Dell has announced a devaluation of its Dell Rewards program, one which apparently took place a week ago.
In the past, they offered up to 6% back in Rewards on your purchases. That included Xbox gift card purchases, although those only earned 3% back in Rewards. That 3% was a nice bonus when also taking into account the 10% discount when using promo code XBOX10, the $200 Dell benefit on Amex Business Platinum cards, other Dell Amex Offers, etc.
Unfortunately it looks like you’ll no longer earn 3% on gift card purchases – or up to 6% on other purchases – unless you finance with Dell. That’s because this is the new earning structure with Dell Rewards:
Effective July, 31, 2021, you will no longer earn up to 6% in rewards when using your Dell Preferred Account. Instead, you will earn 3% back in rewards when you finance and get $50 in bonus rewards when you open a new Dell Preferred Account, with a Dell Rewards Membership.
The fact that you’ll have to finance to earn Rewards in the future is disappointing. It’s also surprising that this change took place a week ago but they’re only now bothering to inform customers (unless they’ve been slow-rolling these notification emails).
Here are the new terms of the program:
Rewards are issued to your online Dell Rewards Account (available via your Dell.com My Account) typically within 30 business days after your order’s ship date. Rewards expire in 90 days (except where prohibited by law). “Current rewards balance” amount may not reflect the most recent transactions. Check Dell.com My Account for your most up-to-date reward balance. $50 in bonus rewards for Dell Rewards Members who open a new Dell Preferred Account (DPA) on or after July 31, 2021. $50 bonus rewards typically issued within 30 business days after DPA open date. Earn 3% rewards on DPA purchases. Up to 3% rewards when you spend $800 in a 12-month period on all other purchases. Total rewards earned may not exceed $2,000 within a 3-month period. Outlet purchases do not qualify for rewards. Expedited Delivery not available on certain TVs, monitors, batteries and adapters, and is available in Continental (except Alaska) U.S. only. Other exceptions apply. Not valid for resellers and/or online auctions. Offers and rewards subject to change without notice, not combinable with all other offers. See Dell.com/rewardsfaq.
One thing I’m a little uncertain about is where it says “Up to 3% rewards when you spend $800 in a 12-month period on all other purchases.”. That makes it look like it might still be possible to earn rewards on $800 worth of gift card purchases, but you’d need a Dell Preferred Account (DPA) in order to do that. I might be misreading the terms though and 3% on $800 only amounts to $24 in rewards, so I’m not sure it’s worth setting up a DPA account just for that unless you actually plan on financing purchases.
Devalued seems like a nice way of putting it. Sounds more like a demolition.
Just based on my experience from the recent XBox deals, the 3% rewards are posting just like they always have. I have definitely purchased over $800 from Dell over the past 12 months, 100% gift cards. So it seems that there is some hope for those of us taking full advantage of the 10% deals.
Dell Rewards expire after ONLY 90 DAYS!
I seriously doubt the average consumer is purchasing more than one computer every 90 days. Dell’s reward program is absolutely useless, IMO.
Dell Reward program is an absolute joke! I am so glad they gave me $10 Dell Rewards for my birthday or I never would have figured out this program absolutely sucks.