Credit Card Woes

Now that it’s Annual Report season, work has been dominating my entire existence, day and night. My sleeping cycle is badly distorted, I’ve been drinking way too much coffee, I’ve been neglecting B and my cute kitties somewhat and most importantly, I’ve been deprived of my daily dose of B&B – not by choice of course! So, when I received a letter from Alliance Bank informing me that my IKEA Friends Credit Card Points will expire at the end of April, I automatically filed it away with the rest of my piling jobs, making a mental note to read it later.

The next thing I knew, it was April 30 and my hard-earned 45,000 points will expire if I didn’t redeem it then. Recalling how I neglected to redeem my 65,000 HSBC points last year, I immediately cleared my busy schedule to accommodate my IKEA visit that evening. Nothing was going to stand in my way. By hook or by crook, I was going to enjoy my “free” shopping spree on IKEA!

Upon reaching there, I noticed a long queue at the redemption counter, with about 10 customers ahead of me. Anticipating a 20-minute wait at least, I quickly made myself comfortable behind the last customer, credit card in hand. Surprisingly though, I found myself at the beginning of the queue in only less than 10 minutes! Apparently, all the customers ahead of me didn’t have their IKEA Friends credit cards with them and therefore, couldn’t be verified and sadly had to leave empty-handed, forsaking all their accumulated points for the past 2 years!

Some customers made futile attempts at reasoning with the IKEA staff, presenting the letter they received instead but were still refused any favours or privileges. I overheard one lady angrily questioning the IKEA counter staff, demanding to know why the letter did not require her to bring along her credit card and did they honestly expect her to brave the evening traffic and drive all the way back to KL just to collect her credit card, and then drive back all the way to PJ simply to redeem her points? By the time she makes it back to PJ, IKEA would've already been closed for the night!

As I listened to the endless tirade of complaints around me, I too started wondering why Alliance neglected to mention this credit card requirement in their letter. Perhaps Alliance took it for granted that all their customers carry their credit cards with them everywhere they go? Or maybe Alliance expected customers to know better when it comes to redeeming their points? Still, was it too much trouble for Alliance to include a friendly reminder in their letter? Whatever the reason, I do believe that Alliance should've included this credit card requirement. Instead, the letter was kind of vague; only mentioning our points were going to expire soon and they would be invalid if not redeemed by the closing date.

In the end, many customers reluctantly went home that night, feeling cheated, angry and disappointed. By the time I happily collected my RM220 worth of IKEA vouchers, the angry mob had dispersed, mumbling their dissatisfaction loudly for all to hear. I’m just glad that I always keep my Alliance credit card in my wallet. Otherwise, there would have been 10 fuming customers and 1 very livid tantrum-thrower that evening!