Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

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Choice Hotels’ Customer Service Gets Points Handling Rewards Issue

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Edgar Dworsky For 25 years, Consumer World, the creator of Mouse Print*, has served readers with the latest consumer news, money-saving tips, and independent investigations. It is your generosity (and not advertising nor corporate contributions) that keeps Mouse Print* and Consumer World available as free consumer resources. So MrConsumer turns to you and humbly asks for your support again this year. Your gift will be most appreciated.

MrConsumer recently got an email from Choice Hotels with some bad news. It said that his accumulated points in their rewards program were about to expire.

Choice Hotels email

The fine print explained how to keep one’s points from disappearing. Basically you have to earn or redeem points every 18 months or they go bye-bye.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Choice fine print

So I looked to see what one could get for 5,000 points. Seemed like a nice round number — surely there was something of value available. But all the gift cards required 8,000 points at a minimum, such as this one.

Choice gift card choices

I did see that I could convert the points to American Airlines frequent flyer miles, but would only get 1,000 miles for my 5,000 points. Nonetheless, that seemed like the best option for me, so I called Choice customer service to make the transfer.

I explained the situation to the agent on the phone, Ken (a female), and she said “let me see what I can do for you.” After reviewing my account, she said that as a one-time courtesy, she would bump up my account from 5,160 points to 8,000 points so I could redeem them for a gift certificate right then and there.

What? WOW! She wished me a Merry Christmas, and proceeded to process a $25 Home Depot gift card for me.

I thanked Ken profusely. What amazing and unexpected customer service she provided! But it would be nice if Choice eliminated their points expiration policy just as most airlines have in their own frequent flyer programs.

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No, Amazon is Not Sending You a $100 Gift Card

Last week, MrConsumer received an email seemingly from Amazon saying it was sending along a $100 gift card as a thank you. How nice of them. But on closer inspection, this was a scam.

 

*MOUSE PRINT:

Amazon gift card scam

First, the email was addressed to “abuse@consumerworld.org” which is not a personal email. Secondly, when hovering over the “view details” button with the mouse, you see that clicking it would take you to “woo-brands.com” and not to Amazon. Visiting that site could well have infected my computer with malware, trigger whatever trap the sender intended.

And checking the IP addresses in the header information of this email (under source in most email programs), you see that the email appears to have originated in China and had a lovely journey through Italy on the way to Boston.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Amazon gift card scam source

So, the lesson here is that no matter how legitimate an email looks, double-check any links or buttons, no matter what they say, before clicking on them.

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Lowe’s Extended Protection Plans Called Deceptive

A Washington consumer who bought a barbecue grill last year from Lowe’s is suing the company for deceptive practices after his grill went on the fritz and Lowe’s refused to fix it.

Like many shoppers who buy more expensive products, this customer was asked at the checkout if he would like to buy a four-year extended warranty “Protection Plan.” He was told it would cover everything and even included on-site repairs. After he agreed to buy the $79.99 plan, the cashier put a brochure about it in his bag.

Fast forward about 10 months, and sure enough his barbecue developed a problem so the consumer asked Lowe’s for someone to come out and pick it up for repair. Lowe’s refused saying the grill was covered by a five-year manufacturer’s warranty and according to the customer’s lawsuit, while the Lowe’s extended warranty plans start on the day of purchase, they only provide benefits after the manufacturer’s warranty expires. [Thanks to Truth in Advertising for the case.]

The extended warranty contract used by Lowe’s is not clearly worded to explicitly warn purchasers about this:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Parts and services covered during the manufacturer’s warranty period are the responsibility of the manufacturer. Your Product(s) may have a labor and/or parts warranty from the manufacturer that may provide additional or overlapping coverage with this Plan. Review Your manufacturer’s warranty. Nothing in the Plan will limit or discharge any manufacturer’s obligations.

To add insult to injury in this case, since the barbecue had a five-year warranty and the Lowe’s plan was only four years, it completely overlapped what the manufacturer was providing. That made the Lowe’s plan a complete waste of money for the customer.

Lowe’s has not publicly commented on the allegations made in this lawsuit.

Whenever buying a warrantied product, try to purchase it with a credit card that doubles the manufacturer’s warranty up to an additional year for free. Many card issuers have dropped this benefit, so double-check which of your cards still offer it.