Freak Flier Program Fraud - Does Any Agnecy Regulate These Airlines?

I'm sure this or something similar has never happened to any of you)

United:

United promises 5000 miles if you buy something with their VISA from their
online shopping mall before new year 2003. Fine print says the miles
will be delivered in 6-8 weeks. 8 weeks have gone by, no miles.
you call customer service. They say, "Sorry, nothing they can do about
it. Marketing Dept. makes promises that simply aren't kept." Be patient.
Maybe the miles will appear in one or two more weeks. For sure by
June 2004. That's 6 months not 6 weeks!

Lufthansa:

You get an offer for a VISA card in the mail. Annual fee $30 Preferred,
$60 Premium. You fill out the application and scratch your head. Where's
the box or choice that says which program, preferred or premium, to chose?
You call customer service at affiliated MNBA. "Oh, that's decided
automatically for you".

SwissAir:

Back when I was with Qualiflyer I have never ever taken a flight with
this company where they have not droped or lost miles.

The question I have is as follows. Is there any agency, US or
International, which regulates fraud associated with these frequent
flier programs? Where can one go to effectively complain or sue or
do something about it if they are shafted?

Jack SaturnOwner wrote:
I'm sure this or something similar has never happened to any of you)

United:

United promises 5000 miles if you buy something with their VISA from their
online shopping mall before new year 2003. Fine print says the miles
will be delivered in 6-8 weeks. 8 weeks have gone by, no miles.
you call customer service. They say, "Sorry, nothing they can do about
it. Marketing Dept. makes promises that simply aren't kept." Be patient.
Maybe the miles will appear in one or two more weeks. For sure by
June 2004. That's 6 months not 6 weeks!

Lufthansa:

You get an offer for a VISA card in the mail. Annual fee $30 Preferred,
$60 Premium. You fill out the application and scratch your head. Where's
the box or choice that says which program, preferred or premium, to chose?
You call customer service at affiliated MNBA. "Oh, that's decided
automatically for you".

SwissAir:

Back when I was with Qualiflyer I have never ever taken a flight with
this company where they have not droped or lost miles.

The question I have is as follows. Is there any agency, US or
International, which regulates fraud associated with these frequent
flier programs? Where can one go to effectively complain or sue or
do something about it if they are shafted?

You could generally sue in a court that has jurisdiction over a location
where they have a physical presence. Small claims court might be a place
for the missing miles if they don't show up, but you should first notify
the airline or partner in writing. You might also check the rules of the
FF program to see if you aren't required to settle in another manner
such as arbitration.

However, none of these really sound like fraud. Poor customer service
or contract violations, perhaps, but that isn't fraud. I haven't seen
any miles go missing from the airlines I fly in quite a while. Hotel and
car rental partners seem to be problems at times, but I generally
believe it is do to employees not keying in the correct data. The
Lufthansa credit card thing sounds odd, but where is the fraud?
Presumably, you read the fine print and agree to the terms as written or
you don't sign it.

Jack SaturnOwner schrieb:


SwissAir:


SwissAir is dead.

Regards, ULF

Well, there are three cases here.

In the case of United, I believe it's fraud. They made a contract
to give me this for that within a specified time frame. I kept my word,
they broke theirs.

In the case of Lufthansa, agreed, it may not be outright fraud, but
it does constitute sneaky, slimy, and deceptive business practices
in my book.

In the case of Swissair, I would use an analogy. In California
they discovered a big business involving checkout scanner price
errors. They did a study and found that N% of the time the error
is in the favor of the store, and tallied the total earnings to be
in the billions of dollars statewide over a period of something like
a year.

Jack SaturnOwner wrote:

Well, there are three cases here.

In the case of United, I believe it's fraud. They made a contract
to give me this for that within a specified time frame. I kept my word,
they broke theirs.

Why is that fraud and not breach of contract?
Do you really think there goal was to not give you the miles when they
dole them out so quickly to other people?

In the case of Swissair, I would use an analogy. In California
they discovered a big business involving checkout scanner price
errors.

That might be because people are more liklely to complain when the price
is scanned too high, but not when it is scanned too low.

Why is that fraud and not breach of contract?

Call it what you will. Fraud, breach of contract, etc. These big
corporations these days shaft you. That much is clear. What is not
clear is what to call it or how to react. Theoretically you
can go fight windmills like Don Quiqote in court. Practically that
is not a viable option. The big firms rely on that. This reinforces
their ability to shaft you even more.

My father who is retired and has time to jerk around in court tried
to sue Firestone for tires that fell apart after 3000 miles on the road.
He found out that it was practically impossible for the lay person to
figure out the company name and address. Without that information you
cannot sue a company. He finally asked a lawyer friend what's going on?
It turns out that there are agents who represent subsidiaries who represent
agencies who act as front companies for big corporations. Just to get
the name and address of the right entity to sue is a small miracle.
This information is only available to lawyers through contacts. And
lawyers will not lift a finger for cases under $5000.

That might be because people are more liklely to complain when the price
is scanned too high, but not when it is scanned too low.

In the previous post I mentioned how the state of California did a study
and found that the errors were biased in favor of the stores to the
order of something like 1/2 billion dollars a year.

On 3 Mar 2004 10:10:51 -0800, (Jack SaturnOwner)
wrote:

Why is that fraud and not breach of contract?

Call it what you will. Fraud, breach of contract, etc. These big
corporations these days shaft you. That much is clear. What is not
clear is what to call it or how to react. Theoretically you
can go fight windmills like Don Quiqote in court. Practically that
is not a viable option. The big firms rely on that. This reinforces
their ability to shaft you even more.

My father who is retired and has time to jerk around in court tried
to sue Firestone for tires that fell apart after 3000 miles on the road.
He found out that it was practically impossible for the lay person to
figure out the company name and address. Without that information you
cannot sue a company. He finally asked a lawyer friend what's going on?
It turns out that there are agents who represent subsidiaries who represent
agencies who act as front companies for big corporations. Just to get
the name and address of the right entity to sue is a small miracle.
This information is only available to lawyers through contacts.
snip
BZZZT! Wrong. Call the office of the Secretary of State for the state they
are incorporated in (start with home state, then try Delaware) and ask for
the name of their Registered Agent. Problem solved.
--
Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT.