Should You Get Refunded Right Now on the Match.Com Avios Deal?

Yesterday, I wrote about the amazing Avios deal where you could earn 150 Avios per dollar spent on Match.com by going through the British Airways shopping portal. This was a phenomenal deal many people were jumping on and it eventually died last night — no doubt due to the thousands of people likely taking advantage of it.

Some of us, such as myself, jumped on the higher offer and spent around $580 to earn over 80,000 Avios. However, the issue sprang up today with tons of reports where the British Airways portal showed only 30,584 Avios pending. (Others displayed various other amounts but nobody that I’m aware of received credit for the full amount that would be due for $560 purchase.)

The issue?

The portal is not tracking the “add-on” features that were selected in addition to the basic subscription. These were for random features like “private mode” and other things that I honestly didn’t even pay attention to. So if you only purchased a basic subscription this is still a great deal and you likely don’t have anything to worry about but if you went with the add-ons, it looks like you may not get your additional Avios.

It’s still way too early to know definitively how British Airways will deal with these purchases. It’s not too uncommon for purchases made through a shopping portal to register in different segments. However, I have got the gut feeling that this is all the Avios that British Airways is going to be giving up without a fight. 

So why did I get a refund? 

The main reason I requested a full refund is that I don’t have any real need for additional Avios. Not now or in the near future. I was simply jumping on the deal to stockpile them for some time in the future, but I don’t have any plans to use them. (I already have enough Avios for my needs.)

Even though I’ve had success sending in legal demand letters as an attorney representing myself and/or Brad to fight for my points in situations like the CitiGold 50,000 AA promotions, I didn’t feel the urge to follow through in this case because I simply didn’t need them.

Also, when looking at the purchase breakdown, it shows the add-ons as being entirely separate from the “Subscription Details.” I can already tell that this would be a point of contention were I to choose to dispute this thing.

Sure, I could make my own argument up about how all of those features fall under the “subscription” category and how this isn’t listed in the terms and conditions, but I just wasn’t feeling it this go round.

Maybe it also had something to do with the fact this is a dating site and I’m in a committed relationship, too. I’d actually be representing my S/O since the account is in his name and something about representing him in this situation just didn’t feel that great.

But in any event, I changed my mind on fighting this deal and decided to just drop it and move on. 

Should you cancel?

If you’re going to cancel then I suggest you do it NOW.

Call up 1-800-92-MATCH to initiate the refund. You can also do this via chat but when I went searching for the chat section it brought up a chat option for “matches” and I just didn’t feel like messing around with it.

Make sure you are requesting a full refund and not merely a cancellation. There may be limitations on refunds based on your state, but I think most people will have success getting a refund if they call today, given the short time period.

Wait it out and fight it? 

You can always choose to ride it out and see what happens. Some people are already contacting British Airways customer service vie email and social media to inquire about the Avios and see what can be done.

If at some point you’re interested in fighting for the Avios and need some assistance, let me know. I’m definitely not interested in racking up legal fees here, but I’m very interested in learning how British Airways will handle a legal dispute for future reference.