I have had a Bank of America American Express for years. I’d accumulated up more than 60,000 points that I’d never used. This year I decided to order gift cards for friends and family using my points as part of my Christmas purchases. I ordered four gift cards through the World Pionts web site on November 26, 2008 as Christmas gifts. Days before Christmas I realized three of the four cards were never received by my family members. I had to repurchase gifts at the last minute and spend excessive fees for last minute shipping.
There’s no way to respond by email or get help online through WorldPoints. I had to spend 25 minutes on the phone following up on this. I was transferred four times. The third person I talked to said the cards were probably sent and lost. I told him right then and there, come on! Think about it, four different cards going four different places and three of them lost. The common denominator is where they were sent from. What’s the probability that 75% of my gift cards wouldn’t make it??? The last guy I talked to, Cameron, said their gift card center has a 100% send rate! Well based on my numbers those cards only have a 75% “RECEIVE RATE.” My cards where going to four different addresses as gifts and three of them never got there. What’s the probability that they would get lost or stolen from California, New Mexico and Ohio? Hello! Do you train your call staff to treat customers like they are retarded or do you just hire ignorant people? There’s just no way.
I was told they would credit 10,500 points back to my account for the lost cards. Cameron told me, I’d hear back in five days if they investigate it and the cards have been used. If the cards are unused, it could take two weeks till the points are refunded to my account.
My hope is that my account is credited and all is well in the world. My concern is that I a) hear back that the cards where used and get some more run around about getting my points returned or b) I don’t hear back at all.
I’ve put it on my calendar to check back and will post on this page and four others how this progresses or is resolved.
I’m sure lots of people never receive what they’ve ordered with points and don’t have 30 minutes to sit on the phone following up about it. At least these posts will get the information out there so negative patterns can be more easily identified by consumers.
If you’re getting a card or using a card for World Points, think twice. I pay mine off each month and primarily was using it to build up points, depending on the outcome of this situation, I will be rethinking the use of my Bank of America American Express World Points.
Has anyone else had issues with this?
Be sure, I’ll post again with updates.
Subscribe to anyone
Worldpoints has now taken over my favorite credit card, the Bank of America NCL cruise card. In the past, I was able to go on an NCL cruise for free after spending $33,000. Now the Worldpoints has taken over, I need to spend three (3) times as much for the same reward. I am not a happy cruiser, thanks to WorldPoints.
Mike on February 13th, 2009 at 3:49 pm | Link
I use world points for air travel and i just called the 800# and while i was on hold i found out there is a $15 fee for talking to a customer service representative not to mention a ten minute wait time!
cathy on February 14th, 2009 at 11:25 am | Link
2/09, we ordered four gift cards, $1000 total. Never received, they refuse to file a claim with UPS and refuse to reissue cards. Terrible company to deal with.
Lori on February 14th, 2009 at 7:30 pm | Link
We have 3,223 total available points. I have spent 2 hours on the internet trying to find our HOW to get cash back. We are canceling our account if we do not find out in the next 7 days.
Thank you, NM
Nancy S. Marts on February 14th, 2009 at 9:00 pm | Link
Ordered Movie Tix, never got them. Lots of time spent on the phone with no resolution. I’ve been taken . . . and so have you.
Peter B on February 25th, 2009 at 3:57 pm | Link
Ordered movie tix, never got them. Lots of time on the phone with no resolution. I’ve been taken and so have you.
Peter B on February 25th, 2009 at 3:58 pm | Link
My mother’s credit card was switched from LLBean to this. I thought it would work like my Chase BP. When I get $25.00 in credit, I can order a $25.00 rebate check. I cannot figure out how to get the rewards from this card. Can you do that? Any help you can give would be great.
Wendy M. on February 27th, 2009 at 8:51 pm | Link
All of you have helped me out. I’ve never paid too much attention to my points — I’ve had this World Points Mastercard with B of A for many years. With today’s economy and such I decided to cancel it — you know, one less credit card to potentially cause me trouble.
So I cancel it and right away I get a letter telling me that I will loose all those wonderful valuable World Points if I cancel the card. I’ve actually been thinking about it; possibly not canceling it for the sake of all the points I’ve built up.
You all have convinced me the darn points are not worth the hassle. I’m canceling the card. Thanks.
