Barclaycard freedom reward points.

includemeout

I too have lost a small fortune here. My statement in June is showed my Freedom Rewards balance but there's no way to redeem it. I received a single email communication in February regarding the switch to the new scheme but I didn't read beyond "We’ll send you a reminder closer to the time with details of everything you need to do to get up and running with your Barclaycard Rewards card. Until then, you can find more information in our FAQs."

No more comms from Barclays subsequence to that email, and any reference to not being able to redeem points is buried in what looks more like an email footer than actual copy or something that warrants your attention. No message or warning when I log into the app, which I tend to do several times a week. Nothing on the statements.

It never occurred to me that my rewards would be wiped or the balance not honoured, and this feels very much like the intent was to avoid honouring as many peoples' balances as possible.

I'll definitely be contacting the Ombudsman, for what good it will do.

nantyfin

Positive result from Barclaycard. I contacted Barclaycard about my complaint because I hadn't received my final letter enabling me to refer the matter to the ombudsman. The call handler said I should reopen my original complaint before I contact the ombudsman , which I duly did. Phone call this morning saying they have upheld my original complaint and will be crediting my account with the £190 I lost in vouchers, lets wait and see.
  Looks like they are acknowledging fact they screwed up , but they will not admit it. My advice is ring Barclaycard and ask for your complaint to be reopened if you lost out with your freedom rewards points.

Bobthenob

I complained to Barclays last week (copy of complaint below) and threatened legal action and/or ombudsman. They immediately offered me the full cash equivalent (over £600) which is now sitting in my account. Here's my complaint, which certainly had the desired effect - "From speaking with your online team, your only purported justification for unilaterally depriving me of the value in my Points is your email of 12 February 2024. As I expect will be the case with many of your customers, it is only within the last few days that I have found that email in my spam folder. I have looked at that email and other material about the freedom rewards scheme and in my view 1 you have no legal basis for depriving customers of the Points 2 the email was completely inadequate to get across with sufficient clarity that you intended to deprive customers of the economic value in the Points 3 you have behaved unfairly and unreasonably, seeking to give notice via email only, which is obviously an unreliable and insecure medium, and making the contents of that email cryptic and unclear. It is clear (as many posts on forums and social media have pointed out) that the overall approach was intended to mislead customers into a false sense of security that they did not need to act in order to preserve their asset enabling you therefore to profit from walking away scot-free from the liability contained in the Points. Taking the above paragraphs in greater detail: A it is a general legal principle that a debtor (which is what Barclaycard effectively is in relation to the promises wrapped up in the Points) cannot disclaim or simply unilaterally deny the existence of their debt. The debt can only be discharged by consent or by the proper mechanism of an existing contract. Your actions, in contrast, in effect involve you simply declaring to customers that you are unilaterally refusing to honour your obligations. B Even if the February email had been delivered by some responsible means (see below) which meant that it would actually be seen by customers, it is predominantly marketing blurb about the new scheme and the only relevant point concerning the existing scheme in the main body is the statement that “you will no longer earn freedom points”. Further through the email it states the card is changing, blah blah blah, you don't need to do anything etc. it's not until 2/3 of the way down it goes on to mention the points after the statement that "you don't need to do anything" comment. Very badly communicated and appears to be intentionally misleading. Towards the end of the email buried away there are references that existing points will be lost. I don’t know what meaning you attach to the word “lost” in this context but I certainly would have assumed (without very clear words to the contrary) that, whilst the present structure of the Points would fall away, the inherent value built up over time in the Points would still be converted into some rights of equivalent value under your new scheme. It would not have occurred to me that this was supposed to mean that you would basically expropriate the Points and act in the manner as above of a debtor just declaring he was not paying his debt. If you intended something so counter-intuitive, then you should have made that abundantly clear by very plain English saying the points would be terminated and that no alternative product or cash value would be substituted for those Points. You did not do so and I have no doubt that was the intention – to cause people to do nothing and then find their asset cancelled. C In terms of the generally unprofessional and exploitative approach, the email of February was inadequate due to the fact that it was likely to finish up in spam – why was it not sent as letter and why was it not added to statements? I have mentioned above the ambiguity of what the email did say (even had it been received) The approach you are taking is totally unacceptable to me and I will escalate via the ombudsman and/or the courts in order to recover equivalent cash value of my points (or you can procure issue of equivalent value in vouchers to me if you prefer). "

includemeout

I've experience the same - full value of points in cash credited to my account following complaint to Barclays and the Ombudsman. My complaint was similar to Bob's in detailing the lack of clarity etc.

