hsbc's $1 treats never fail to surprise.

that's the slogan. here's the rule: charge min $50 to your hsbc card. sms details to hsbc to get a reply sms. present the sms, together with your charge slip of the same or previous day at the merchant outlet to enjoy the $1 treat.

sounds simple?

it is supposed to be simple, but I wasted quite some time at one of the merchant outlet this evening to argue over the rules.

my purchase was done yesterday and thus the charge slip is dated 24 june. so when I sms-ed hsbc yesterday, the reply said "present this code xx with a valid charge slip dated 23 or 24 Jun".

today, when I wanted to redeem my $1 treat, the person said that my sms has expired, and that they only accept smses with "present this code xx with a valid charge slip dated 24 or 25 Jun".

simple things made complicated. both smses are valid, but for some reason they can not understand that 24 is fine for both "23 or 24" AND "24 or 25". tsk!

I almost wanted to give up and just made a complain to hsbc, since the person did not seem keen to listen to our argument and rethink the logic. it's a complete waste of time trying to explain to people with this kind of attitude.

one customer before me was also turned away because her sms stated "23 or 24 Jun". she willingly accepted her fate, said "ok" and left, just like that.

luckily, I could resend the sms and got another code for the date "24 and 25" to appease the person. and so I got my $1 treat, while grumbling, of course. the treat did not look so appealing anymore once I factor in the argumentation part.

indeed, it never fails to surprise ;)