Today, I logged in my BeFrugal account and noticed that my Total Balance got significantly lower than yesterday. I checked Cash Back Activity and found out that all pending cash back on AmEx gift cards looked cancelled. I made three orders in July, and one of orders was actually cancelled by American Express. Because I tried to use AmEx Serve for the purchase of the gift card. BeFrugal shows this transaction like this (picture below).

But today, I got the same one on the other two orders, which weren’t cancelled. The orders had completed. I received the cards and used up already. I remembered that BeFrugal described the following in terms of AmEx GC.

If you choose to apply a coupon or deal that is not posted on BeFrugal.com, we are unable to guarantee that you will receive cash back on your purchase.

I used a coupon code to waive a purchase fee on all orders. Although I read terms, I assumed that I would earn cash back because other retailers paid before even when I used a coupon that was not on BeFrugal. And today, the terms have updated like this

Cash back not valid on any order with a coupon code applied

I made an order a few days ago in August. Cash Back is pending now, and I don’t see the sign of cancel. But I guess  it will be cancelled later. Now that terms is very clear, I won’t use the code that waives a purchase fee of only $3.95. Pay a purchase fee and I will earn cash back which is guaranteed by BeFrugal. This is still a good deal, and I feel comfortable because there is no need to worry about cancellation of cash back.

I wish BeFrugal updated terms eariler, but I can’t blame them. Last month, they said “we are unable to guarantee that you will receive cash back” and they had to cancel my cash back. Nothing is wrong with them. It is all my fault. Befrugal describes terms on every merchants in a detailed way. This is why I continue to use Befrugal, and it is my favorite free online shopping portal!