Sony Rewards Points Should Not Expire

I SEE YOUR COMPLAINT WAS FILED IN 2008 AND HERE IT IS ALMOST 2011 AND
SONY STILL HASN'T DONE ANYTHING TO CORRECT THE UNFAIR PRACTICE OF
EXPIRING POINTS. THEY MIGHT AS WELL NOT HAVE POINTS IF THRY EXPIRE
BEFORE THEY ARE USEFUL.THERE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD PRODUCTS BESIDES SONY
ON THE MARKET.

I had the same problem. I have been a Sony cardholder since 2001 when
I started college. By 2005, I graduated, got married, and got a real
job. I had about 20,000 points saved up throughout college. Some of
these points were earned by buying expensive and quickly-depreciating
Sony gadgets throughout my college years.

From 2005-2009, I was using my card along with 3 or 4 other cards. I
logged on to SonyRewards.com in July 2009 to realize that 6,000 of my
points expired. This upset me too because I did not know about the
point expiration.I started logging on to the SonyRewards.com site more
frequently and redeeming my points which are about to expire for
things like movie tickets and gift certificates, although I would much
rather get that Sony LCD screen for the bedroom.

I currently have 35,000 points, which I will be redeeming all my
points, cancelling my card, and sticking with Canon, Nikon, Samsung,
and even Apple! I have one pair of Sony headphones in my house, which
I will be selling on e-bay.

GUESS WHAT PEOPLE - YOU'RE ALL WRONG!!

SONY POINTS EXPIRE AFTER ONE YEAR NOT FIVE.

Sony's "Point System" used to be fun and had at least a way to make
points without having to purchase their products or use their Credit
Card. By reading their newsletters and clicking on the links in it.
Also, answering daily trivia, and watching Wheel of Fortune for the
nightly bonus round word.

Now, SONY has taken it upon themselves to switch the entire program
rules - THERE IS NOTHING ON THE SITE THAT EXPLAINS WHY they decided to
change their Program Benefits without notice.

ON THE POINTS SYSTEM:

SONY DOESN'T GIVE A CRAP IF YOU USE THEM OR NOT. SONY DOESN'T EVEN
BOTHER TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
SONY HAS NO REGARD OR CUSTOMER SERVICE WHAT SO EVER AND THEY LIE OR
REFUSE TO GIVE YOU ANSWERS WHEN ASKED WHY IT'S PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE
NOW TO EARN ANY POINTS UNLESS YOU OWN & USE THEIR CREDIT CARD.

SONY IS GREEDY

Thanks to a PFB member taking the time to educate us on the terms and
conditions of the Sony Rewards program, it appears you had five - -
count 'em five - - years to redeem these points which seems like a
pretty generous amount of time. It was your responsibility to read
and understand the terms of the offer and because you didn't, you
don't deserve to get your points back nor do you deserve a gift
certificate. I recommend that you immediately follow through with your
threat to cancel your Chase Sony Rewards Card and never purchase a
Sony product again.

Bingo. It is up to you to read the terms when you get a card. There
usually is no further description of the rewards unless you call and
ask them how it works. You should have read the description of the
program and figured out it would not to be to your advantage. I throw
away a lot of Rewards applications because they won't be of any use to
me. I use Cash rewards programs - I know I can use cash.

As far as expiring - this is a wake up call for you Brian. All
rewards programs that I have ever seen have time limits on the
rewards. They count on a percentage of people "Not Responding", so to
speak. You know these programs cost them money; the cost would be
higher (and rewards lower) if they assumed everyone would redeem their
rewards.

Don't hold Sony (really Citi) responsible here - you need to read the
terms of any credit program you get involved with.

I'm sure in the fine print somewhere it says they can expire. People
just don't care to read that.

The points are an incentive for you to use the card a lot, not a way
of ensuring that people who aren't rich can get expensive electronics
for free. There is a point to the program, but it's not to promote
your interests at the expense of the company's: it's to convince you
that the best way you can pursue your own interests is a way that
serves them as well. It works exactly the same way that a casino is
not going to give me all the benefits they give their high rollers
just because I'm prepared to lose all my money at their casino -- it
matters to them how much money I have to lose.

And you can throw a hissy fit about how you didn't familiarize
yourself with the terms of your agreement and now you want them to act
in your interest but against theirs all you want, but it's not going
to work. By your own admission giving you things to which you are not
entitled isn't going to result in a windfall for them: so what
incentive could their possibly be for them making a special exception
to the rules for you?

You should stay away from Credit Cards in the first place. If you play
with snakes, you are going to get bit.

Failure to read and comply by the terms of the agreement made with the
company does not constitute poor business practices on their part.
The consumer base in this country needs to start educating themselves
about the programs in which they participate and start taking
responsibility for their own failure to read and understand the terms.

Brian,

You can start cancelling and not purchasing SONY Products because they
have no cause to rewrite the terms of their Point Agreement to
accomodate you.

Look at it from a business owner perspective...do you think it would
be a wise busines decision to allocate points that don't expire?

Enuff said.

BillR.

I was almost sympathetic to the OP when I thought maybe the
points expired within a few months. But five years?! Come on!
That's just ridiculous. If his complaint had been that they expired
before he had a chance to use them that would have been one
thing. I'd say five years is plenty of time to redeem them, though.