Question
HELP!!! What do I do??
I signed up for a new Citibank MC card in Sept. or Oct. 2003. They were running a 10,000 free miles with no fee for 6 month promo. The qualifier was that the miles were credited after your first purchase with the card.
I signed up for it, used it, got my 10,000 miles and decided to cancel because I already have a Citibank Visa card with a lower annual fee and, since my limit on my Visa is so high, they only gave me a $1000 limit on my new MC.
Now, 6 weeks later, as I am scrounging for every darn mile I can get to buy my fourth free ticket to Peru (tickets on hold til Feb 2) - they DEDUCT my 10,000 bonus. CAN THEY DO THIS TO ME??? I was never informed, nor can I find in my paperwork that the miles would be revoked if I cancel.
What should I do?? I plan to call AAdvantage problem customer svc number tomorrow and see what they can do (I never authorized ANYONE to deduct points, so I'm hoping they will reinstate them.) Should I just deal directly with Citibank?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Sign me, A sad Bargainhunter in Michigan!!
Answer
Don't know if TOM911 will find my reply down here, but thought I'd try...
I cancelled the card just over 2 months after receiving it.
Thanks!
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Me too!
I was deducted 10,000 AA miles as an error on 12/8. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif I didn't cancel the card at all. (But I'll in March)
Any idea?
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Hi -
Well, I found out they didn't take back my bonus points because I cancelled the card. They actually credited my account in November for the 10m bonus, then again in Dec for another 10m bonus points.
So, they said they are fixing their error - apparently they credited 19000 customers with 2 or 3 months of bonus points. I'm not sure if there is anything we can do. I understand this is their error and I did NOT earn/deserve these points. I didn't realize it though (new at this and I have thousands of points posting in different accounts I'm trying to juggle in preparation for our trip to Peru in March!) and I'm pretty ticked because I DID NOT realize their error and thought those points were really mine to spend and have made all our plans BASED on having those points.
I reviewed the terms of agreement with Citicards and it states they may add to our points, but nowhere does it state they can take them away - even in case of error.
I think I'm going to take it up with AAdvantage - they allowed an unauthorized deduction from my account, right? If in fact this is NOT legal for them to deduct the points, it seems to me Citicards needs to absorb the loss as the cost of doing business!
Whatcha think?
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I think I'm going to take it up with AAdvantage - they allowed an unauthorized deduction from my account, right?They also allowed an unauthorized addition. Go get 'em
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Originally posted by BARGAINHUNTER:
So, they said they are fixing their error - apparently they credited 19000 customers with 2 or 3 months of bonus points. I'm not sure if there is anything we can do. I understand this is their error and I did NOT earn/deserve these points. I reviewed the terms of agreement with Citicards and it states they may add to our points, but nowhere does it state they can take them away - even in case of error.
This seems like a very, shall I say, "extreme" position to take. Certainly, if you found a mistake had been made against you, you'd expect Citibank and/or AA to correct the mistake once it was brought to their attention, wouldn't you? Or, would you take the position that once a posting was made to your account (or perhaps a statement cut without a posting made that should have been), that that's the end of the story?
Let's use another example: a bank double-credits you for a deposit, then corrects the error. If you're not keeping track of things closely, you could easily miss this and end up overdrawing your account. You certainly wouldn't expect the bank you just let you keep the extra moneny just because it had posted once to your account, do you? (As an aside, in the case of a bank I would expect them to waive any fees and write letters to anyone who got a check returned stating that there was a bank error, but you don't get to just keep the money).
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Hi Steve -
Yeah, I agree with you. Actually, my post was out of frustration with them & anger - anger at me for not catching the mistake and making plans BASED upon those miles! :-)
I didn't catch what happened and have tickets on "hold" now with AA awaiting the transfer from my AM EX - SPG account miles. As soon as that happens, I'll have enough miles to purchase all four tickets to Peru with my miles - or rather, I would have if I still had the points! See, I made my ticket selections and travel dates BASED on the availaility of 4 reward seats on the same plane, etc. We have also incurred other expenses we wouldn't have taken on if I'd realized we were going to have to fork out more $$$ for tickets. So, I'm just frustrated - oh, well, guess it's *growing* time!
Take care...
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Originally posted by Steve M:
(As an aside, in the case of a bank I would expect them to waive any fees and write letters to anyone who got a check returned stating that there was a bank error, but you don't get to just keep the money)So the bank is responsible for mistakes and decisions made by someone who does not bother to keep their checkbook up to date ?
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Originally posted by BARGAINHUNTER:
I didn't catch what happened and have tickets on "hold" now with AA awaiting the transfer from my AM EX - SPG account miles. As soon as that happens, I'll have enough miles to purchase all four tickets to Peru with my miles - or rather, I would have if I still had the points! See, I made my ticket selections and travel dates BASED on the availaility of 4 reward seats on the same plane, etc. We have also incurred other expenses we wouldn't have taken on if I'd realized we were going to have to fork out more $$$ for tickets. So, I'm just frustrated - oh, well, guess it's *growing* time!
Believe me - I sympathize with your situation. Like you, I don't "balance my FF accounts" and most likely would not notice such a mistake myself unless it was for an extremely large amount. I could very well find myself in your situation, and be frustrated.
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Originally posted by Alcibiades:
So the bank is responsible for mistakes and decisions made by someone who does not bother to keep their checkbook up to date ?
I don't think that's quite what I said. Although the accountholder would have made a mistake (if only by ommission by not properly keeping track of their register), in my scenario, the bank also made a mistake that contributed at least in part to the returned items. This is why I think that in this case, the bank should waive their fees and write letters if need be. Whatever fees that the accountholder is charged by other institutions, assuming that they are not waived as a courtesy in response to the bank's letter, would be the accountholder's responsibility. At least that's the way it would work if Steve were king.
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Originally posted by BARGAINHUNTER:
I didn't catch what happened and have tickets on "hold" now with AA awaiting the transfer from my AM EX - SPG account miles. As soon as that happens, I'll have enough miles to purchase all four tickets to Peru with my miles - or rather, I would have if I still had the points!
Another option you have is to buy 10,000 miles from AA for $250. It will post in just a few days and might be the solution to yuor problem.
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Thanks for the reminder on buying the miles - guess I'll have to do that. I'd already been considering it, but being cheap to the core, am considering other options. Though I have to be reasonable: flying 3 of the 4 of us to Peru for free and coughing up a couple hundred for the 4th one ain't too shabby! :0)
Thanks for the advice & empathy!
BTW, sounds like your *kingdom* would be all-right!
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I do know that on some of the new enrollemnts in November and December for MC/Visa, the 10K enrolment bonus was posted 2X. They have been removing the duplicated bonus.
Perhaps you had one removed that should not have been. I would suggest that anyone who has a question such as this to contact the member services of their respective FF club. They have personnel who have direct contact with the airline partner who resolve purely mileage issues.
I am not sure of what type of rule they may also have had that you sstay in the participating program for so long to earn the bonus, and keep it. These people can find that out for you.
Good luck.
[This message has been edited by Island (edited Jan 25, 2004).]
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Well, actully Citibank gave me 30,000 bonus miles on three occasions. Then, it deducted 10,000 miles now. I hope that Citibank isn't gonna deduce another 10,000 miles again.
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You are an unethical, legalistic creep. If they made a mistake in giving you something you didn't deserve, then you should offer the miles back to them. That's what an honest person would do.
As far as "Do you have any legal recourse?" - I don't know. But you certainly are going on my list of "DO NOT TRADE WITH'S". I recommend everyone else steer clear of you as well.
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Dear TGRESHEM:
Yeesh! Mighty harsh words. Dunno if you didn't catch all of what happened or if you did and are just a condemning sort-of-guy.
I am new to this frequent flier stuff. I planned my ENTIRE itinerary for family of 4 based SOLELY upon having the points needed for our upcoming travel. I DID NOT realize they had made an error when I made my plans. The points had been in my account for over 6 weeks - it NEVER occurred to me there was an error.
This whole situation is not as simple as a scenario where if I rec'd extra $$ from a clerk in a store I simply smile & hand it back (which I do, every time) or where a waitress in a restaurant forgets to charge for something & I point it out (which I do, every time). I made important, irrevocable plans based upon these points - plans not only for my family, but for 4 other people that desired to travel with us.
Now, despite my plans made in good faith, I'm messed up. It's not a case of my knowing the points were credited in error and hoping I could get away with something. So, pardon me for saying, but it seems your judgment is a little harsh. My point of view (not even just "my point of view" but IN FACT) THEIR ERROR is now costing me ADDITIONAL money. If THEY hadn't messed up, I wouldn't be in the mess I am now. I could have worked things out differently but am now committed to the plans I have made.
So, as a BUSINESS OWNER, from a businessman's point of view - If I were in Citibanks place I'd say "Man, I messed up big time." and I'd write off the loss and learn a lesson. That is what I have done over many years of owning a successful small business - my error, my loss. It's called "good customer service". Not necessarily the best for the profit margin, but amazing how them satisfied customers keep coming back! But I also realize I'm dealing with a HUGE corporation driven by profit margins and stockholders demands for more and more money. I guess you could say I'm one of the little guys tired of corporations messing over consumers and saying "tough". Then again, I can't believe we import the amount of goods we do AND continue to ship our manufacturing jobs overseas, but that's another story for a different board!
Don't know if this adds any clarity for you and changes anything - I'm quite okay if it doesn't. If it does, that's great too! Regardless, I wish you many happy flying miles!
Respectfully,
Bargainhunter