Sallie Mae Customer Support is terrible

[Anonymous]

I just got off the phone with Sallie Mae Card CS. Apparently they thought my card was a business card when getting off the line and thanking me for calling in??

Secondly, asked a question on how I know If I maxed out the 5% rewards category each month and was only given completely inaccurate information such as 4 points per dollar for a cash rewards credit card.......(does online tell me?) I am hoping the forum can help me much better than the overseas call center did as I could barely understand the rep, Thanks in advance!

[Kenny]

You'll know you reached your limit by adding up your purchases? Also you can look at your purchase history and see when the 5% starts turning into 1% purchases. There's no single place to look for this type of data that I'm aware of.

[Anonymous]

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@KennyRS wrote:
You'll know you reached your limit by adding up your purchases? Also you can look at your purchase history and see when the 5% starts turning into 1% purchases. There's no single place to look for this type of data that I'm aware of.

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So the reset date is the first of the month?

[Kenny]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@KennyRS wrote:
You'll know you reached your limit by adding up your purchases? Also you can look at your purchase history and see when the 5% starts turning into 1% purchases. There's no single place to look for this type of data that I'm aware of.

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So the reset date is the first of the month?

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 The reset is with a new statement.

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 and was only given completely inaccurate information such as 4 points per dollar for a cash rewards credit card.......(

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This is sort of common, and happens it a lot of cards.   Some issuers view it as 1 point on everything and 4 bonus points in the special categories (Citi and Chase for example), so when reps say 4 they mean the bonus 4.

[BluePoodle]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 and was only given completely inaccurate information such as 4 points per dollar for a cash rewards credit card.......(

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This is sort of common, and happens it a lot of cards.   Some issuers view it as 1 point on everything and 4 bonus points in the special categories (Citi and Chase for example), so when reps say 4 they mean the bonus 4.

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Yep, I just look at my 4% categories in my monthly spending list and add them up based on gas or groceries. I don't spend enough on amazon to worry about maxing it out.

[Ghoshida]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I just got off the phone with Sallie Mae Card CS. Apparently they thought my card was a business card when getting off the line and thanking me for calling in??

Secondly, asked a question on how I know If I maxed out the 5% rewards category each month and was only given completely inaccurate information such as 4 points per dollar for a cash rewards credit card.......(does online tell me?) I am hoping the forum can help me much better than the overseas call center did as I could barely understand the rep, Thanks in advance!

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Hi ESB,

AFAIK there is no one standard way of figuring out if you've reached (or will reach) the $250 limit on groceries or gas. 

I use the following two methods:

1) In the Barclaycard site, you can see your transactions by category, under the "Spend Analyzer" section in "Activities and Statements". Select "Current Statement Cycle" and then the Category: Everyday Spending. Sadly both groceries and gas purchases are clubbed here, so you need to do a bit of manual addition. Only those purchases under Everyday Spending will be considered for additional 4% bonus points subject to $250 in each category. 

For books, it is a bit tricky: they come under merchandise. It is easier to spot them on the main transactions page. I'm assuming you won't purchase books often. 

2) Mint.com: It provides me with a quick summary of charges across credit cards, and I can easily find out how much I've spent in groceries or fuel or books. The coding is done by Visa/MC so it generally aligns well with what SMMC will see when giving bonus. 

If you go over the spending thresholds, you'll get 1% point, hence the "bonus 4%" under spend threshold. 

It is in fact 1 point per dollar, just that the 1 point (or bonus 4 points) can be converted into cash equivalent (but not cash itself). 

I believe this is to protect SMMC from customers claiming actual cash. They don't give actual cash: either use as statement credit / pay loan / transfer into UPromise. This is unlike say Discover, Chase Freedom, or Citi Dividend where it is in fact real cash transferred to your bank.