fundamental issues with reward system creating disincentives for consumers; w/ solutions

PROBLEMS (breakdown of body text):

• XBL Rewards structure is actually creating a disincentive from making purchases, rather than encouraging it; if I know purchase will go to MyMission that won't be fulfilled, I won't make the purchases
• as a 5 star w/gold member, MyMission rewards are often less than what I'd receive with a straight 10% rebate, often due to overpaying into promotions, and/or the promotion reward be less percent-wise than my MyVIP rebate; this also causes me to avoid certain
  content I might otherwise pick up
• instead of making purchases as I feel compelled to as to my desire for that content, the XBL Rewards system, requiring study of each promotion and the content that goes to them, I often hold back purchases until I have time to rigorously examine the FAQ
  of each promotion; this either causes a delay of purchase, a non-purchase, losing interest before a purchase, or frustration should I miss a certain eligible game/movie titles among the wall-of-text list of offerings

I am a 5 Star MyVIP member with Xbox Live Gold, at this point I just want to receive 10% rebates on all purchases. I don't feel it's fair that I should have to study the XBL Rewards FAQ before every purchases to make sure I don't actually purchase something
I won't get my expected rewards for. I just want to browse the store and compulsively make purchases that I want, and be able to anticipate my XBL Rewards each month without having to put in a daunting amount of pre-purchase research in how said purchases
might effect my rewards. The whole point of a system like XBL Rewards is to encourage patronage of the digital store service through incentives, but when those incentives becomes disincentives, the store feels more like a mine-field, where one mistake can
mean a few dollars here, a few dollars there, in lost rewards each month.

Most times, the MyMissions just get in the way of me making the purchases I want, for me at least. I realize these MyMissions are actually very beneficial to members of lower rank MyVIP status with lower MyVIP rebates, but they aren't beneficial for me,
rather the opposite. Often times these MyMissions actual stop me from making purchases I might otherwise make at the time; if I see a movie or game that I want falls under a promotion I know that I'll not likely fulfill, I'll avoid making
those purchases until the promotion is over (where I might lose all interest in making that purchase by then).

Another things, punch cards. Take the Punch-Cards where you pre-order 3 games for instance, if I were to attempt that, my total rewards would only be a mere 15,000 points, whereas if I were to purchase any 3 new games individually, the actual rewards would
be 18,000 points. This MyRewards would only be beneficial to XBL Rewards members MyVIP 4 Star (w/Gold) earning 8% MyVIP rebates or less, but for 5 Star members w/ Gold, this actually lowers the value of the rewards offered. I know probably most members don't
fall under the same category as me, but it should weigh into things that people like me (who spent enough to earn 5-Star rank status) spend considerably more than any few members combined in a given month.

Another thing, to my knowledge, the MyMissions that I do fulfill, aside from the rewards being considerably less than what I'd get with my blanket 10% rebate, there's also the overspending not taken into consideration. Say there's a promotion for buying
$50 in eligible content, and I make say two $30 purchases, that's $10 additionally going toward a fulfilled promotion and not toward my MyVIP rebate, on top of (in most and nearly every case) my loss for the promotion being less than what my MyVIP rebate would
have been anyways.

SOLUTIONS:

• have an auto-opt out options for XBL Rewards members to not participate in MyMissions, but still receive their x% of rewards based on user XBL Rewads rank & XBL Gold enrollment; 5-Star XBL Reward members w/Gold should automatically be enrolled in such a
  promotion to maximize monthly rewards
• have an opt-in option on all MyMissions, I see this months "Simply Rewards" offer has this option, this should be the standard on all MyMissions
• if someone overspends on a MyMission, the remainder of that overspending should be added to that persons MyVIP rewards
• if someone makes a purchase toward an unfulfilled MyMission, that purchase that went to an unfulfilled reward should be calculated into that month's MyVIP rewards, for the month where the promotion ends

I feel with these solutions, these will easily address many concerns I see people on these boards having every month. Furthermore, I think a hassle-free incentive system will be increasingly beneficial to Microsoft's bottom line, encouraging growth in digital
purchases through an enticing incentive system that encourages further patronage without the hassles that might otherwise disincentivize purchases of content.