Chris C. on March 15th, 2009 at 4:51 pm | Link
Deal with world points like they were a SNAKE because they are.
Jerry Moore on March 26th, 2009 at 6:35 am | Link
i have used BOA AMEX world points for three years now exclusively for
flights on DELTA . It has worked very well for many years. This year it has been a little more of a challenge since the website for air travel will not let you pick the airline you wish unless you use the more expensive
choice of flex-travel rather than the standard travel site. The flex-travel can be 3 times as costly.
I did get 2 tickets to mexico for Feb at 35,000 miles each. i did get delta miles and then DELTA us to First Class. This was a bargain.
cary r. on March 30th, 2009 at 12:58 pm | Link
I got the credit card when I got a letter telling me they would donate my WorldPoints to my favorite charity, Oxfam. It ends up that I could find no mechanism by which WorldsPoints would give my points to Oxfam or to any other charity. When I called, neither the person I spoke with nor her manager had ever heard of Oxfam or of the offer I had received. I am still baffled as to why or how they sent me the letter in the first place. Was the whole promotion just a lie?
Mike U. on April 12th, 2009 at 1:35 pm | Link
Hey Mike,
It may behoove you to check your credit report. This sounds like it could have been some sort of phishing scam or other type of scam. However, these credit card companies are the largest scammer’s and ripoff artists the American people have ever seen. It would not surprise me it was a lie to get your business.
mark on April 12th, 2009 at 2:30 pm | Link
I’m trying in vain to figure out how to redeem some of my flippin points, and I found on BoA’s website this useful tidbit:
Q:How can I redeem WorldPoints rewards for merchandise?
A: You may redeem WorldPoints rewards online for merchandise.
Thanks for the help, Bank of America!
At least now I know not to be surprised when they screw up my order too.
Carolyn on May 17th, 2009 at 6:50 am | Link
we have all our money tied up w/this flipping bank and i swear they charge you for every single thing they say payments are due on a day and if thats a sat or sunday you have to pay it by 3pm friday. then why the hell is the date on the sunday? so im charged a 35.00 late fee for paying my cc a day before its due?then their bonus miles…like many commented before…transfered a million times to a million people and never resolved the issue and when i tried to go online to their website i get a popup stating its not a safe site and my information could be transmitted to others which is unsettling for me just to redeem a few points to see thomas the train w/my son. so as far as im concerned bank of america stinks. i cant figure out why banks arent doing well they sure seem to suck every extra penny out of me……..ahh.
suzanne mazzara on May 20th, 2009 at 9:46 pm | Link
Anyone who is thinking of opening a Bank of America credit card for their world points program should rethink the idea. DON’T DO IT! I opened an NCL credit card for a very good NCL rewards program. Nine months later BofA discontinued the program and rolled it into their rewards program that requires three times the spending.
Ward Strang on June 9th, 2009 at 10:27 am | Link
I, too, have had unbelievable difficulty with WorldPoints, B of A and FIA card services. Not to mention that the phone banks only have options for people wanting to do things, not having problems… then I end up pressing “0″ and getting the wrong person anyhow. It’s been 3 different days of calling, 6 transfers, and I have to give my name and birthdate every time…it’s exhausting.
Pearl on June 17th, 2009 at 1:25 pm | Link
I stopped using my b of a world points due to inflation of points needed for any and all flights. 25,000 is a joke! It is at least 35,000 to 45,000 for anything I try for. Now trying to get a $250 gift card for the balance. Consumers Reports has been saying for years to just get the best cash back card and pay for airline deals as they come up.
I got the blue amex that pays back 1.5% on the first $5,000 per year in charges, then 5%!
JohnGriffin on July 9th, 2009 at 8:44 am | Link
I have had nothing but a nightmare attempting to book a trip using my Bank of America Visa card through Worldpoints. I am currently attempting to register just so I can see my balance and get the shock when I find out the outrageous number of points I will need to use up. I agree with a couple of the other posts who say that they are just cashing in and looking for airline deals.
Joyce L.
