[Sundae]

That is disgraceful!

Now America is generally considered a very litigious society over here (note word "generally", I am not passing judgement). Is there no way to escalate this?

Apologies for not being clued up on how things work in the US, but I would take this to the Citizen's Advice Bureau or Trading Standards in the UK. I'm not saying they could help me - I haven't been in this situation.

But the point is that the rewards are pitched primarily at people unable to go out and buy these goods easily ie you wouldn't bother saving points for a packet of crackers, right? because it's easier to buy it in a store. So there should be some basic law about what criteria are needed to access the items, or at least a printed disclaimer DO NOT SAVE POINTS UNLESS YOU HAVE A CREDIT CARD.

I'm not saying teh Coke is evil. Just that complaints depts should have over-ride abilities that take into account their customer base. I dunno. I've never gone up against big business, so I'm probably hopelessly naive about what you can achieve (even in this country).