Qantas accidentally gave me 40,000 frequent flyer points and then took them back without mention

Lpbrookel on 08/09/2015 - 11:23

I signed up for the deal posted on OzBargain for the Commbank Qantas Frequent Flyer card where you earn 40,000 QFF points when you spend $300 in the first 3 months. I reached the spend and received my points in a two bursts. Firstly I received 16,000 points on 31 July, then 64,000 points on 31 August. Obviously this is double the 40,000 promised. I didn't act and then noticed on 2 September Qantas deducted the extra 40,000 points from my account. My query is I didn't receive any communication from Qantas or Commbank to let me know this has happened. I just happened to be watching my activity statement quite closely. I wanted to find out from this forum if you think I have any grounds to contact Qantas/Commbank and perhaps make good of this situation? I doubt they will give me the extra 40,000 back but you never know! Seems strange that they can just dip in and out of my account as they please.

Financial

Related Stores

Qantas
Qantas

Comments

  • Malarkey on 08/09/2015 - 11:32
    +12

    This happened to me to, if I remember correctly it was around that week or two when CBA had issues with their platform resulting in double charges everywhere.

    The way I see it is they made a mistake and fixed it, you still got your 40k points. I wouldn't be chasing the other 40k.

  • PeterA07 on 08/09/2015 - 11:37
    +13

    Maybe it would have been nice for them to contact you, but that's a question of courtesy, not of law.

    Without being familiar with the offer or looking at the T&Cs, it seems you were entitled to 40,000 Qantas frequent flyer points. Initially, 80,000 points were credited to your account by mistake. Now you have 40,000, which is what you were entitled to.

    If a bank were to credit $40,000 to your bank account by mistake, you would not suddenly become legally entitled to that money.

  • strikerzebra on 08/09/2015 - 11:39
    +10

    They took from your account what wasn't yours in the first place?

  • carwashhair on 08/09/2015 - 11:40
    +1

    Has happened to me before also, and I just let it go. Nothing gained, nothing lost.

    I'd imagine a close reading of the T&C's of QFF's reward program would show you have a lot less 'rights' in most matters pertaining to frequent flyer points than you might imagine…

  • nomoneynoproblems on 08/09/2015 - 11:41
    +8

    So they fixed a mistake. What are you looking for here?

      • Malarkey on 08/09/2015 - 14:51
        +2

        That's a completely different scenario. I have no issue with credit card late fees. It's like any other bill, you need to pay it on time or incur a fee.

        If you can't pay off your credit card in time you shouldn't be spending the money in the first place.

        • [Deactivated] on 09/09/2015 - 00:47
          -7

          Go figure!

          So it is alright for the bank to seek compensation for their inconvenience but it is unacceptable for a customer to complain about a obvious cover up when all they really want is some courtesy.

          To all the haters keep leaving negative votes on my posts. Obviously you are too pig headed to respect a opinion that differs from your own.

        • Malarkey on 09/09/2015 - 09:53
          +2

          @Mr Rort:

          Exactly what inconvenience you are referring to?

          In your example about late payment you owe the bank money, it's costing them financially if you don't pay your debts on time, that is a very different situation to an error with points allocation. An error where points are added and then deducted has zero financial impact on the customer.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/09/2015 - 17:06
          -3

          @Malarkey:

          The inconvenience would be believing you have a higher amount of points only to find them less the next time you check.

          The finance industry should be built on trust. What will it be next? Banks taking money out of your account with no explanation.

  • fruit on 08/09/2015 - 11:56
    +1

    k

  • spackbace on 08/09/2015 - 12:39
    +5

    Another strange first post.

    • nocure on 08/09/2015 - 12:49
      +11

      There must be a rumour going round that we are a helpful bunch.

      • spackbace on 08/09/2015 - 12:55
        +10

        I think we're squashing that rumour pretty well today :P

    • cloudy on 08/09/2015 - 16:09
      +1

      I didn't neg you mr rort, but I just want to say I understand why u named yourself mr rort. :)

      • [Deactivated] on 09/09/2015 - 01:00
        -4

        I stand by my previous post.

        If it is good enough for banks to charge fees when a customer fails to meet their obligation/s (such as a late fee) I don't see why customers should feel powerless not to complain or demand compensation.

        As for the rort the award goes to the bank for their behaviour.

        I understand that people/companies will make mistakes but that does not excuse their behaviour by covering it up and treating their customers with such contempt.

    • sprucemoose on 08/09/2015 - 21:00
      +2

      If they send out emails to all the account holders that were 'affected' how many people, including yourself, would write back demanding compensation for a clear clerical error that has not left anyone worse off? Probably quiet a few.

      Better to just fix the error silently and hope the majority don't notice.

      • [Deactivated] on 09/09/2015 - 01:13

        It is not that difficult for a business to
        a) explain the fault
        b) explain the steps being taken to correct the problem
        c) explain the steps being taken to prevent a repeat occurrence

        When it comes to big business (and banks are one of them) it is not that hard to provide some "good will" to existing customers. Especially when your business is generating good profits and new customers usually receive bonus points for free.

  • Gotchas on 08/09/2015 - 13:04
    +3

    Take it all the way to the high court

    • spackbace on 08/09/2015 - 13:11
      +4

      Its Mabo. It's the vibe.

      • Gotchas on 08/09/2015 - 13:20

        and the law of bloody common sense

    • KaTst3R on 08/09/2015 - 13:52
      +2

      Better call Saul…

  • happychild100 on 08/09/2015 - 14:01
    +5

    http://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/49069/33329/vffagoda.pn…
    Velocity/Agoda never gave me compensation for giving me 22.8million points then taking them back again. :( Maybe a lawsuit is in order after reading this thread…

    • [Deactivated] on 09/09/2015 - 01:18
      -3

      Businesses are pathetic and no wonder they keep screwing up.

      Perhaps if they added a dollar value every time they made a mistake such mistakes would be rare. This is clearly evident when it comes to supermarket scanning errors - such mistakes are usually fixed almost instantly.

  • DealzEddy123 on 08/09/2015 - 17:03

    Relax, they cancelled my frequent flyer account, without notifying me.

    It's still cancelled. Still havnt been advised why. I've called them more than 20 times in the past 30 days.
    Havnt been able to get any information, just unfulfilled promises of a call back.

    So I think I'm in a much worse situation.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/09/2015 - 01:20

      Time to name and shame. Perhaps you should call or contact your local talk back station. It is marvellous how quick you will receive a response once the media is involved.

  • backpaqer on 09/09/2015 - 08:24

    Happens all the time in the financial world. They try to automate things, programmers now write code without understanding the business impacts/reasons and things go awry…and then they patch them. It's like trying to sue Microsoft for patching a security vulnerability that stops you hacking into your bank and stealing a million dollars.

    • [Deactivated] on 11/09/2015 - 17:21
      -1

      So data validation is no longer important within the IT industry? What sort of idiots are they employing.

      The problem within the banking industry is that there are no standards. Constant stuff ups are considered the "norm" and there is no incentive to improve. This is different to say the private public transport operators in Victoria who get penalized if they fail to meet a minimum level of service. Money is king and I guarantee if banks faced big fines every time they screwed up they would do two things — test more or not toy with something that already works.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join