What's in your wallet?

[exhaustipated]

Are there any of you folks out there that carry the Good Sam VISA Signature Card with REC Rewards like I do? If so, do you use it to pay for bona fide campgrounds. According to the Benefits of the Good Sam Club, if you use the card to pay for bona fide campgrounds then you'll earn three REC Rewards points for every dollar spent. I recently returned home from being gone for two months and noticed that I didn't receive all of the points that I should have. It seems that Barclaycard who handles all of the credit transactions you make on the Good Sam VISA Signature Card with REC Rewards likes to screw you out of those two extra points just because some of the campgrounds doesn't meet their criteria of Merchant Category classification. Almost always you have to go after those clowns at Barclaycard with the help of Good Sam Club to get those extra points adjusted to your account. I didn't know if anybody else is having this same kind of trouble or is it just me.

[exhaustipated]

Robyn, my thanks to you also on your quick reply to Tireman9. I also will be in contact with you shortly since there is an issue of additional REC Rewards points to be adjusted to my account.

[Photomike]

I only carry one cash back card and use that for everything. It was getting out of hand with having one set of cards for gas stations, another set for hotels, another set of cards for restaurants, etc, etc.

I may be missing out on some perks with only the one card but sure keeps things organized.

[Tireman9]

Robyn, Thanks for the quick reply.

I will contact you directly with the details.

Bottom line. It seems to be a training issue at Comenity. The Customer Reps do not have the correct contact info when they are presented with new problems.
Depending on which rep I was talking with, I was sent to the dept that handles how to dispute a charge, Barkleys Bank credit dept, Barkley Bank rewards dept and to a GS rep who appeared to have never heard of the rewards program and only wanted to tell me about the 10% off camping at GS parks or sell me other products.

I am hopeful and confident that with a little attention at better training and providing the customer service reps with the correct info on who to forward a customer to will significantly reduce this type of problem.

Again thanks for fast response.

[wintersun]

We carry muliple rewards program cards, one for Hilton, one for Holiday Inn, one for Starwoods, etc. and we get on average 14 free nights at a concierge level room in the US, China, Germany, Italy, Costa Rica, etc. and save hundreds of dollars per night.

[Robyn_Barnes]

Hi Tireman9,
I apologize for the issue you encountered with your Rec Rewards points at both Barclays and Comenity. Please send me a private message or contact me at the email in my signature below with the purchase date and amount of the campground stay that didn’t receive the 3 points per dollar. I will request that Comenity manually adjust your points. I will also work with the Comenity Care Center team to better handle these issues in the future.

As far as the 3 points per dollar at campgrounds is concerned, the program with Comenity is an exact duplicate of the program with Barclays. Cardholders earn 3 points per dollar at campgrounds in the United States and Canada. The way these points are calculated is by using the Visa merchant classification code for campgrounds. The classification code is not determined by Visa, Comenity, Barclays or Good Sam. The merchant classification code is provided by the merchant to Visa and unfortunately they sometimes misclassify themselves. In those cases, the points won’t automatically accrue at 3 points per dollar and you would have to contact Comenity to get credit for the purchase. In addition, public campgrounds do not classify themselves as campgrounds and most of those charges come through as “government purchases”. This was the case with the Barclays program as well. In an effort to reduce confusion or misunderstanding, we modified our advertising for the program to state that the 3 points per dollar is earned on purchases at private campgrounds as noted on our website and program literature.

Again, I apologize for the poor experience you had when trying to get the adjustment made to your points and will work with Comneity to ensure they know how to resolve those disputes in the future.

Sincerely,
Robyn Barnes

[Tireman9]

Just got the run around from GS, Comenity Bank & Barkley Bank re 2440 points they refuse to apply to my account.

1. Barkley Bank 866-408-4064 will not help as they no longer handle the GS credit card (2 customer service reps)
2. Comenity customer service 1-855-617-8084 can't help as according to them the Rec rewards program is handled by GS (3 customer service reps & 2 email)
3. GS can't help as the points are awarded by Comenity and Comenity has set the NEW rules that if the merchant, campground etc didn't register their Visa bank account to include the word "campground" in their credit card account it is now my responsibility to contact various campgrounds across the US and tell them they need to fill out a new application with Visa.

While on line with GS Financial Services they were more than happy to try and sell me other products like extended service and RV insurance but the girl had absolutely no interest in honoring the advertisement on the GS Financial Services web pageGS Financial Services web page of providing "3 points for every $1 spent at campground"
but told me it was my responsibility to contact the various campgrounds and tell them to fill out a new credit card service application with Visa.

Marcus, How about some Truth in Advertising?

[dalspot]

I'm getting really disgusted with the Good Sam Card. I only get one point at far too many places because they don't have the category right. Usually, I can call and have the points adjusted, but the last time I called, they said they would adjust and never did. Now I have 4 more reservations to deal with.

[Redsky]

We use credit cards that provide us with points for Hilton, Hyatt, Sheraton, and Holiday Inn. In our travels inside and outside the USA (Germany, Italy, France, Austria, China, Costa Rica, etc.) we have paid for a room 10% of the time. The remainder have been free and thanks to the way the points are evaluated we get a concierge level upgrade automatically.

If we got a 1% discount with gas purchases or similar programs that is worth $10 with a $1000 in purchases. Instead we get a free night at a hotel that is worth well over $100.

I no longer shop at Cabelas as they do not stand behind even their own branded products.

[_DJ_1]

I know a local contractor who runs his business through Cabelas Visa card. He basically gets a new (free) gun every month or two!! Problem is Cabelas now sends him 1099"s!! LOL

[deltabravo]

B of A Mastercard World Points reward card.

I use the card for a lot of purchases. Point build up, then I cash in the points for gift cards. Last gift card was a $500 card to Sears. I bought a sweet work bench for my garage.

[805gregg]

Not that

[bka0721]

I stayed in a campground once this year! My TC doesn't refuse them, I just don't look for them or ever go to an area that has them.

But, maybe I could provide a different aspect. Rather than putting the spyglass on the Large Corporation, maybe the different campgrounds are not putting the code in to give you the credit? Someone pays for these benefits and credits. Years ago when I was traveling a bunch, I would stay at Comfort Inns, as they gave you a night free, after staying with them during non black out periods. Comfort Inn locations were famous for not inputing the code to allow the credit to be assigned to your account. Especially after you made the reservation with your Customer ID #.

Someone pays for it, sometimes it is not who might expect.

b

[Buzzcut1]

~DJ~ wrote:
Since my TC refuses to turn into a campground I carry Cabelas Visa. Awesome points for outdoor gear!!

I'm sort of with DJ on this. Boondock, USFS, BLM or National park campgrounds. Bass Pro rewards card, REI membership, and Credit Cards that say USAA.

[_DJ_1]

Since my TC refuses to turn into a campground I carry Cabelas Visa. Awesome points for outdoor gear!!