In February, I tried to double-dip at DrugStore.com by buying gift cards through Beauty.com and then using them at DrugStore.com. My hope was to earn portal points or cash back with each transaction. Well, buying gift cards resulted in points, but using gift cards did not. Along the way, though, I did discover a surprising triple dip. Anyway, last week I received the following email from Aadvantage eShopping:
Subject: You Have Earned Miles through the AAdvantage eShopping Mall
Wow, did the double dip work after all? I rushed to check my Aadvantage eShopping Mall account and found this:
The mall giveth and taketh away…
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Before you make a purchase at the American Airlines e-shopping mall, be aware that you will not be able to talk to a real person on the phone about the program or about your purchase, either at AA or at its program operator, Cartera Commerce. Nor do Cartera or AA send you an email after your purchase confirming the miles you will be receiving. I was finally credited with the miles I was expecting after 8 weeks, but in the meantime, did not know whether I had met all of the requirements of the program or whether I had inadvertently missed something. The hassle I endured wasn’t worth the miles I received.
This same situation has happened to me twice, and the most recent was yesterday. After filling out the missing miles request on the website, complete with merchant name, order number, and amount, “Customer Care” (hmmm….) wanted me to forward my e-receipt, which came back “undeliverable”. I emailed asking if I could fax them a copy, since I’m unable to send something to their same address – I’ve tried typing it 4 different ways, unsuccessfully. Of course, I haven’t received a response. And perish the thought of a phone number being provided anywhere!
Dianne has it right. If you use anything that gives you a discount on the purchase or a free gift with purchase, etc it will disqualify that purchase for miles. I had it happen with office depot when I accepted a free gift with purchase of 100 dollars or something like that and lost my miles on that purchase. So I don’t get the freebie anymore cause I would rather have a free ticket to St Croix every year!!
I have had nothing but pleasurable experiences with the AA Advantage eShopping Mall. Something that I have noticed, however, is that if you enter a promotional code to get a discount off the total purchase price you lose the AA miles. And make sure you are entering the merchant’s website directly from the AA Advantage eShopping portal.
Cheers.
American Airlines is my airlines of choice. The Catera Commerce mall does not accurately represent the fine qualities of the airline. I hope they will replace their ehopping operator soon.
Had the same thing happen with a bonafide Barnes and Noble online purchase from January. I’m curious as to why they decided to take away all the miles from my purchase considering that nothing was returned.
Ah, the joys of the Cartera Comedy Club.
Max M: Was your purchase made with a gift card? If so, B&N doesn’t allow points/miles/cash back for the purchase.
AA shopping it elephant crap. I bought stuff 2 weeks ago nothing…
AA eShopping mall is the most “strange” on-line shopping mall. I am still fighting for those missing Sears purchase miles. They credited some miles & removed the same amount of miles too.