The HfP chat thread – Monday 2nd November

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Tony says:

2 Nov2 November 08:22

Nothing from Harrods on my Bus Plat, got the £10 on £70 Waitrose though. 🙁 sad, was looking forward to a small wicker basket lol
Paul says:

2 Nov2 November 08:29

I posted this last night on yesterday’s chat. It might still be relevant…

After looking at some other offers from Amex recently I suspect the £100 Harrods credit will not appear in the list of Amex offers. A couple of cash back options over the last few weeks where letters have been sent out state that no registration is necessary such as a Gold card offer increasing the cash conversion value of Amex points. What I’m not clear about is whether such offers apply to everyone of just those who receive the promotion letter. I might make a small purchase to see if a credit comes through as I don’t have a letter, or wait for someone else to do so.
- Andrew says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 08:31
  
  But unless you got the mailer OR read HFP – how would one know the offer even existed?
  - Crafty says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 08:41
    
    Yes that would be extremely strange and annoying.
    - Dave says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 09:41
      
      I messaged Amex on chat yesterday, they checked and said they can the offer on my account even though I can’t so seems like I’m good for the Harrods spend
- H says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 10:37
  
  According to Amex chat, it’s a targeted offer for limited card members only.
  - meta says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 10:49
    
    I called and the agent told me that it’s targeted. You will have the offer only if you received the mailer. They are still sending it out, so still some chance to get the offer.
    - Rob says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 10:51
      
      Makes no sense, because it eliminates everyone who ticked the ‘don’t send me junk mail’ box.
      - H says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 10:55
        
        Agent on chat told me that offer will be sent to targeted members by direct mail or email on 2 Nov and will appear in their Offers. Understand that offers are often targeted but not pleased with the inconsistent messaging from Amex on this.
      - meta says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 11:03
        
        Nothing about Amex IT or targeted marketing makes sense. I have previously had Hilton offer on my Bonvoy card. I also now have Apex, Firmdale and Dorsett hotels on my Bonvoy card and my partner has Hyatt offer on Bonvoy card.
    - James E says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 11:02
      
      @H – why are you unhappy with Amex inconsistent messaging? What evidence do you have for this?
      You should be more unhappy with the out of control rumours that spread like wildfire here, based on taking what some random either believes to be the case or more likely is purposefully speading misinformation for their own twisted enjoyment.
      As previously, the T&C on the back of the mailshot clearly say the offer is targeted.
      - H says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 12:56
        
        @James E – I hadn’t received the mailer so wasn’t aware what the T&Cs said. There were several reports in the comments + a mention in Rob’s article that Amex CS had confirmed (to readers) that this offer would be available to all platinum cardholders. Perhaps it’s naive of me but my first instinct is not to think of the people here as liars who would purposefully spread misinformation. My experience as a long time reader (albeit very occasional poster) is that people here are generally very helpful. YMMV
      - Rob says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 12:59
        
        The small print always says it is targeted. Usually isn’t!
  - James E says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 10:53
    
    The T&C on the back of the mailer clearly say the offer is targeted. How this has been allowed to escalate on here to people being convinced everyone is getting it, I cannot fathom.
    - Dave says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 11:00
      
      I’ve had Amex tell me on the phone AND in chat that I’m eligible even though I haven’t had a letter. They even told me that it’s been activated on my account even though I can’t see it. I’ve got a screenshot of my chat so I guess I’ll just do it and argue with Amex if they refuse to credit my account.
      - James E says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 11:07
        
        Oh, now I can fathom.
      - Andrew says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 11:25
        
        No mailer here – not on my offers tab either. Just phoned Amex, spoke to Brighton, and they’ve confirmed I am enrolled and all the terms, and also confirmed that their call is recorded so if there’s any problems then I’m covered. So basically if you’re in doubt about the offer, call them and check and they will tell you if you are enrolled or not. They certainly do seem to have overcomplicated this one – things in the post, hidden offers tab etc….
InfrastructureDebt says:

2 Nov2 November 08:41

OT: I scroll with my right hand on the mobile website but the reply box keeps coming up and I unintentionally tap ‘reply’
- Andrew says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 08:43
  
  +100
- Ali M says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 08:44
  
  +1 – thought was just me
  - Bill says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 08:47
    
    +1
    - Sukes says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 09:36
      
      I couldn’t understand why people were complaining about the reply box coming up constantly as it just wasn’t happening for me. I was having the ‘duplicate dates’ appearing tho so I cleared cache on my iPhone as Rob advised. Wish I hadn’t! Date is fixed but now I’m constantly having to cancel the reply box. If anyone else is seeing date appearing as ‘2Nov 2Nov’ in a comment….leave it that way!
      - Rob says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 15:09
        
        OK, Rhys dropped me a note from Santorini to say that, actually, the IT guy has done a fix for this. I have tested it and it seems to work. It is fiddly (from our side, not yours) but will hopefully work. I will post when it is live.
      - Rob says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 15:10
        
        Rhys dropped me a note from Santorini to say that, actually, the IT guy has done a fix for this. I have tested it and it seems to work. It is fiddly (from our side, not yours) but will hopefully work. I will post when it is live.
    - Chris K says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 09:58
      
      +1 couldn’t be worse positioned
  - Rob says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 09:03
    
    You wanted reply moved to the right, we moved it to the right. Stop moaning 🙂
    - Sam says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 10:18
      
      Is this the right time to ask for dark mode?
      - Rob says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 10:53
        
        We’ve tested dark mode and it works, but not to our OCD standards of perfection. Once we’ve had our IT guy tweak it we’ll roll it out.
    - Brighton Belle says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 11:06
      
      Sorry I accidentally hit the reply button.
      
