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Earlier today, we posted about what I thought was a potential $300 money-maker deal for a couple playing in 2-player mode with the Point Debit Card (see that post here). Unfortunately, the deal isn’t working out at all so I wanted to post a quick separate update to alert any readers who were considering it.
In the post earlier today (which I have since updated), I noted that Point Debit Card referral codes are showing a $0 annual fee for the first year with a $49 annual fee thereafter. I had seen several data points indicating as much on other sites and when I tried my own referral code the price on the website did indeed change from $99 to $0 the first year and $49 thereafter as shown here:
However, Larry K in the comments noticed that Stephen Pepper’s code did not reduce the fee. I checked with Stephen and his wife’s code did not reduce the fee either. In the meantime, reader Mike reported that Player 1’s referral did not show the waived first year fee for him.
Then a couple other readers reported signing up and getting charged the $99 annual fee even though the landing page said $0 after entering my referral code. As if that isn’t bad enough, when they reached out to Point customer service, this was Point’s response:
“ Hi there, thanks for your message! Welcome to Point.
The “$0/first year then $49/year” was displayed in error in your web browser, we apologize for any disappointment this may cause. Our team is working hard on fixing this display issue that is occurring. You will be correctly charged $99 for your membership fee, as that is our membership fee for all new members currently.
Hope this helps clarify!”
Wow, that’s a horrible customer service response to the situation. I can’t imagine that “We knew it was showing a fee of $0 with a promo code we created, but the real price is $99” would fly with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if one filed a complaint, but it shouldn’t have to get that far. I’m surprised that Point hasn’t fixed this or at least offered a better resolution. I certainly haven’t received any communication from them about my referral code displaying an incorrect offer (which would seem like a logical next step for them to take so I don’t continue to refer people with an offer they don’t intend to honor).
Unfortunately, it looks like Point has no intention to honor the waived-fee offer. With a $99 annual fee, the $100 welcome bonus certainly wouldn’t do much to entice me to sign up. The card could actually still be a win with all of the streaks and bonus payouts they have offered, but this situation certainly doesn’t instill faith in their customer service.
I apologize to any readers who jumped in on the deal assuming it would be honored as shown — I certainly expected this to be honored as displayed. I know at least a couple of readers were looking to see if they could cancel and get the fee back. If you signed up after we posted it and were still charged the $99 fee, I recommend monitoring the comments on that post to see whether they are successful.
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Extremely disappointing, this seems like something that could cause a lot of backlash. I signed up a week ago with the $0 AF and was charged the $99 a few days later. After a few emails explaining my disappointment and asking to close the account, I was offered $100 / 1k spend and reduced $49 AF for the first year. That combined with the streak offer + future offers, this will be a MM for me, but still poor company practice imo.
Also just my opinion, but I wouldn’t settle for anything less than the above offer or better, assuming you can provide proof of your sign-up. I expect they’ll be under a lot of pressure to make this right, I can’t imagine that this many accounts opened and closed in a short time will reflect well on their books.
I honestly can’t believe they would even put that response in writing. Terrible PR.
Weird. I JUST got an email from Point advertising the referral promo. It’s being advertised as a free year after points earned from their 1st delivery service purchase.
“For a limited time only, introduce a friend to Point Card by giving them a free year of Point membership. After they make a food delivery purchase within 10 days of signing up, you’ll receive 5,000 pts ($50) and they’ll earn a free year ($99) in points. Brands include Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash, Seamless, Grubhub, & Caviar.”
What a mess. My wife got that offer also. It’s not a very good offer since it means that you’ll pay a $99 fee and get $99 in points – no $100 for spending $1K, so it’s just a break-even (not an awful way to get a foot in the door for their other deals, but not as good as when they charged $49 and gave a $100 bonus – especially if you’re playing in 2-player mode where that also gave you the chance to pick up $100 for referring Player 2 rather than $50).
The referral deal in *my* account still says “Introduce a friend to Point Card, and you’ll both receive 10,000 bonus points ($100) after they spend $1,000 within 30 days of sign up”
I think they just have too much going on. Some promo codes show a $99 fee with $100 back on $1K. Some show a $0 first year fee and $49 ongoing (like mine) with $100 back on $1K, some show $99 back after 1 food delivery purchase. Seems they weren’t ready to run so many concurrent deals if they have promo codes programmed in a way that they know isn’t what they intended.
My fear for those of you getting your $99 back is that I don’t know whether or not you’ll still get $100 after spending $1K. If anyone hits the $1K spend I’ll be curious to hear whether you got another 10K points / $100 or not of if they essentially gave you that bonus up front.
I complained by email and get 10000 points back. But they said next year will be $99.
Thanks for the data point Peter. I complained via text and haven’t gotten anything yet. I’ll report back if I get anything.
I think if enough people signed up this morning and complain to Point, they will probably honor the terms or make it up to new customers.
Received this text from Point:
“We thank you for your honest feedback and we apologize for the confusion this may have caused.
If you’d like to stay onboard with us and take advantage of all the amazing benefits your Point card has to offer, we are happy to issue you a refund for this first year’s $99 membership fee. Please keep in mind that you will be charged $99/year starting next year.
Let us know if this works for you, or if you’d prefer to close your account, but we do hope you’ll stick with us!”