There are some snags with that £65 BT reward card...

I finally get to claim it tomorrow, 30 days after switching from Vodafone to BT Mobile. But there are some snags I'll have to contend with. Mostly slight, but one is frustrating, and one rules out making a purchase online.

First, the frustrating snag. After making my claim online, the card must be created, posted to me, and activated. BT say all this could take up to thirty days. Which takes me into the beginning of September before I can actually use it for any spending I have in mind. That's a rather long time to wait. It means not enjoying this reward until two months after doing the thing that earned it.

Second, it's a Mastercard, rather than Visa. That probably doesn't make any difference as to where I can use it, but you never know.

Third, can I really spend the £65 on whatever I like? Not just electronic equipment, for instance? The terms and conditions on BT's website seem to say yes, I can use the reward card for any spending whatever, subject to the trader's or retailer's discretion. Hmm. Potential difficulties here, or nothing to worry about?

Fourth, I can't use the reward card online. At least, not for a part-payment towards something costing more than £65. No website I've ever seen allows that. This is awkward. In effect, I can't buy the wireless earbuds I want online, using the reward card, because they cost around £150. I can still go to a shop instead, but then they might not have the product I want in stock. 

Can I get around these snags? I can, by purchasing those wireless earbuds with my ordinary credit card. Either online, or at a shop.

Later, when the reward card finally arrives, I'll use the £65 on it to buy something else - groceries at Waitrose, for example - that I would normally have bought using my ordinary credit card. This avoids adding £65 to the accumulating credit card debt, and the eventual credit card repayment will be £65 less than it would otherwise be. Effectively I will have limited the cost of those earbuds to £85. (That is, £150 less £65)

So this afternoon, I'll pop up to John Lewis in Horsham, to see whether they have those RHA TrueConnect ear buds. The website suggests they have fourteen of them in stock there, at £149.95. Fingers crossed, then.

Sequel
Mission accomplished. John Lewis had those RHA TrueConnect wireless earbuds, and I've bought them with my ordinary credit card. The full cost will be repayable on 15th September, but before then I will, if my thinking is correct, have enjoyed £65 worth of free groceries from Waitrose, courtesy of BT.

The RHS earbuds are now resting quietly in their stylish charging box. They have been paired with my phone, pumped up to the kind of volume I like for this kind of intimate listening, and I've just had a first experimental session with them. They seem very good. Or rather, my best-quality mp3 tracks sound very good. High-quality audio does unfortunately show up the deficiencies of older tracks ripped years ago from CDs, at an insufficient bitrate. Well, if really necessary I can download fresh versions. And hey, no wires! Indeed, you might never suspect I was wearing earbuds at all. It looks - and is - very cool.

Expect a full report very shortly.