Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Chase Freedom: Unspoken Limits and Exclusions

By now, everyone has seen the Chase Freedom credit card commercial with their catchy jingle promising “triple rewards where you spend the most”. You get three points or three percent back for the three categories you spend the most on each month. The categories where you earn triple automatically change each month based on your spending habits.

Here is a portion of their website ad for the card:

Chase Freedom

So, if you spend a lot one month on car repairs, buy a ton of stuff at warehouse and discount stores, and pay for airline tickets or a cruise on your card, at three percent cash back, you will make a lot of money that month, right?  Wrong on several counts.

*MOUSE PRINT: Three percent back only applies to certain categories of purchases, in fact, only 15 particular categories qualify, and that fact is virtually invisible in the disclaimer in their commercial. The categories are:

grocery stores (that are not affiliated with or departments of superstores, warehouse clubs or discount stores), gas & convenience stores, quick service payment/fast food restaurants, telecommunications, cable/satellite TV/Internet service providers, video rentals, department stores, dry cleaners, drugstores, movie theatres, local and suburban commuter passenger transportation (including ferries, bridges, tolls, parking garages, taxis/limos), pet supply stores and veterinary services, utilities, beauty shops (salons and spas), or gym/recreation memberships.

Car repairs, warehouse and discount stores, travel, and many other big ticket potential purchases are not included according to Chase’s terms and conditions.

Okay, so it is just their 15 categories that qualify for three percent back. Let’s say in a particular month you spent $400 at the grocery store; your gas, electric and water bills total $400; and you had to spend $1000 on prescription drugs for your ailing mother. That’s $1800, and should qualify for $54 back. Not bad. But not true.

*MOUSE PRINT:

There is no maximum amount of base rebates or base points that can be earned on net purchases. Maximum bonus rebate accumulation per billing cycle on net purchases is $12 in bonus rebates or 1,200 points monthly, which equates to $600 in net purchases.

Translation: Only the first $600 in purchases in your combined three categories earns three percent back. So on that $1800 hypothetical purchase, you will receive only $18 back on the first $600, and one percent on the rest.

Chase’s concept is a great one to automatically adjust your rewards to match your purchase habits. Too bad many of your most expensive purchases do not qualify for the three percent back at all, and other purchases only qualify for a maximum bonus of $12 a month.

Share this story:

 

ADV
Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

TJX Settlement: You’ll Probably Get Nothing

Late last Friday, TJX Companies, the parent of Marshall’s and TJ Maxx, announced it had reached a tentative settlement of a class action suit arising out of a massive data security breach at the company. About 45 million credit and debit cards were said to have been compromised.

To hear the story of the settlement told on TV or radio, you might have believed if you had shopped there over the past few years, you would be entitled to three years of credit monitoring service and id theft insurance free:

Associated Press – September 21, 2007 7:04 PM ET

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (AP) – The TJX Companies has agreed to a settlement of class action lawsuits filed after a massive security breach involving customer data.

A statement on the company Web site says the proposed settlement includes three years of credit monitoring along with identity theft insurance for those affected by the breach.

It still requires court approval.

In January, Framingham-based TJX disclosed that computer hackers broke into its systems.

At least 45 million TJX cards were hacked.

That is not the case. A closer reading of the fine print of the proposed agreement severely limits which shoppers will get three years of free services.

*MOUSE PRINT:

 2.1 (a) TJX shall make available free of charge (i) to Unreceipted Return Customer Claimants (other than those set forth in subparagraph 2.1(a)(ii)), three years of Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Insurance from the date of subscription,

So, it is primarily shoppers who returned goods without a receipt during the relevant period who qualify for that part of the settlement. That amounts to some 455,000 people, a mere 1% of the total number possibly affected. These people have already received a direct notification of the breach from TJX, and will also be entitled to other compensation if they experienced actual losses.

For everybody else who made a purchase at a TJX store by check, credit or debit card between certain dates, and who suffered more than a $5 loss as a result of the breach, you will be entitled to $30 to $60 in merchandise credit depending on the level of proof you have. Despite the large number of card numbers stolen, it appears that very few people actually became victims of id theft. That may best explain why most of the 45 million cardholders will not be entitled to compensation.

Lastly, TJX stores will have a 15% off everything sale sometime in 2008 for three days, available to everyone.

Share this story:

 

ADV
Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

The OJ Book: The Truth is Not in the Fine Print

Mouse Print* has long stood for the proposition that the big print doesn’t always tell the full story, and that the fine print is often the only place to find the complete truth.

Challenging that assumption is the Goldman family’s design for the OJ Simpson book they are publishing, If I Did It.  The book describes how OJ hypothetically would have killed his wife and the Goldman’s son, Ron. As you can see from the cover (enhanced with yellow arrow and asterisk by Mouse Print*), for once, the fine print probably distorts the truth.

OJ Book new
Share this story:

 

ADV