# shoebuy.com, 22 points per dollar, anyone tried this?



## Cascadia (Aug 19, 2009)

You guys are always so helpful about so many things, maybe you can shed a little light on the shopping for points process for me - thanks so much.

I have never tried earning points by shopping through the AGR mall. I kind of don't trust that I will get the points, I guess. How does the vendor know you are looking for the points award, on the shoebuy site it has a place to enter a promotional code, but I don't think that means you should enter your AGR member number there?

In the terms on the mall site it says "you agree to provide your AGR member number to our partners with each transaction" or something like that, but they don't have a place for you to do that in the checkout process do they?

What has your experience been, I read in the 1800 flowers thread that someone (sorry I don't have your name) writes an email to AGR with all the details of the transaction, that seems smart.

Also I was glad that I read the terms where it says, the transaction amount must be at least 50.00 to earn points! I would have overlooked that . . . .

Have you used shoebuy before? I have bought shoes online before, from a similar site, Zappos.

Sorry if this is covered elsewhere, I did go back a few pages to see if there were specific shopping threads before I posted.


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## jmbgeg (Aug 19, 2009)

Cascadia said:


> You guys are always so helpful about so many things, maybe you can shed a little light on the shopping for points process for me - thanks so much.
> I have never tried earning points by shopping through the AGR mall. I kind of don't trust that I will get the points, I guess. How does the vendor know you are looking for the points award, on the shoebuy site it has a place to enter a promotional code, but I don't think that means you should enter your AGR member number there?
> 
> In the terms on the mall site it says "you agree to provide your AGR member number to our partners with each transaction" or something like that, but they don't have a place for you to do that in the checkout process do they?
> ...


So a $100 orchase gets you 2,200 points at Shoebuy?


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## The Metropolitan (Aug 19, 2009)

I tried it two years ago and didn't get SQUAT. AGR gave me the runaround, and Shoebuy just ignored my emails to them about it.

Others have had no luck either.

For what it's worth, the shoes and price were fine, but the over 3000 point bonus I'd expected for the $160 pair of shoes never came about. I've NEVER even thought about going back to them as a result, and would advise others against it as well.

Let the Buyer Beware!


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## Ispolkom (Aug 19, 2009)

I only buy things through the AGR mall if I were going to buy them from the vendor's site anyway. That way, if the points post, great, if not, well, I wasn't expecting anything anyway.

For this reason I don't use online florists. I'd much rather contact a local florist and buy a bouquet directly. In my experience I've gotten much better value by telling the florist "I want to send a $40 bouquet to Ispolkom's mother," than choosing a particular arrangement online.

There are lots of reasons, apparently, why points won't post from a vendor. One reason is using a discount code. These are very common with Alibris, and I've found that consistently I get AGR points if I don't use a discount code, and don't get AGR points if I do.

On the other hand, last fall I ordered 3 pairs of shoes from a shoe vendor that then dropped off the AGR mall. I returned 2 pairs (why is a size 12 not always the same size?), got a refund from the shoe vendor, then got an extra 1600 AGR points as if I'd actually bought all 3 pairs. That windfall has made me more forgiving of AGR errors.

So here's what we're doing with the Shoebuy offer. Mrs. Ispolkom needs a new pair of running shoes. She'll go to the mall to try on shoes and determine which size and model she wants. We'll buy them from

Shoebuy if it's a good deal regardless of the AGR points. Otherwise we'll buy them elsewhere. In either case, of course, we'll use the AGR Mastercard.


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## Cascadia (Aug 19, 2009)

jmbgeg said:


> So a $100 orchase gets you 2,200 points at Shoebuy?


Plus the 100 point bonus, plus the double points for using the AGR card.


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## Cascadia (Aug 19, 2009)

The Metropolitan said:


> I tried it two years ago and didn't get SQUAT. AGR gave me the runaround, and Shoebuy just ignored my emails to them about it.
> Others have had no luck either.
> 
> For what it's worth, the shoes and price were fine, but the over 3000 point bonus I'd expected for the $160 pair of shoes never came about. I've NEVER even thought about going back to them as a result, and would advise others against it as well.
> ...


Thank you, I appreciate your feedback very much. If I do this I won't hold my breath!


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## Cascadia (Aug 19, 2009)

Ispolkom said:


> I only buy things through the AGR mall if I were going to buy them from the vendor's site anyway. That way, if the points post, great, if not, well, I wasn't expecting anything anyway.
> For this reason I don't use online florists. I'd much rather contact a local florist and buy a bouquet directly. In my experience I've gotten much better value by telling the florist "I want to send a $40 bouquet to Ispolkom's mother," than choosing a particular arrangement online.
> 
> There are lots of reasons, apparently, why points won't post from a vendor. One reason is using a discount code. These are very common with Alibris, and I've found that consistently I get AGR points if I don't use a discount code, and don't get AGR points if I do.
> ...


This is good advice, to get them if you were going to get them anyway. That was what I was going to do, I saw they had a pair of Keds sneakers for 27.00, free shipping, no tax, which I have been looking for a decent price on, would have bought them but it's not 50.00. I don't think I will go and try to figure out how to hit 50.00 if I can't even trust that I will get the points. If the Keds by themselves would do it, then I would have still had questions about the process and how they know you are trying to get the AGR points with your order, how is it flagged? I didn't go all the way to the end of the checkout process, usually most sites have a comment box, I could make a note in there.


