This is actually very relevant for me, as I still have a Yahoo! credit card, and Yahoo! Points is their rewards program. Of course, the card has been bought 2-3 times and is now part of Chase. Cardholders were also just notified that our points would cease to exist in June, and they apparently won’t be transferred to the new system. Needless to say, after having this card for something like eight years, Chase is probably going to lose a customer.
Yahoo Points Forgotten and Now Gone
By Mike Maddaloni on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 08:52 AM with 6 comments
Last week I got an email from Yahoo telling me their points program, Yahoo Points, was being discontinued as of June 30, 2007 and if I do not redeem my points as of that date, I will lose them.
My first reaction to this was, “Yahoo Points?” I had to think back as to when I may have earned or redeemed these points. After logging into the Points site and looking at my points history, it has been 4 years, so no wonder I forgot. This took me back to a time when buying online through Yahoo Shopping was a preferred way for me, as Yahoo’s buyer protection was leading-edge at the time. Today I am buying more through Amazon and eBay and I can’t remember the last time I bought something through Yahoo. Another way to earn points was with your Yahoo credit card.
It looks like Yahoo has already stripped most of the functionality from the site, including some cascading style sheets. I have a couple hundred points in my account, but you need a minimum of 1,000 points to redeem anything – even a charity donation. So they will sit there and wither and die; another victim of the Darwinism of the Internet.
Technology • (6) Comments • PermalinkComments
Comment by Sorry to hear that Pete - hopefully you have enough points for something good!
Chase losing a customer is like a dog losing a flea - affinity cards rely on their partners to market them, and I am sure Chase has some form of exis clause on this that takes care of them. I ahve always been more fond of hotel cards myself.
mp/m
Comment by Yes, I doubt my blog comment will change Chase’s business model. Still, I think the biggest companies need to realize that all of the tiny bites eventually add up to a gaping wound. Switching cards is so easy, and consumers have so little loyalty (payback for the lack of loyalty shown to them); I think banks are starting to realize that they actually have to provide some service.
Hey, how about some Hot Iron points?The only thing worse than credit card points is trying to get your rebates back from cable providers. In either case, they design the program so as to avoid having to pay out anything.
Comment by Don Pedroon 04/12/07 at 08:36 AM
I know people who have “miles” or points through their credit card and they love it. Any of my cards that earn points are tied to a hotel or airline program, and the points accumulate with the airline or hotel program with the points I earn directly, which tends to be a lot easier to redeem for me.
mp/m
I’d settle for a lower percentage rate. No free lunches, you pay for your airline upgrade in one way or another.
Comment by Don Pedroon 04/12/07 at 10:38 AM
Post a Comment
Note: Comment moderation is active, and your comment will be viewable once it is reviewed.
Subscribe to The Hot Iron
The Hot Iron strives to present unique content and point-of-view on business, technology and other topics by Mike Maddaloni, a technology strategist based in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Photo credit: Logan Connor/Oomphotography
Follow Mike on Mastodon.
Value for Value
If you like what you are reading on The Hot Iron, buy me a coffee!
About Links
In posts here at The Hot Iron there are often links and banner ads for products and services. For some of these links and banner ads, I receive compensation if you click and/or eventually buy said products or services. Where most links are marked as such, it is safe to assume any link or banner ad is a compensated one.