Joyce Leonard on July 11th, 2009 at 2:43 pm | Link
Thank you. I am pleased to read your article.
banchoco on July 12th, 2009 at 1:08 am | Link
I realized today that I never received my $50 gift card (10,000 points) that I redeemed almost a month ago. I’m not even going to bother with customer service. Just to note I redeemed my Amex points the same day and received my giftcard within a week.
pb on July 16th, 2009 at 5:06 pm | Link
I will not go into the LONG story of how B.O.A. messed me around with a “interest free” loan. I cashed in some my 401K paid them off and closed my account. Then I received a letter from American Express telling since I was such a good customer with out standing credit they were offering me a fabulous new card with more bonus points and would transfer my present points to it. So I agreed and when I received the card it is BANK OF AMERICA -(across the top) American EXPRESS (at the bottom).This is after I told off any and everybody at B.O.A. along with they should be sued!! And good luck to anyone who has the time and effort cashing them in!! Not to mention the amount of points it takes for a tissue. I have gone back to mt tried and TRUE Discover Card. Carol.
carol ferguson on July 30th, 2009 at 7:43 pm | Link
Oh dear. I was telling my 93 year old mother that paying for her mail order prescriptions with her B of A credit card was a good thing because of the World Points. She became so enthusiastic, as she’s always worrying about money. So I then went on the website and became frustrated trying to figure out how to redeem her bonus points. Well, so much for that!
Miriam Greenwald on August 2nd, 2009 at 1:21 pm | Link
We have Bank of America Visa cards and have cashed in World Points in the past for restaurant gift cards and had no problem, however, in January we opted for World Points Debit cards thinking they would be more flexible. We also received them in a reasonable amount of time. Not paying to much attention, we held onto them until we wanted to use them on a larger purchase. We attempted to use them in June only to find out they have a THREE MONTH LIFE!!! Sure enough, there is an expiration date on the card. I called Visa, World Points, and Bank of America to complain. It did no good. I now have $250 in useless cards. On the other hand, I had a Bass Pro Shops gift card that I forgot I had. After a year I thought that was no good too. I called Bass Pro and they said “No Problem” and sent me a new one.
Larry Paulsen on August 17th, 2009 at 11:15 am | Link
call and complain to your congressman…..
Kathy Patton on September 26th, 2009 at 3:26 pm | Link
I can seem to find out either how to get their “cash back” option. The site keeps directing me to the general BPA site but there is no cash back option icon that I can find. If I have a bad experience with redeeming my points, I will cancell and go over to AMEX.
Frustrated to read this! on October 14th, 2009 at 7:41 pm | Link
ABSOUTELY terrible. I have been bumped back and forth for over half an hour trying to get a gift card that I ordered 2 months ago that never came. They are not helpful, understanding or sympathetic in the slightest. Do NOT use world points, it’s a complete scam and you will never see any of these so called rewards that you have been building up.
Kristen on October 20th, 2009 at 2:11 pm | Link
Alright guys, after entirely too long on the phone with some horrible people, I finally resorted back to Bank of America instead of the World Points scammers. I had the representative speak to them on my behalf and find the whereabouts of the gift card that I had ordered months ago. She was very helpful and gave me this number in case it doesn’t show up after all. 1-800-434-8313. Hope that helps ease your frustrations as much as it did mine!!
Kristen on October 20th, 2009 at 3:14 pm | Link
I TOO HAVE SPENT MANY AN HOUR TRYING TO REDEAM MY POINTS AND CANT FIND THE CORRECT SITE TO REDEAM,WHAT GOOD ARE THEY IF YOU CANT HAVE AN EASILLY ACCESSABLE WAY TO REDEAM THEM,I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME BEING COMPUTER ILLERATE BUT I SEE OTHERS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM.
KAREN COOL on October 31st, 2009 at 7:09 am | Link
It’s not that you are just computer illiterate, its that you are illiterate in general. Redeem is not spelled “redeam.” Maybe that is why your google searches are not coming up with the right website.
Jeff Mirs on November 11th, 2009 at 3:24 pm | Link
Jeff, I was really excited to read your comment until I saw that you put “its” instead of “it’s”. As a fellow spelling/grammar police, I think you let us all down.
That said, word. Karen Cool, I’m surprised you were able to get online to even post your error-riddled comment.
The Society For ________ on November 11th, 2009 at 7:55 pm | Link
Hmm!! Never had an issue with Bank of America World Points. Its all good.