NicolaNEC

Thank you for these tips and  encouragement - on the 4th phone call, Barclays has at last refunded me! What is astonishing is that it’s apparently the telephone call handler’s personal discretion whether to refund the customer or not! Also surprising are the tactics used by the Barclays call handlers for not doing refunding: I’ve been advised that I am the only person to complain (aka the Horizon post office scandal); twice the phone call was disconnected when I ask to speak to the manger; and this morning their “personal wealth manager” said he’d have to end the call because he could another person was in the same room as me and could hear our conversation - this was even though I said I consented to my partner hearing the call and even though I then moved to another room and closed the door - that’s a new one on me!

WillPS

NicolaNEC said:

Thank you for these tips and  encouragement - on the 4th phone call, Barclays has at last refunded me! What is astonishing is that it’s apparently the telephone call handler’s personal discretion whether to refund the customer or not! Also surprising are the tactics used by the Barclays call handlers for not doing refunding: I’ve been advised that I am the only person to complain (aka the Horizon post office scandal); twice the phone call was disconnected when I ask to speak to the manger; and this morning their “personal wealth manager” said he’d have to end the call because he could another person was in the same room as me and could hear our conversation - this was even though I said I consented to my partner hearing the call and even though I then moved to another room and closed the door - that’s a new one on me!

I'd encourage you to refer your complaint to the FOS, highlighting your difficulty in getting a complaint opened.

I recently endured a similar experience with Barclays which caused me to open this thread about complaint avoidance techniques:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6546814/banks-refusing-ignoring-sidestepping-clear-requests-to-register-complaints-via-chat/p1

sbornotob

I too have just realised that freedom reward points have been lost as of using my new card… the statement i had said in June onwards said nothing about the rewards being lost….  i will now be ringing Barclays and if i get no joy i will be removing my custom…. shocking state of affairs…😡

Walkersxchange

includemeout said:

I too have lost a small fortune here. My statement in June is showed my Freedom Rewards balance but there's no way to redeem it. I received a single email communication in February regarding the switch to the new scheme but I didn't read beyond "We’ll send you a reminder closer to the time with details of everything you need to do to get up and running with your Barclaycard Rewards card. Until then, you can find more information in our FAQs."

No more comms from Barclays subsequence to that email, and any reference to not being able to redeem points is buried in what looks more like an email footer than actual copy or something that warrants your attention. No message or warning when I log into the app, which I tend to do several times a week. Nothing on the statements.

It never occurred to me that my rewards would be wiped or the balance not honoured, and this feels very much like the intent was to avoid honouring as many peoples' balances as possible.

I'll definitely be contacting the Ombudsman, for what good it will do.

I filed a complaint with the financial ombudsman which was upheld and all sorted painlessly within a 4 week period. My reward points of £210 are being credited to my account. Barclaycard have obviously dealt with the rewards scheme badly so please dont let them get away with it. 

kalpo1

I missed the deadline too but after reading this thread I contacted Barclaycard to ask them to honour my points - they initially protested but when I pressed, they credited my account with £130 with minimal fuss. I didn’t even have to raise a complaint or threaten to involve the FOS. 

Thanks for the tips!

Running_Man_2

After September complaint letter, have been refunded by Barclays for £210 Freedom Rewards ‘lost’ by scheme to end credit card. Barclays maintained that it wouldn’t refund rewards lost after 30 April 2024, but did credit the new card with nearly all of the previously earned rewards, rather pettily rounding the amount down to the nearest £10 and calling it a ‘gesture of goodwill’. When Barclays has had your credit card business continuously, merely switching you from one rewards card to another, any period of ‘no rewards’ or loss of rewards is unjustifiable. I asked for other customers to be refunded without needing either to complain or to take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Would suggest going to the Ombudsman (www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/make-complaint) if you’ve complained and have still lost out.