I got a PIN today...but it expired last week!

[Quartermistress]

I got a PIN in the mail today (1/9) for 30% off select resorts, with values quoted at $80 between 5/1 and 5/31. I have a trip planned for May so I was very excited...but the PIN expired on 1/4! I don't know if it got lost in the mail for weeks, but has anyone else ever gotten an expired PIN? If anyone has received this same offer, how long ago did you receive it in the mail (just curious)?

 

[nannye]

I got a PIN in the mail today (1/9) for 30% off select resorts, with values quoted at $80 between 5/1 and 5/31. I have a trip planned for May so I was very excited...but the PIN expired on 1/4! I don't know if it got lost in the mail for weeks, but has anyone else ever gotten an expired PIN? If anyone has received this same offer, how long ago did you receive it in the mail (just curious)?

When was it postmarked?
I say call and see if they will use it anyways. It can't hurt to try.

 

[Quartermistress]

There was no postmark - just the barcode-like sticker with no date.

I called as soon as I got it (in my excitement) and they said they couldn't find the PIN in the system at all, and that they currently didn't have any PIN discounts for May at all.

 

[Quartermistress]

Here's what I think happened - my sister found this news article that probably explains it!

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/13/2922664/snail-mail-moving-at-a-snails.html

The holidays aren't over, if you believe mail in the Charlotte region. Due to changes in the U.S. Postal Service's bulk mail delivery, ads and fliers from as far back as November are still landing in local mailboxes.

In the University City area, bulk mail has gotten so slow that Lilia Vasquez-Hunter said she now records the date advertisements say they should be delivered by and the date they actually arrive. She marks them on her calendar.

"We've had it off and on for years, but this is the worst it's ever been," she said of the late bulk mail, which often comes three weeks or so after the deliver-by dates. Recently, a $50-off coupon from Nieman Marcus showed up in her mailbox well after the expiration date.

"Basically, that was $50 in the trash can," she said.

Bad luck for me - but at least I know now what probably happened!