Brian on December 6th, 2009 at 8:44 am | Link
Just got my NCL worldpoints card a few months back. After reading these comments I wish I didn’t.
tom steimer on December 20th, 2009 at 2:46 pm | Link
I am new at this game. I thought i had a simple request .
all i requested was a points catalog. I went to local branch bank,
no luck, they gave me a web site. Well after two days on the
computer and at least four hours on the phone still no luck.
this service is awful. i could not even find anyone to show me
which air flights cost how many points.
god help anyone who tries to use this service,
ray reynolds
l.r. reynolds on December 24th, 2009 at 3:18 pm | Link
The worst! I went on the website…not user friendly! I tried to book a hotel on the website. I did not have enough points to cover the hole cost. I had 15000 points, it required around 35000 points for all 3 nights at the hotel. My remaining balance to be paid was $240. That seamed a bit high for a three night stay. I went to Orbits and found $150 was the running price. I thought that the hotel must be a really nice one. I checked on the hotels website. The hotel priced me at $243. All my point saved me 3 dollars!
Called and waited 30 min for some kind of explanation. In the end no explanation was given and I did not want to wait on the phone any longer. I cashed in my points for $140.
The BOA people were vary nice but the company running their points redemption system is awful. I think it best to cash in your points and not use them for flights or hotels. BOA should really consider reforming this process or rebidding to another company.
Michael M. on December 28th, 2009 at 9:32 am | Link
To Suzanne M’s comments on May 20th:
Your comments are correct. B of A will charge you a late fee if you pay your credit card due Sat. or Sun., (”non-business days”), after 3 or 4 pm on Fri. I found this out the hard way. I was going out of town for the weekend and my statement was due on Sun. I stopped into a branch of the bank to pay my credit card off in full, (and “early”), around 3:30 pm. I waited in line more than 1/2 hr. and the payment was posted about 4 p.m. Imagine my surprise when I found a “late fee” of $35 on my next statement. After alot of angry words and time spent on the phone talking to staff in foreign countries, I finally spoke to a “supervisor” in the USA. They stated that since I had been such a “good customer” for the last 9 yrs., they would remove my “late fee”. So much for paying them off early. They had my money for 2 1/2 days yet they wanted to charge me extra. So for all of you reading this-watch the day of the wk. when your statement is due. You may be able to avoid those fees by scheduling the payment online. I think you may possibly be able to schedule on a Sat., but to be safe, I just schedule the transfer of funds on a week/”business” day. As far as the redemption of pts. goes- I did order some “gifts” which I received within a week. I haven’t tried the gift cards, but by looking at your comments, I will pass this option up. I wanted to use this card for travel, (that’s why I got it from the other bank which had a decent program), but when I tried to use it recently, and I saw how many pts./ticket it would take to fly to CA, I decided to take my chances with the airlines themselves. One other thing-after 5 yrs., your pts. start “expiring” depending on how many you received in the month 5 yrs. before. I’ve been forced to use them monthly on these “gifts” before they expire. That will be a pain in the rear now that I won’t be able to use them on the gift cards. Guess I’ll have to keep an eye out for a better “credit card w/benefits.”
Marlene W.C. on December 29th, 2009 at 2:26 am | Link
World Points isnt the only thing Bank of America needs help with. How about Common Sence, Integrity and just all around “Doing the Right Thing” hell isnt that one of there catch phrase advertisements!!
Yep, another dissatisified BOA and WorldPoints fan. Booked a hotel, found out WorldPoints misrepresented the hotel in its photos, and that AFTER researching the hotel on a separate website, I found out the place was a “dive”. Within an hour I called WorldPoints to cancel the reservation and was told that I was inside the 72 hour cancellation window and had to be charged one day (at the hotel)…I told them that THEY misled me via their advertisement and I shouldn’t be charged for their “bait and switch” game. They didn’t care, so I called Paul and asshole and hung up. Spent over an hour talking to 3 BOA supervisors and was told that WorldPoints is “a separate entity” from BOA and that they really couldn’t help me. Bottom line, “points” are a gimmick = scam.
