Has anyone actually used these offers?

[alig4th]

Thinking about the myriad of offers I have across my AMEX cards, and overlapping that with how many are of any actual value or interest to me (newsflash: there aren’t many!) got me thinking about some of the more – in my eyes – ridiculous ones. I get hotels, I get high end stores, I get restaurants and electronics goods and clothes and sporting goods, but some of the more ridiculous that jump out at me:

– Spruce Water
– Harmless dog waste bags
– and £1 back on pet insurance (can’t remember what company)

Out of morbid interest, has anyone actually used these? More specifically, has anyone gone out of their way to use these or changed their buying habit/preference because of these offers?

What’s everyone else’s “most ridiculous” offer that you’ve seen on an AMEX card

[Rich_A]

Not Amex, but I did once get offered 10p off a packet of Immodium from a Sainsbury’s till-spit. Either they grossly overestimated my eye for a bargain, or they knew something I didn’t…

[davefl]

Rich_A wrote:

Not Amex, but I did once get offered 10p off a packet of Immodium from a Sainsbury’s till-spit. Either they grossly overestimated my eye for a bargain, or they knew something I didn’t…

That’s a good deal in terms of cash value – morrisons thought they could entice me into the store with 10% off a cucumber last week!

[Dudulle]

the offers are basically advertising. when you think of it that way it makes sense. It’s not like Amex is giving you money back on those themselves.
That’s the point of having to activate each offer. You need to go look at the offers and doing so you find things that you might otherwise not buy.

[alig4th]

I’ll admit I’m very susceptible to a Pizza Hut advert on TV (I want to order one just writing this!) but I honestly can’t say that I’ve rushed out to buy anything based on having an AMEX offer or even thought “ooh, that sounds like a good company, I must go back and look at their products in the future”… Dog-bags and vitamin water included. Quite the opposite: once I take one look at the website of a company I’ve never heard of and decided it’s overpriced/doesn’t offer me anything I’d ever want, there’s more chance of me hearing the name in future and dismissing it without re-checking having made my mind up after that initial look.

But clearly I’m not who those adverts are targeting… I’m not a dog-walking healthy-drinking gym-bunny who need Co-Op life insurance (although maybe I do need Co-Op life insurance given I’m not going to the gym…)

[Supergers49]

Beer52 Subscription – Between an Amex statement credit, TCB and Nectar Connect I think Beer52 were effectively paying me to drink their first box of beer on subscription. They were bl00dy awful, so there was no second box for me.