@enharu wrote:
@longtimelurker wrote:
I think this is really the major complaint of those shut down by Citi. The whole thing could be avoided by having a cap on the 5x earnings, something Citi already does on any cards. And, in some cases, purchases as small as $1000 of gift cards over 2 months caused a shutdown of all accounts: in this case the person had a large TY balance built up in 2009, wanted to cancel her card as it wasn't used, got a 5x retention bonus, and bought some gift cards, perfectly normal at graduation time.
There may have been "abuse" but a) there really isn't a good definition of that, and b) it really is Citi's fault, as with a simple cap they could have made the rules clear and avoided any trouble. It's not people spending $30K a month that are the only ones impacted (and various FTers would say "And even if it was, where is that prohibited")
And as for the statement that these are the cancer reducing rewards for all, well, I disagree. To others spending less, anyone's use of a lamented benefit was an abuse. It really is up to the issuer to control possible loss by capping, without that no-one knows what is allowed (e.g. gift card purchase above).
And of course, Citi doesn't close for "Perk Abuse", it is security related. Yes, right!
From what I know, the promo was up since 2011. Back then Amex was still doing uncapped BCP, I think. I like the idea of not having a cap because it actually benefits people who actually do real shopping at groceries / gas / drug stores a lot. For example an expensive ongoing prescription medication qualifies for 5% entirely w/o any cap.
I would be pretty skeptical about a person having all his/her accounts shut down just because of 2 gift card purchases over the entire course of her account history. Many people exaggerated about Amazon being draconian as well when they were shutting people down and banning certain customers. They were crying on Fatwallet about how they only returned 1 camera over the entire 3-4 years, or how they only reported 1 lost item, but a lot of times the returns, or lost item reports (especially for packages that were signed for) were just too excessive. Any logical business will refuse these customers, and many of them do. Petco, Saks Fifth Avenue, Best Buy, and many stores all do. The only stores that don't seem to care are stores that have a restocking fee each time you return (i.e. Newegg), because that fee essentially cover most of their losses.
I have known people who bought over 5-10 gift cards (most of them being for Amazon) using the same Citi TYP and nothing has happened to their accounts. Granted, gift cards were not the only purchases they were making. They were spending heavily on that card for many other purchases as well, and most likely through that they manage to be profitable for Citi to retain as a customer even with those gift card purchases.
And of course, mistakes do happen. I am not saying it doesn't. But such occurances are very rare in most cases, definitely not as many as the number of people crying on Slickdeals, Fatwallet, FT and other sites.
Citi's method of controling possible loss is to eliminate those unprofitable customers, and IMO this is a much better solution. Get rid of the bad eggs, and still deliver an overall good product for most people. Rather than to nerf across the board and make everyone unhappy.
Lenders can close accounts for any reason. Just like how Amazon, restaurants, or any business can refuse your business for any reason. Consumers can also refuse to do business with them. Basically one hand washes the other.
+1. It looks like I'm a bit late to the party with this one, but this just about sums it up.
I would prefer immediate closure over FR, if nothing else because it sets a precedent that such practices won't be tolerated. It seems a much better option to dump the trash than to (a) penalize everyone including those who are using it as intended, or (b) go through an extensive and cost-intensive review process that Citi probably hasn't developed as well as Amex. This isn't about fairness perse.
Of course there will be collateral damage, but that's true regardless of what option is chosen. It's the lesser of two evils, and it's simple business-sense. If they're not making you money, get rid of them as quickly and efficiently as possible via whatever legal methods you have at your disposal. Will they cry and say it's unfair? Probably, but the people who whine the loudest are probably those who you don't want as customers anyways.
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