Daniel on December 30th, 2009 at 12:48 am | Link
One more thing - the WorldPoints website certainly gives you the sense that it is run by BOA, but from what I understand from BOA employees, it is a separate entity, especially the lodging and travel portions, that are apparently a third-party travel agency, so watch out for them. We all know that these are businesses…and their goal is to make money, not customer satisfaction - I know that WorldPoints did a “bait & switch” number on me and they WILL TAKE YOU TOO - by hook or by crook! Who’s in charge of WorldPoints? Well, the BOA logo is on the top of all WorldPoint web pages - so misrepresentation seems to be the way these crooks work. So don’t feel bad the next time you hear about a bank robbery. Just remember that the alledged crook has is really his own tax money that bailed out the banks in the first place. Where’s Robin Hood when you need him! LOL
Daniel on December 30th, 2009 at 1:00 am | Link
Same old same old. We accrued almost enough points for 2 tickets which we wanted to buy through Southwest Airlines. My husband spent 1 and half hrs. putting all the stuff in only to have the “internal error” message over and over again. The next morning we spent another hour and half with an agent from world points. He was also unsuccessful. Then a third agent tried. Couldn’t do it either. Got a BofA agent on the line with a world points agent–and the two of them together blamed Southwest for not cooperating. Evidently Southwest’s price was not beamed into world points’ computer and they could not put it through. But Southwest claimed they simply had to call them to get it fixed. So after spending all day trying to use our points, we decided to forget world points. We told the BofA agent that we would be canceling our credit card, since the only reason we got it was to use the points for airline tickets. We’re going to try and get cash back at the end of this billing period, but it looks like that will take all day or be impossible as well. Has anyone tried CHASE?
Elaine on January 11th, 2010 at 6:32 pm | Link
Same old same old. We accrued almost enough points for 2 tickets which we wanted to buy through Southwest Airlines. My husband spent 1 and half hrs. putting all the stuff in only to have the “internal error” message over and over again. The next morning we spent another hour and half with an agent from world points. He was also unsuccessful. Then a third agent tried. Couldn’t do it either. Got a BofA agent on the line with a world points agent–and the two of them together blamed Southwest for not cooperating. Evidently Southwest’s price was not beamed into world points’ computer and they could not put it through. But Southwest claimed they simply had to call them to get it fixed. So after spending all day trying to use our points, we decided to forget world points. We told the BofA agent that we would be canceling our credit card, since the only reason we got it was to use the points for airline tickets. We’re going to try and get cash back at the end of this billing period, but it looks like that will take all day or be impossible as well. Has anyone tried CHASE?
Elaine on January 11th, 2010 at 6:33 pm | Link
I finally got smart and cashed in my points from this awful program. The stress is simply not worth it, and there are many better travel award cards available. When one begins to dread the expierence of trying to schedule a trip, it’s clear that it is time to dump them. I truly do not have a clue as to how they continue to operate, but one thing is clear. THERE ARE NO BARGAINS, so I think I came out way ahead by getting cash, assuming I ever see the check.
Joyce Leonard
Joyce Leonard on January 12th, 2010 at 8:55 am | Link
I am going to simplify all of this and help the people to change the world to a better place. I’m leaving BOA completely. They are one of the many banks to have taken TAX PAYER dollars to recover themselves and are supposed to PAY BACK those dollars…then they have turned around and raised rates! So what does that mean? It means they took our money in the “BAIL OUT”, now they want MORE of OUR MONEY to pay US BACK! LOL Shut them all down!
Daniel on January 12th, 2010 at 11:25 am | Link
I had redeemed my points for a 100$ gift card and it was never received. I have been calling the world points guys every week now and they keep saying “it is under review”. The same thing happened last year when they finally found out my gift card had never been issued in the first place. I just think it is their company policy! terrible people really. I am very disappointed.
Ariel Bigelow on February 8th, 2010 at 10:14 am | Link
I redeemed my points for a $120 credit on my card balance. To date, I have not had the amount credited and no one can tell my why BUT they do know that my points have disappeared. I’ve spent several hours on the phone with various support people. Each has had a different idea and a different person to whom I should be transferred.
We used to be able to use our points for a free cruise. Not the points don’t seem to be worth much of anything but a hassle. I’m terribly dissapointed because this used to be our favorite credit card.
Paula Todd on February 12th, 2010 at 4:06 pm | Link
I have typically just redeemd my points for cash. Twice I have redeemed them for $350 and always received my check within a week.. It is probably better than just having them give you a credit on your statement. Thanks for the information about the travel and gift cards- I will never use this option!
