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.

A Consumer's primary interest should alway be his own first and not
worry about the perspective of the seller. That is what competition
for the consumers dollar will decide. At the same time the Consumer
must beware and READ all the fine print. If you do not like it ...Tell
them and if you still do not like it then go elsewhere or do without
the offer. When enough consumers follow that line of thought then the
terms will become more reasonable if they wish to survive.

I win most my battles in such cases and sad to say that many of the
Companies, Banks etc, that I did not win with are no longer around.
Yet I am still here with my purchasing power.

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.

# Expiration of Sony Rewards Points

1. Sony Rewards Points shall be earned each month for each
qualified activity that the Member completes during each month.
2. Any Sony Rewards Points that are earned during the current month
shall be available for redemption for a period of (i) five (5) years
for Members who have a Sony Card registered with Sony Rewards at the
time the points are earned, subject to any limitations and conditions
contained in their Sony Card agreement with the card issuing bank; or
(ii) until March 31st of the calendar year following the calendar year
in which the points are earned for Members who are not Sony Card
holders and Members who are Sony Card holders but have not registered
their Sony Card with Sony Rewards.
3. Member acknowledges that any Sony Rewards Points that are not
redeemed during the redemption periods described in paragraph 10(b)
above shall be forfeited at the end of that period. (For example, if
500 Sony Rewards Points are earned in the month of June by a Member
who does not have a Sony Card registered with Sony Rewards, then these
500 points must be utilized by the last day of March of the following
calendar year or such Sony Rewards Points shall be forfeited.)
4. Members who have a Sony Card registered with Sony Rewards will
maintain their points for up to five years, subject to any limitations
and conditions contained in their Sony Card agreement with the card
issuing bank. For all other Members, all Sony Reward points are
automatically forfeited when the Member elects to terminate his/her
Sony Rewards membership.





You had FIVE YEARS if your card was registered with Sony Rewards and
it sounds like it was because otherwise your points would have expired
in March. FIVE YEARS! That is plenty of time for you to use your
rewards. If you weren't registered and you only had a year to use them
then that's your fault for not reading the terms and conditions.

There are lots of things you could have gotten with the rewards also,
DVDs, CDs, digital downloads, PS2 games, a PS2, PS3 games.