking nor did I want it, but wont do anything least I stir up a hornets nest So from a fairly nice 5 figure CL its now thru the roof

I've actually had to drop my CL across my chase accounts due to these automatic increases. They had me up to 150% of household income between three people in the household, with 85% of it all being in my name. I wasn't sure if it was more risky to have that much credit or to draw attention to it by asking for the decrease, but I went for the decrease.

Does Chase look at issued credit across all accounts in a household to determine CL?

New year = new thread.

Please continue the discussion here:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manu...wn-thread.html