Kris Sanders on February 27th, 2010 at 8:22 pm | Link
In response to Elaine on Jan. 11. The CHASE rewards program is 10 times worse than anything you’ve read about Bank of America World Points. Their customer support is atrocious, they transfer you to non-existent numbers that disconnect. Don’t try CHASE if you want to keep your sanity.
Benita on February 27th, 2010 at 11:58 pm | Link
how did you get them to mail you a check? I have checked the website, but cannot find a “mail check option” — only the direct deposit option. Thanks.
Jason on March 4th, 2010 at 6:34 pm | Link
I received a notice last November, 2009 that if I registered by December 31, 2009, I would receive triple rewards on qualifying purchases. On November 15, I registered, and it has been verified that the registration took place. On November 21, I purchased a freezer from Lowe’s for $454.74. On my next statement, I received the points for 454, but not the triple points I was told I would receive. I called 1-800-807-3068 and talked to Kevin, who checked and said I would receive the bonus points on my January statement. Nothing showed up on my January statement, nothing on my February statement. When I tried to call this same telephone number, all I get is a series of messages, telling me what my balance is. How do I get someone to answer a simple question????? I also wanted to inquire how to cash in the World Points??? Nothing in the literature tells me how to do it. Searching on line is just as frustrating. Obviously, you don’t want to honor the World Points commitment, or you would make it more customer friendly.
Incidentally, I collect points on another credit card, and they NOTIFY me when I have reached a certain level and ask me how I would like a cash reward, or something else. Why don’t you do this, or at least make it easier to redeem the points?
Barbara Keane on March 12th, 2010 at 11:57 am | Link
Discover has the best point program out there. I’ve only been using them for 2 years. I switched over when my LL Bean card was purchased by BOA. I always choose to have a gift card sent in exchange for points. Many of their partners allow you to exchange $40 worth of points for a $50 gift card. MBNA was a great bank too. BOA - never again.
not a fan on March 29th, 2010 at 6:30 pm | Link
How can you get a cash reward CHECk not direct deposit?????? I have reached total frustration with the Bank of America website!!!!!!
Par on May 11th, 2010 at 9:37 pm | Link
We are just trying to figure out how to use the world points. Do they really not sent you the gift cards?
Mike and Tee on June 26th, 2010 at 9:41 am | Link
I have had major issues receiving promotion points. Phone calls started in February and still not resolved. Each time was a different excuse which shows they didn’t really know what the issue was.
Errors can happen but it shouldn’t take 5 months and still not have it resolved..
Beth Christensen on July 5th, 2010 at 8:15 am | Link
I ordered two different gift cards around Dec 12, 2009 to send directly to friends for Christmas, and neither one showed up by February. I called and after a long hassle, they promised to issue new ones and write the old ones off. They said to allow 3-4 weeks for the new ones, and it was about 4-5 weeks before they came. I was never offered any compensation.
Bob L. on July 13th, 2010 at 11:12 am | Link
Since then I have ordered merchandise that was delivered promptly. I think the gift cards are easy targets for insider theft.
Bob L. on July 13th, 2010 at 11:13 am | Link
Bob L. on 7-13-2010: Please detail exactly how you successfully ordered merchandise and from which vendor it came.
Barbara Keane or anyone else who received a check in the mail in exchange for World Points: Please detail what you did to get a redemption check and with whom you spoke @ World Pts if you know.
B. Keane: Which card company notifies you when you “…have reached a certain level…” and asks if you want a cash reward or something else?
Anyone: What credit cards ARE good for airline rewards and decent APRs?
Judy H. on July 28th, 2010 at 5:58 pm | Link
In order to get cash for redeeming your points, you have to place a phone call. Within 2 minutes, I spoke to a woman customer service rep, Chavelle, and she said she could send me a check to my home or route it to my bank account, and that it didn’t even have to be a Bank of America account. It worked!
I don’t have a Bank of America account, because our branch became “Bank of #$%!!” with a managementment team that did not speak English well. I speak Spanish, but that wasn’t the language on hand. Lots of curry, if you get my drift. There was absolutely NO CUSTOMER SERVICE unless you were a man. I was ignored, and only when my husband went in, did we get service. And that’s why I have a TD Bank account!
Chris on August 20th, 2010 at 7:16 am | Link