Reply To: IHG Creation free night certificate – recently issued?

[Lady London]

cmcbugg you’re new to Headforpoints right?

Re the shenanigans of the IHG (black) Rewards card. It’s actually run by a French company owned by BNP, called Creation.

(1) there is a special “Creation bashing” thread right here on the forum.

I think it has more posts than any other thread. By quite a wide margin.

(2) you will also find extensive commentage on Creation’s incompetence or nastiness (we’re not sure which) across many editions of each day’s Daily Chat thread on the website (ie pre-Forum). Since at least 5 weeks now.

(3) there may also be comments about Creation’s mistreatment of its consumers on any recent-ish article with “IHG” in the title.

Creation is likely going to receive quite a number of FOS complaints.

If FOS steps up to the plate, they should identify Creation’s various failures as having delivered an unfair outcome to consumers. Assuming FOS gets it right, Creation would be ordered to deliver all its promises to its consumer customers.

Unfortunately FOS has been in a bit of a mess the past few years and some would say they are not fit for purpose. They are improving however. so there is hope that if a fair-minded consumer-oriented ombudsman is assigned this within the FOS, you will receive any points due and any free nights due in exchange for your spend as well asba pro rata refund for any prepaid annual fee that covered months in which Creation denied you use of the card.

Some readers may be about to sue Creation for breach of contract at MCOL. Bad faith and unfair contract terms, not meeting clarity/transparency/fairness requirements of consumer contracts may be in there too.

A Google search : site: headforpoints.com “Creation” will pull up some of the pre-forum comments about the various things that have been going on with this IHG card. Unfortunately though as there are too many for the search to pull all of them, you’ll just get a sample.

The people who are complaining are people who have used the IHG Rewards card reasonably and within the terms and conditions that were provided when they signed up, or in accordance with any changes that were advised to them by Creation with at least 60 days notice (that Creation may or may not claim they sent, however there are a suspiciously high number of people who say they did not receive 60 days notice if closure or change of conditions before changes such as nonpayment of benefits earned by spend or closure of their card was implemented. If you didn’t use the card reasonably you’ll know who you are.