As Air Miles expire, a shoddy customer service effort
Any Air Miles collected before 2012 and not used by Jan. 1, 2017, will expire worthless. The company fumbled its communication with card holders.
Attention, Air Miles collectors. Any miles collected before 2012 and not used by Jan. 1, 2017, will expire worthless.
Air Miles should have been ready for a last-minute rush to trade miles for rewards after announcing a new five-year expiry date in late 2011.
Think again. Communication was so scanty that many customers learned of the upcoming expiry date only in the media, leading to a flood of calls that crashed the company’s ability to respond.
“Your frustration is our frustration,” Air Miles told collectors July 27 in an update. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you are experiencing. Higher than expected call volumes are causing the delay in answering your calls.”
After promising to hire more call centre staff, the company made another embarrassing admission.
“There have been intermittent website availability issues due to high activity. Providing website stability is one of our top priorities so you, our collectors, can take advantage of everything our website has to offer,” it said.
Customers could not even reply to the update, since Air Mile’s email service had been replaced with enhanced live chat. They could send questions or comments to 438 University Ave., Suite 600, Toronto, Ont. M5G 2L1.
How ironic. LoyaltyOne, known for its expertise in managing data and traded on the New York Stock Exchange, slips up so badly in preparing for an expected event that it has to fall back on “higher than expected call volume” and “high activity,” the hoariest excuses in the customer service lexicon.
Consumer reporters jumped on the story. CBC.ca ran weekly reports, including one about limited reward options.
Here’s the problem. Air Miles used to offer gift cards to redeem for groceries and gasoline in the same category as travel rewards. But in 2012, it introduced a new category for travel and merchandise called “dream” rewards.
Collectors who knew of the change could opt for cash rewards in the future. But if no category was specified, all new miles and those earned before 2012 defaulted automatically to the dream category.
That change means miles expiring by January can’t be used for cash rewards, which often require fewer points, said Sophia Harris, a CBC business reporter in an article headlined, “You’re pretty much hosed.”
Personal finance blogger Robb Engen wrote a critical open letter to the company, accusing it of stripping out many rewards in the dream category to replace them with overpriced deals – such as an offer to buy $100 worth of groceries for $95 plus 50 reward miles (worth $5.26).
“Add $95 cash and you’re paying $100.26 for a $100 gift card. Seriously!” he said.
Many collectors have all their reward miles sitting in their dream balance and may not have enough to book a flight by Dec. 31. They will find little else of value available under the dream rewards category, Engen said.
Air Miles should allow a one-time transfer of reward miles from dream balance to cash balance before the end of the year, he said. Allowing reward miles to expire risks alienating millions of collectors.
“We are trying to give collectors many options to use the miles in their account before they may expire, no matter how large or small their dream miles balance may be,” said Natasha Lasiuk, an Air Miles spokeswoman.
“Even collectors with 25 to 50 miles can enter one of our deams sweepstakes for the chance to win great prizes. We have also made more rewards inventory available this year than ever before for collectors and we are already seeing an increase of collector activity to use miles this year.”
Lasiuk, a long-time contact, has helped several Toronto Star readers redeem their unused Air Miles reward points.
“Everything is moving ahead,” said Bill Robinson, who contacted me after spending 15 hours in one week waiting to speak to Air Miles. “We have heard from four different individuals looking after our interests. All is good.”
She also helped a member get back 1,000 of the 9,000 miles lost to inactivity because of caregiving duties. You are required to collect or redeem points within a two-year period as a condition of the program.
My advice: If you feel shut out, send me your questions and I’ll stick with them until you get an answer.
Meanwhile, check out blogger Robb Engen’s call to action at BoomerandEcho.com (“An open letter to Air Miles,” July 10).
If you like the idea of a one-time transfer from dream balance to cash balance by Dec. 31, write to me and the company to express your support.
Any Air Miles collected before 2012 and not used by Jan. 1, 2017, will expire worthless. The company fumbled its communication with card holders.
Attention, Air Miles collectors. Any miles collected before 2012 and not used by Jan. 1, 2017, will expire worthless.
Air Miles should have been ready for a last-minute rush to trade miles for rewards after announcing a new five-year expiry date in late 2011.
Think again. Communication was so scanty that many customers learned of the upcoming expiry date only in the media, leading to a flood of calls that crashed the company’s ability to respond.
“Your frustration is our frustration,” Air Miles told collectors July 27 in an update. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you are experiencing. Higher than expected call volumes are causing the delay in answering your calls.”
After promising to hire more call centre staff, the company made another embarrassing admission.
“There have been intermittent website availability issues due to high activity. Providing website stability is one of our top priorities so you, our collectors, can take advantage of everything our website has to offer,” it said.
Customers could not even reply to the update, since Air Mile’s email service had been replaced with enhanced live chat. They could send questions or comments to 438 University Ave., Suite 600, Toronto, Ont. M5G 2L1.
How ironic. LoyaltyOne, known for its expertise in managing data and traded on the New York Stock Exchange, slips up so badly in preparing for an expected event that it has to fall back on “higher than expected call volume” and “high activity,” the hoariest excuses in the customer service lexicon.
Consumer reporters jumped on the story. CBC.ca ran weekly reports, including one about limited reward options.
Here’s the problem. Air Miles used to offer gift cards to redeem for groceries and gasoline in the same category as travel rewards. But in 2012, it introduced a new category for travel and merchandise called “dream” rewards.
Collectors who knew of the change could opt for cash rewards in the future. But if no category was specified, all new miles and those earned before 2012 defaulted automatically to the dream category.
That change means miles expiring by January can’t be used for cash rewards, which often require fewer points, said Sophia Harris, a CBC business reporter in an article headlined, “You’re pretty much hosed.”
Personal finance blogger Robb Engen wrote a critical open letter to the company, accusing it of stripping out many rewards in the dream category to replace them with overpriced deals – such as an offer to buy $100 worth of groceries for $95 plus 50 reward miles (worth $5.26).
“Add $95 cash and you’re paying $100.26 for a $100 gift card. Seriously!” he said.
Many collectors have all their reward miles sitting in their dream balance and may not have enough to book a flight by Dec. 31. They will find little else of value available under the dream rewards category, Engen said.
Air Miles should allow a one-time transfer of reward miles from dream balance to cash balance before the end of the year, he said. Allowing reward miles to expire risks alienating millions of collectors.
“We are trying to give collectors many options to use the miles in their account before they may expire, no matter how large or small their dream miles balance may be,” said Natasha Lasiuk, an Air Miles spokeswoman.
“Even collectors with 25 to 50 miles can enter one of our deams sweepstakes for the chance to win great prizes. We have also made more rewards inventory available this year than ever before for collectors and we are already seeing an increase of collector activity to use miles this year.”
Lasiuk, a long-time contact, has helped several Toronto Star readers redeem their unused Air Miles reward points.
“Everything is moving ahead,” said Bill Robinson, who contacted me after spending 15 hours in one week waiting to speak to Air Miles. “We have heard from four different individuals looking after our interests. All is good.”
She also helped a member get back 1,000 of the 9,000 miles lost to inactivity because of caregiving duties. You are required to collect or redeem points within a two-year period as a condition of the program.
My advice: If you feel shut out, send me your questions and I’ll stick with them until you get an answer.
Meanwhile, check out blogger Robb Engen’s call to action at BoomerandEcho.com (“An open letter to Air Miles,” July 10).
If you like the idea of a one-time transfer from dream balance to cash balance by Dec. 31, write to me and the company to express your support.
