DVD Talk Forum - Problems with Reward Zone e-mail certificates

Here's my horrible, terrible, awful experience with Reward Zone email certificates and the Reward Zone customer serv...(I can't type it with a straight face...). This is a long post, but it's been an ongoing saga for almost a month.....

Recently I saw a message on the Reward Zone site that members could now opt to receive their reward certificates via e-mail to speed up delivery, and sometime this past September I signed up for it.

I received my first email certificate 10/01/04, with the subject heading, "Here are your reward certificates!" As advised in the email, I tried to print it out immediately, but when I clicked the embedded link, it continued to hang during the "Loading" process and I was not able to print it out. I called Reward Zone customer service and spoke to a rep that informed me that they were performing system maintenance and that I should try to print it again later. I waited till later, tried again, and still the certificate would not load.

I called Reward Zone customer service again and spoke to a different rep, who informed me that the first email I received was actually a "test" email for the reward certificates program. She said the link to the certificate was not live (though there was nothing in the email to inform me of this) and that a second email with the "real" certificate would be mailed to me within a week. Another email did arrive on 10/05/04, but confusingly it did not contain any mention of my reward certificate. It was just an ad for Reward Zone specials. So, I continued to wait in good faith for that next reward certificate email to arrive.

It still had not arrived by 10/12/04, and at that point I was convinced it wasn't on its way to me. I called Reward Zone customer service again, and spoke to another rep who informed me that he would have to void that first email certificate and issue another one. He said it would take 7 to 10 days for the new one to arrive. He could not give me a satisfactory answer as to why I would now have to wait another 7 to 10 days when I should have received a working email almost 2 weeks before.

I sent an email to [email protected] asking why I would have to wait so long, and received an email from a rep who suggested that I change the email address in my profile to a non-Hotmail address, make sure I have the current Explorer browser and check that Java script is on. At this point I should mention that all of my internet settings are correct, I connect without problem via a cable modem, I have the most recent Microsoft Internet Explorer Browser, Cookies and Javascript have always been enabled, and I clear my cache regularly. She said that I would then receive my certificate within 7 to 10 days, but neglected to explain why.

I logged into my Reward Zone account successfully to the point where I could see all my transactions. However, when I clicked on "My profile" to edit it, I was always brought right back to the Reward Zone "Welcome" screen. (Incidentally, I have had this problem before getting into my profile, and when I called Reward Zone about that problem, I was given the "we're performing system maintenance, please try again later" excuse for that as well.) Since I couldn't get into my profile to change my email address, I called Reward Zone customer service to see what the problem was. I spoke to a nice rep who was able to get into my profile and change my email address. He informed me that Reward Zone had just discovered the Hotmail incompatibility. I would not have signed up with a Hotmail address if I had been informed of that in the beginning. He also confirmed that my certificate would arrive within 7 to 10 days.

I then emailed Reward Zone customer service again to mention the trouble I had getting into "My profile" (while I had no trouble logging into my account transactions), and to see if my certificate could be hurried through instead of having to wait the additional 7 to 10 days since all of the delays so far had been on Reward Zone's end. She wrote back that I should check my internet connection and clear my cache if I'm having trouble logging into my Reward Zone account (as explained above, that's not the problem) and that she can confirm that my certificate would arrive in 7 to 10 days. Again, no explanations as to why it would still take so long, seeing as how I should have received this back on 10/01/04. It was now 10/17/04.

I waited the 10 days, and nothing arrived. Today, 10/27/04, I called Reward Zone customer service yet again. I spoke to a very nice rep who informed me that despite the earlier email claim to the contrary, my certificate had not been submitted for a reissue by the previous rep! The new rep now submitted the request to reissue the certificate and told me that it would arrive in yes.... 7 to 10 days. I told him that it really didn't seem fair, since I have been already waiting about 4 weeks for it, and that most of the delay was caused by Reward Zone employees giving me erroneous information. I asked if there was a supervisor I could speak to and he transferred me to his supervisor.

I found the supervisor to be unyielding and unwilling to be helpful right from the start. She immediately stated that she was aware that I was looking to have my certificate expedited and that she refused to do that. I asked if I could explain the whole story to her. She agreed to listen but again stated that she refused to expedite my certificate. So I then explained the entire situation to her just as I have written it above. She continued to exclaim over and over that she refused to expedite my certificate, but she wouldn't tell me why. The closest she got to an explanation was that she refused to put my claim ahead of everyone else's. I replied that it's not like I would be butting ahead of anyone, since I actually earned this certificate almost a month ago, and that it was only due to several Reward Zone employee's mistakes and misinformation that it was delayed this long. She disagreed, said that she felt that I would be butting ahead of everyone and that she refused to do anything to expedite my certificate. She said I would have to wait the additional 7 to 10 days. I asked her if there was someone lese I could speak to about the situation. She said she was the highest point I could speak to. I asked her if she had a boss. She said yes, and that she would not allow me to speak to them. I asked for her boss' name and she refused to give that to me. I told her that I would then take my Reward Zone card to my local Best Buy, turn it in and get a refund on my membership, since I paid to renew it this year. She retorted that I couldn't do that since members only have 30 to request a refund. She then exclaimed that if there was nothing else she had to go, and then hung up on me.

Now, I have spent many of my younger years at all levels in retail. I also spent over 10 years managing video rental stores. I know what it's like to be on both sides of the counter. The one thing I valued above all else, and I made sure to emphasize this to all employees in my charge, was a sense of exemplary customer service. There's so much competition these days, it's what helps keeps retail establishments in business. I do not feel my request was unreasonable. I should have received that certificate many weeks ago. Instead of arrogantly refusing my request, why could she have not thought, "OK, this poor guy has jumped through enough hoops to get his certificate due to our mistakes, so I'll do what I can to shorten his wait"?

I then called Best Buy corporate and spoke to a woman who explained that while she didn't have any jurisdiction over Reward Zone, she offered to put me on hold while she placed a call to Reward Zone to see if she could help expedite my certificate. After a few minutes on hold, she came back onto the line and said no one from Reward Zone would talk to her since she was not a card-carrying member!

Next, out of desperation, I called my local Best Buy and spoke to a manager. I explained the entire story once again and said that I now just wanted out of Reward Zone, that it's just not worth being spoken to as the supervisor had spoken to me. I told him I know that I'm past the refund window, but asked if there was anything he could do to help me. He said that it's very hard to cancel and refund a Reward Zone membership this late in the game, but given the tough time I had he was willing to make an exception. So on Thursday 10/28/04 I'll be stopping by my local Best Buy to turn in my Reward Zone card!