-
So, I was served up an AMEX offer, £75 off a £500 spend at Fairmont. Didn’t look too closely at the terms as I had a Fairmont stay coming up anyway.
Completed the stay (overseas) but used my AMEX card and incurred the 3% FX fee, confident that I’d get the £75 rebate.
Rebate didn’t appear, check the terms. The offer included FIVE Fairmonts. There are over 70 worldwide, and the offer was for 5. How AMEX can, with a straight face, give the impression that’s a company wide offer defies belief. Yet they made £25 from me for the transaction. I think that’s verging on misleading and whilst I appreciate that it’s my fault for not looking at the terms, it leaves a pretty bad taste when the offer excludes 93% of the company’s properties!
Anyway, just a heads up although suspect i’m largely preaching to the converted here…
That’s unfortunate, but this is also why you have to check the T&Cs, especially for hotel offers as those are typically limited to select properties.
First rule of Amex offers, always check that your preferred location is included. I fell foul of this with the last BP offer – there are 2 very near me and only one was taking part! Fortunately I double checked and managed to refuel before the offer expired.
Tend to agree they baited you, but as a wise man once said… “Life will offer the same lesson over and over until you learn it”.
I’m sure next time you have to spend extra to get an offer you’ll double check!
The retailers fund and set the terms of the offers. It has very little to do with Amex.
The retailers fund and set the terms of the offers. It has very little to do with Amex.
I;’d disagree. Amex badged it as a Fairmont offer, giving the impression that it was group-wide.
Otherwise where do you draw the line? Should a globally recognised company be allowed to get free publicity on AMEX offering 50% off, for the customer to find that the only hotel offering it is in Outer Mongolia? Or what if the 10% off a Morrisons was only valid in the Slough branch, but you could only find this by clicking through.
Anyway lesson learned and I’ve had my rant, but it leaves a nasty taste and when you’re offering a wholly discretionary product that’s £50 a month, you probably want to be a bit more aware of how the customers perceive this.
In my mind, Fairmont won here at the expense of both AMEX and the customer.
Rebate didn’t appear, check the terms. The offer included FIVE Fairmonts. There are over 70 worldwide, and the offer was for 5. How AMEX can, with a straight face, give the impression that’s a company wide offer defies belief. Yet they made £25 from me for the transaction. I think that’s verging on misleading and whilst I appreciate that it’s my fault for not looking at the terms, it leaves a pretty bad taste when the offer excludes 93% of the company’s properties!
First thing you should check with an offer is to see in which countries, regions or specific properties it’s valid for. Two thirds of the hotels in the UK were included.
With an £830 bill, you’d probably have been better off using the Virgin Money offer instead (although can’t remember the hotel restrictions). It was a 10% rebate and, of course, no FX fees if you hold the correct card.
The retailers fund and set the terms of the offers. It has very little to do with Amex.
Or what if the 10% off a Morrisons was only valid in the Slough branch, but you could only find this by clicking through.
That’s exactly how it was with the recent PAW offer at Tesco. 25% Rebate was only at a handful of stores.
I’m not hugely sympathetic given how the concept of ‘participating locations’ has been integral to Amex Offers since day one. However, I think you could perhaps construct a compelling argument that the restrictions are not suitably clear on the one-click enrollment journey in the app.
It is a regulatory requirement that customer communications are ‘clear, fair and not misleading’, so you could make the case that highlighting the restrictions in small text after you have enrolled does not meet this standard.
With an £830 bill, you’d probably have been better off using the Virgin Money offer instead (although can’t remember the hotel restrictions). It was a 10% rebate and, of course, no FX fees if you hold the correct card.
That’s interesting as I hadn’t seen that offer. Indeed I gave up checking my Virgin offers a while back as the tab sat completely empty for months after I enrolled. Now I see I have Morrisons, Costa coffee and WH Smiths on there, but nothing terribly exciting.