:)

 

fundamental issues with reward system creating disincentives for consumers; w/ solutions

PROBLEMS (breakdown of body text):

• XBL Rewards structure is actually creating a disincentive from making purchases, rather than encouraging it; if I know purchase will go to MyMission that won't be fulfilled, I won't make the purchases
• as a 5 star w/gold member, MyMission rewards are often less than what I'd receive with a straight 10% rebate, often due to overpaying into promotions, and/or the promotion reward be less percent-wise than my MyVIP rebate; this also causes me to avoid certain
  content I might otherwise pick up
• instead of making purchases as I feel compelled to as to my desire for that content, the XBL Rewards system, requiring study of each promotion and the content that goes to them, I often hold back purchases until I have time to rigorously examine the FAQ
  of each promotion; this either causes a delay of purchase, a non-purchase, losing interest before a purchase, or frustration should I miss a certain eligible game/movie titles among the wall-of-text list of offerings then be surprised by lack of rewards later

I am a 5 Star MyVIP member with Xbox Live Gold, at this point I just want to receive 10% rebates on all purchases. I don't feel it's fair that I should have to study the XBL Rewards FAQ before every purchases to make sure I don't actually purchase something
I won't get my expected rewards for. I just want to browse the store and compulsively make purchases that I want, and be able to anticipate my XBL Rewards each month without having to put in a daunting amount of pre-purchase research in how said purchases
might effect my rewards. The whole point of a system like XBL Rewards is to encourage patronage of the digital store service through incentives, but when those incentives becomes disincentives, the store feels more like a mine-field, where one mistake can
mean a few dollars here, a few dollars there, in lost rewards each month.

Most times, the MyMissions just get in the way of me making the purchases I want, for me at least. I realize these MyMissions are actually very beneficial to members of lower rank MyVIP status with lower MyVIP rebates, but they aren't beneficial for me,
rather the opposite. Often times these MyMissions actual stop me from making purchases I might otherwise make at the time; if I see a movie or game that I want falls under a promotion I know that I'll not likely fulfill, I'll avoid making those purchases until
the promotion is over (where I might lose all interest in making that purchase by then).

Another things, punch cards. Take the Punch-Cards where you pre-order 3 games for instance, if I were to attempt that, my total rewards would only be a mere 15,000 points, whereas if I were to purchase any 3 new games individually, the actual rewards would
be 18,000 points. This MyRewards would only be beneficial to XBL Rewards members MyVIP 4 Star (w/Gold) earning 8% MyVIP rebates or less, but for 5 Star members w/ Gold, this actually lowers the value of the rewards offered. I know probably most members don't
fall under the same category as me, but it should weigh into things that people like me (who spent enough to earn 5-Star rank status) spend considerably more than any few members combined in a given month.

Another thing, to my knowledge, the MyMissions that I do fulfill, aside from the rewards being considerably less than what I'd get with my blanket 10% rebate, there's also the overspending not taken into consideration. Say there's a promotion for buying
$50 in eligible content, and I make say two $30 purchases, that's $10 additionally going toward a fulfilled promotion and not toward my MyVIP rebate, on top of (in most and nearly every case) my loss for the promotion being less than what my MyVIP rebate would
have been anyways.

SOLUTIONS:

• have an auto-opt out options for XBL Rewards members to not participate in MyMissions, but still receive their x% of rewards based on user XBL Rewads rank & XBL Gold enrollment; 5-Star XBL Reward members w/Gold should automatically be enrolled in such a
  promotion to maximize monthly rewards
• have an opt-in option on all MyMissions, I see this months "Simply Rewarding" offer has this option, this should be the standard on all MyMissions
• if someone overspends on a MyMission, the remainder of that overspending should be added to that persons MyVIP rewards
• if someone makes a purchase toward an unfulfilled MyMission, that purchase that went to an unfulfilled reward should be calculated into that month's MyVIP rewards, for the month where the promotion ends

I feel with these solutions, these will easily address many concerns I see people on these boards having every month. Furthermore, I think a hassle-free incentive system will be increasingly beneficial to Microsoft's bottom line, encouraging growth in digital
purchases through an enticing incentive system that encourages further patronage without the hassles that might otherwise disincentivize purchases of content.

 

fundamental issues with reward system creating disincentives for consumers; w/ solutions

Hello xDamnYouSalazar,

We're sorry to hear about your frustrations with the program. However, in the case of the Games on Demand offer, since pre-orders are not eligible for MyVIP payback, you would not generate 10% on those purchases. But, this probably falls under your feelings
regarding your first point on incentives. Thanks for taking the time to write up your opinion with your reasoning. We'll take your sentiment and feedback and provide it to the appropriate team.

 

If you want the staff to see this you will need to re-post in the Support thread (if you have not already). They will never see it in the discussion forum

 

oops, thanks

I went ahead and re-posted it in support, feel free to chime in there if you have anything to add to the discussion

 

good morning,

I had a question on learning how to obtain my reward points and reveving rewards and tracking my shipping by going through sweapstakes.