EDITOR’S NOTE: Some of the smartest members of the community have stepped up with guest posts during the holiday break in 2024 and now on Saturdays in early 2025. Special thanks to today’s author Jim for his reinforcement of the gospel of SSB. Have a nice weekend!
I just finished reading MEAB’s annual mistake of letting the inmates run the asylum, and need to RAT (calm down, Amex MSers, just a phrase) out Slideshow Bob 223 and reveal his true identity:
Since he showed up around the time Ronald McDonald was no longer showing up in commercials, it is obvious that Ronald got axed, and, having no other marketable skills (like most MSers) got a “job” MSing.
Now, don’t get me wrong: most of what SlideshowRon223 said about MSers needing to avoid opening Citi and Chase bank accounts if they want to continue raking in the points, is right on target.
Especially the part where he warned that images of unemployed clowns trapped in rooms filled with rakes and annoyed at MSing P2s could be very disturbing. (At least that’s as best as I can remember, as Barbra sang in The Way We Were: “what’s too painful to remember we simply choose to forget”.)
So, to get those disturbing images out of my mind (think: writing therapy) I wanted to amplify on Ron’s Slideshow on Citi and Chase.
Citi is not only, as Slideshow and the guy who is letting the inmates run the asylum (whose identity I will not mention) one of the worst cancerous lesions of unbridled American capitalism, but they are Shameless (very funny show, BTW) about it: After Citi told me I could open a bank account, deposit numerous money orders and it would all be good, and after I did what they specifically said was OK, they axed me. They took the position that it did not matter if they lied to me and then closed my account when I relied on their lie.
Their clause in the terms and conditions about letting them close accounts for any reason, permits them to close accounts because they do not like the nature of their money order deposits, the color of a clown’s hair, the color of a person’s skin, and let’s them lie about it to prospective customers.
Sounds like a job for …CFPB (Commission F*ed up Pretty Badly).
When I asked them for help, it turns out the CFPB is like the Wizard of Oz: a toothless figurehead hiding inside some really scarily impressive trappings. They were fine with letting a major bank (Citi) set the precedent that, as long as they had the close for any reason clause it would justify whatever other slimy actions they took.
Only good thing about the CFPB/Wizard of Oz experience is it helped me come up with a one word description of Citi: Wicked.
The few readers who have taken enough of your meds to still be reading this may be wondering: how did I know to ask Citi if they would axe me for depositing tons of similar looking money orders?
That’s because Chase axed me (and several family members guilty by association) for that many years ago.
But since MEAB is supposed to include not just disjointed ramblings, and Citi Piti Parties, here’s an actual important MS PSA: even if you are on Chase’s Lubbock list, they take a little while to figure it out and axe your newly opened account.
My family has gotten ~10 opening bonuses for spending quickly, and qualifying for the opening bonus before the axe falls. In fact a Chase CSR told me that as long as you qualify, they will give you the bonus even if they know they are going to axe you and have scheduled your final MS meal.
(Note: any Chase RAT people reading this do not need to track down the author and bar him from opening Chase accounts in the future: he was tragically crushed to death by large piles of unused Amex AU cards falling on him, after he submitted this post)
In any event, I likely could have and would have avoided these MS faceplants if I had shared intel with other MSers. The easiest way to do that is to join a insiders group, but for those that are too lazy, or can’t pass the mental health background check ( I’m talking to you, SlideshowRon 233), just find an informal group.
For extra bonus points you can share not only MS tips but pool your resources for mutual benefit, e.g. let MSer with incredibly profitable Kroger play who has maxed out CL use your CL and share the profits.
Two suggestions for informal groups: MEAB Matt (not just saying that to suck up to him so he will publish this post: he really is good); and AA (does not stand for Awards Anonymous, he is a real person: not mentioning his name here but email me for contact info.)
Likewise, the previous inmate post asked if there is a better way to cash out Membership Rewards points than transferring to airline partners or Schwabbing.
There is and I can email it to you offline. Matt does not want it broadcast online, and even tho it is pretty clear he is not editing or reading these inmate posts, i thought I would err on the side of caution and not divulge it here.
Sideshow Bob as the wicked witch of the west Citi, as imagined by creepy AI.