Indeed you almost need something that scrapes all the offers on all your cards continuously and flags them in a single location. Now that would be an app worth paying for…
With an £830 bill, you’d probably have been better off using the Virgin Money offer instead (although can’t remember the hotel restrictions). It was a 10% rebate and, of course, no FX fees if you hold the correct card.
That’s interesting as I hadn’t seen that offer. Indeed I gave up checking my Virgin offers a while back as the tab sat completely empty for months after I enrolled. Now I see I have Morrisons, Costa coffee and WH Smiths on there, but nothing terribly exciting.
Indeed you almost need something that scrapes all the offers on all your cards continuously and flags them in a single location. Now that would be an app worth paying for…
There’s 83 different offers on my VM App, have you clicked on “see all offers?” at the bottom of the list.
Fairmont’s finished but 10% offers worldwide on Holiday Inn, Indigo, Intercontinental, Staybridge…
There’s 83 different offers on my VM App, have you clicked on “see all offers?” at the bottom of the list.
Fairmont’s finished but 10% offers worldwide on Holiday Inn, Indigo, Intercontinental, Staybridge…
Oh, thanks for that. Had missed that altogether – quite a long list!
10% offers worldwide on Holiday Inn, Indigo, Intercontinental, Staybridge…
In the spirit of this thread, I should point out that the VM offers are only for UK properties!
All Amex hotel offers clear state in the first line “at participating properties” or “eligible hotel(s) and that’s before you even click to check T&Cs. This is not even technically small print.
It’s not Amex’s fault that people don’t bother to read even the first line.
All Amex hotel offers clear state in the first line “at participating properties” or “eligible hotel(s) and that’s before you even click to check T&Cs. This is not even technically small print.
It’s not Amex’s fault that people don’t bother to read even the first line.
In my defence I had the stay booked anyway. Had the list included 65 of the 70 and it had just so been that mine was in the 5 excluded then I would have been significantly more forgiving. But to give the impression that an offer is coming from a “brand” which is already a subset of a bigger group (Accor) then to actually find it’s only 7% of that subset which is participating is what irks me.
As an example, the offer for the NoMad is explicitly for London, yet by comparison that constitutes a whole third of the NoMad group, which is significantly more generous.
You’re making me think about the 2 x £100 I got off my Kimpton Fitzroy stay last year. Not seen an offer like that for a bit now. Though we’re both on a break from Platinum so it’s academic!
You’re making me think about the 2 x £100 I got off my Kimpton Fitzroy stay last year. Not seen an offer like that for a bit now. Though we’re both on a break from Platinum so it’s academic!
I used the £100 off a £250 with Hyatt at the Andaz in Liverpool Street when occupancy was stupidly low, combined that with Emyr’s 342 and Privee rate and by the time I took off the value of the extras, I think the cost of the actual room was close to zero. They weren’t doing daily housekeeping but that was hardly a deal breaker.
10% offers worldwide on Holiday Inn, Indigo, Intercontinental, Staybridge…
In the spirit of this thread, I should point out that the VM offers are only for UK properties!
I was just going to say the same, never seen an offer is worldwide that includes hotel car rental ect
All Amex hotel offers clear state in the first line “at participating properties” or “eligible hotel(s) and that’s before you even click to check T&Cs. This is not even technically small print.
It’s not Amex’s fault that people don’t bother to read even the first line.
In my defence I had the stay booked anyway. Had the list included 65 of the 70 and it had just so been that mine was in the 5 excluded then I would have been significantly more forgiving. But to give the impression that an offer is coming from a “brand” which is already a subset of a bigger group (Accor) then to actually find it’s only 7% of that subset which is participating is what irks me.
As an example, the offer for the NoMad is explicitly for London, yet by comparison that constitutes a whole third of the NoMad group, which is significantly more generous.
Retails shops often have 50% off signs in the window. Then the small print says ‘upto’ and ‘selected items’. I’d estimate that a very low percentage of the items in any store are reduced by 50%.