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## Upstate (Aug 19, 2009)

Ispolkom said:


> So here's what we're doing with the Shoebuy offer. Mrs. Ispolkom needs a new pair of running shoes. She'll go to the mall to try on shoes and determine which size and model she wants. We'll buy them from Shoebuy if it's a good deal regardless of the AGR points. Otherwise we'll buy them elsewhere. In either case, of course, we'll use the AGR Mastercard.


If you do this make to go somewhere where it is self service or be sure the shoe salesperson does not work on commission. At one time I worked as a Bundy on commission and it sucked when someone would want to see tons of shoes and not buy any.


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## sechs (Aug 19, 2009)

The Metropolitan said:


> I tried it two years ago and didn't get SQUAT. AGR gave me the runaround, and Shoebuy just ignored my emails to them about it.
> Others have had no luck either.


I ended up writing Amtrak concerning my purchase. They leaned on AGR, which finally gave the points.


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## Guest_pposey_* (Nov 20, 2009)

Here’s my experience with Shoebuy and AGR: On August 8 I bought a pair of shoes for $89. Shoebuy was then offering 22 points per dollar, so I was expecting 1,958 Guest Reward points. I was very careful to log into Shoebuy through Amtrak’s Mall. I waited 7 weeks, but no points were posted.

I sent AGR a letter via U.S. Mail on September 29 with all the details. No reply was received.

Going through my notes recently, I realized I had never notified Shoebuy itself of the problem. I sent them an e-mail at noon on November 16. Shoebuy replied before the end of the day, asking for 72 hours to resolve the issue. On November 19 they sent another e-mail, saying that all 1,958 points had been posted to my account. Good work, Shoebuy.

I now have enough points for my CBS-DEN loophole trip. (Thanks for the tip, posters!)


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## AAARGH! (Nov 20, 2009)

I spent about $134 on 8/28 with them and have not recieved the ~2,950 points. This week I was able to talk to a manager who researched my issue. It turns out that during checkout, it gave me a $10 "back to school" discount that they were offering. By accepting this, the computer kicked out the AGR points because you can't use any discounts AND get the AGR points.

I told the manager that nowhere was this explained and if I had known that, I would have forgone the $10 discount. He agreed, but was unable to do anything himself. He is now working with their accounting department to see if they will post the points given this information. He told me this 2 days ago and I am expecting a call back soon. If I don't hear by Monday, I will call them back.

I also offered to pay back the $10 discount if it would mean that I get the AGR points.

So they have been responsive so far, but no resolution yet. Worst case, I will ask AGR for assistance in getting a resolution.

I did buy another pair of shoes in September (11 points/dollar) without any discounts, and the points posted in about 5 weeks.


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## Mike S. (Nov 22, 2009)

Shoebuy is GREAT.

It is my policy to not just spend money to get points...unless I NEED to spend that money anyway. So, shoebuys STANDARD promo is 11 points per dollar..which is awesome.

I missed the 22 point per dollar promo that ended at the end of the summer...I waiting for a new one. They should be adding new offers to the rewards mall. I've been holding off on purchases that I need to make...like work boots and running shoes etc.

I plan on spending about 200 bucks and getting a cool 4,400 points!


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## AAARGH! (Nov 24, 2009)

AAARGH! said:


> I spent about $134 on 8/28 with them and have not recieved the ~2,950 points. This week I was able to talk to a manager who researched my issue. It turns out that during checkout, it gave me a $10 "back to school" discount that they were offering. By accepting this, the computer kicked out the AGR points because you can't use any discounts AND get the AGR points.
> I told the manager that nowhere was this explained and if I had known that, I would have forgone the $10 discount. He agreed, but was unable to do anything himself. He is now working with their accounting department to see if they will post the points given this information. He told me this 2 days ago and I am expecting a call back soon. If I don't hear by Monday, I will call them back.
> 
> I also offered to pay back the $10 discount if it would mean that I get the AGR points.
> ...


SO, Shoebuy customer support was worthless. They have NO idea about AGR. They were trying to tell me my credit card company sends AGR the info. We know that ain't the case (I didn't use an AGR MC to pay).

SO, I called AGR for help. They indicated that because I accepted the $10 discount on the order AND that the AGR site does say "_The use of coupons or promo codes may disqualify eligibility for Amtrak Guest Rewards points_", I'm SOL. :angry:

I hate fine print type stuff. This cost me 2,828 points! All for a measly $10. *AAARGH! * :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

Does anyone think I have any recourse whatsoever?


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## wayman (Dec 6, 2009)

AAARGH! said:


> I spent about $134 on 8/28 with them and have not recieved the ~2,950 points. This week I was able to talk to a manager who researched my issue. It turns out that during checkout, it gave me a $10 "back to school" discount that they were offering. By accepting this, the computer kicked out the AGR points because you can't use any discounts AND get the AGR points.


Oh! I bet this is why I didn't get any AGR points from Shoebuy when I purchased from them ~3 years ago. I recall the "checkout price" being about $10 cheaper than I had expected, thought "oh, that's nice", and clicked to check out. Points never posted, I think I sent AGR a letter, never heard back, and gave up/forgot about it. I never got any explanation, but I suspect this is exactly what happened to me, too.

So... is there any way to click "I don't want this discount!" on the website before purchasing your order, if you happen to notice the price suddenly is lower than expected? Or is this discount completely unavoidable?


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