      The frequency of message will tell us who has fat fingers🖕
- Harry T says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 08:53
  
  Me too!
  - Harry T says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 08:54
    
    Rob will say we have baby hands though, if we are right handed 😂. But my hands are large!
    - Andrew says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 09:31
      
      And the button is way too sensitive, brushing past it activates reply rather than needing to press it – I’m constantly needing to refresh the page to clear the reply box
      - Rob says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 09:40
        
        This is outside our control unfortunately – it is baked in to WordPress this way. It is possible we could fix it but the fix would break every couple of weeks with WordPress updates and it would be another slug of money to put it back.
      - Lady London says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 12:22
        
        if the overall print size defaulted to a bit smaller – which sometimes accepts pinch to reduce sometimes not – then that *****ed button would also be smaller.
        
        Positioning should be just inside the date as someone suggested and its poor of Wordpress not to do this.
        
        It was driving me absolutely nuts yesterday. No other website seems to have this iasue as hard to avoid as it is.
      - Rob says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 13:03
        
        We can put the Reply button wherever we want (and indeed in whatever font size we want). What we can’t control is the sensitivity.
      - Rob says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 15:09
        
        Rhys dropped me a note from Santorini to say that, actually, the IT guy has done a fix for this. I have tested it and it seems to work. It is fiddly (from our side, not yours) but will hopefully work. I will post when it is live.
Paul says:

2 Nov2 November 08:42

You wouldn’t do, so it may be that only those who got the letter are eligible. Note that the letter received by many makes no reference to needing to register for the offer. But others have contacted Amex and have been told everyone gets the offer. That’s why I might do a test purchase to see if the cash back comes through or not. I’m in London today thanks to the Marriott £400 offer, which I’ll combine with £75 back on a £200 on my Amex Bonvoy card so a £600 spend will cost £125. The Harrods offer would be nice as well though. 😊
- James says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 10:06
  
  The mailer T&C say the offer is targeted.
  Karen from Facebook says coronavirus is a hoax… why would we believe what some random alleges they have been told.
  To be clear, I hope I’m wrong, but I can’t see this being a blanket offer.
  - Lady London says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 12:24
    
    Its replacing the 2 traditional Amex shopping evenings with 10% off that Harrods has been running for, IIRC, well over 30 years.
Olly says:

2 Nov2 November 08:48

Rob, for those of us who used the services of Emyr and booked the Platinum/ Marriott stay for dates which now are within the initial lockdown from Thursday and cannot show then as work related, does he or you have advice on how to deal with the cancellation? Via Emyr, contact the hotel direct etc? Many thanks.
- Harry T says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 08:54
  
  Contact Emyr, as he is your travel agent.
  - Rob says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 09:01
    
    Emyr can do it but if your Marriott account lets you cancel online then you’re doing him a favour.
    - Anna says:
      
      2 Nov2 November 10:46
      
      I’ve cancelled an Emyr/IHG booking via the website – the poor guy must be inundated this week!
      - Rob says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 10:52
        
        Please do so if you can. These Marriott bookings were not hugely profitable for him in the first place, so if you can save him some work by cancelling online I’m sure he would appreciate it.
      - ChrisC says:
        
        2 Nov2 November 12:33
        
        Ditto for me too re IHG
        
        I even moved the dates of one booking as well and it kept the ‘lux life’ in the rate description
        
        Shame I’m likely to have to cancel that booking soon.
krys_k says:

2 Nov2 November 09:07

Business Plat – supplementary card. Whilst digging around my account looking for something else, came across a supplementary card page where it states that 5k is awarded for supplementary card holder and that first supplementary card holder is free. Any downside to taking this ? Thanks.
- Amar says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 09:18
  
  Yes that’s right – always take out a supp plat card even if you don’t need it, as they give you 5k! Only for the first supp obv
  - krys_k says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 12:05
    
    Cheers. Made application. Went back into main page. 5k points there !
dezbez says:

2 Nov2 November 09:30

It all seems much calmer here on HfP today than yesterday!
- Josh says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 09:38
  
  I guess someone is writing his research ‘manuscript’ today.
  - Andrew says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 09:48
    
    Yesterday was phase 1: anger and denial. Today is phase 2: subdued depression. Tomorrow will be phase 3: acceptance.
  - Dave says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 09:49
    
    Condescending as ever Josh
RB says:

2 Nov2 November 09:49

How long until amex offers show up on a new card? Signed up to BA premium plus and received card 4 weeks ago , still no offers showing up. My Amex Gold (held for several years) has been and is showing offers.

Called Amex to enquire two weeks back and they told me it takes a few months until they learn your spending profile to start getting offers show up – anyone know if this is true or there is an issue with my account?
- Crafty says:
  
  2 Nov2 November 12:24
  
  I took out a new Green about 2 weeks ago and upgraded to Platinum 3 days ago. Offers have started to show as of yesterday.
  - Sam says:
    
    2 Nov2 November 12:30
    
    Same here, upgraded to platinum on Friday on a new green and one Qatar offer appeared this morning