Clearly your analysis that only 7% of a particular subset is covered by the offer has left you feeling ‘mugged off’, but I think it’s more that clear that you’ve let yourself down here.
Given your comment about the Virgin offer where you “missed that altogether” because it’s “quite a long list” suggests that you may want to not bother with any offers as you don’t seem to have the patience or thoroughness to read the terms and would prefer to just rely on a headline invitation to treat.
Retails shops often have 50% off signs in the window. Then the small print says ‘upto’ and ‘selected items’. I’d estimate that a very low percentage of the items in any store are reduced by 50%.
Clearly your analysis that only 7% of a particular subset is covered by the offer has left you feeling ‘mugged off’, but I think it’s more that clear that you’ve let yourself down here.
Given your comment about the Virgin offer where you “missed that altogether” because it’s “quite a long list” suggests that you may want to not bother with any offers as you don’t seem to have the patience or thoroughness to read the terms and would prefer to just rely on a headline invitation to treat.
I am not sure that comparison is entirely fair as each price in a store is clearly labelled, you are not relying on cashback being credited on an item that may or may not be in a sale. I think it is clear that TreST has accepted that they could have done more but equally, we also have to accept though that only 5 out of 70 venues being eligible makes this a particularly restrictive offer.
Retails shops often have 50% off signs in the window. Then the small print says ‘upto’ and ‘selected items’. I’d estimate that a very low percentage of the items in any store are reduced by 50%.
Clearly your analysis that only 7% of a particular subset is covered by the offer has left you feeling ‘mugged off’, but I think it’s more that clear that you’ve let yourself down here.
Given your comment about the Virgin offer where you “missed that altogether” because it’s “quite a long list” suggests that you may want to not bother with any offers as you don’t seem to have the patience or thoroughness to read the terms and would prefer to just rely on a headline invitation to treat.
I am not sure that comparison is entirely fair as each price in a store is clearly labelled, you are not relying on cashback being credited on an item that may or may not be in a sale. I think it is clear that TreST has accepted that they could have done more but equally, we also have to accept though that only 5 out of 70 venues being eligible makes this a particularly restrictive offer.
Sure, but most of the hotels offers that I’ve seen are like that. The Marriott offers have never covered anywhere near the whole portfolio of over 7500 properties. Likewise with the Hilton offers. 5 out of 70 might actually be a high percentage in comparison, but my point being, is that it’s totally irrelevant. Terms must always be read otherwise disappointment is highly probable.
Sure, but most of the hotels offers that I’ve seen are like that. The Marriott offers have never covered anywhere near the whole portfolio of over 7500 properties. Likewise with the Hilton offers. 5 out of 70 might actually be a high percentage in comparison, but my point being, is that it’s totally irrelevant. Terms must always be read otherwise disappointment is highly probable.
I agree, but saying “you don’t seem to have the patience or thoroughness to read the terms and would prefer to just rely on a headline invitation to treat’ is a bit unnecessarily harsh. We all make mistakes, hopefully we get to learn from them.
Sure, but most of the hotels offers that I’ve seen are like that. The Marriott offers have never covered anywhere near the whole portfolio of over 7500 properties. Likewise with the Hilton offers. 5 out of 70 might actually be a high percentage in comparison, but my point being, is that it’s totally irrelevant. Terms must always be read otherwise disappointment is highly probable.
I agree, but saying “you don’t seem to have the patience or thoroughness to read the terms and would prefer to just rely on a headline invitation to treat’ is a bit unnecessarily harsh. We all make mistakes, hopefully we get to learn from them.
Agree, apologies to the OP
Happened to me for The Pasty Shop (£10 off £10 spend), the station I got it from wasn’t included – I didn’t real T+Cs.
Sometimes it’s not enough to check the location.
The recent Marston’s offer included my favourite local gastropub in the list of included locations…but they don’t even accept American Express! I already knew that when I visited so wasn’t really surprised to be unable to use the offer, but it was a bit cheeky of Amex/Marston’s to put them on the list.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
