I got an email from Amazon to say they will credit my account with 1000 GBP if i follow the following actions:

To claim, all you have to do is launch a new campaign or restart an existing one by 10/08/2024 UTC.

Ok great... so 14 days ago I created a brand new campaign and got it started. I ran the campaign for 24 hours and racked up £40 advertising bill. I then paused the campaign and waited patiently for my promised promotional credit.

15 days later, still no advertising credit. So I opened a case. Here's the reply:

Upon investigation, I see that the campaign in account are not active during promotional period September 8 to October 8 - Yes it was.

The campaign created or re launched needs to be active. - No it doesn't.

The credit will be adjusted against the ad spends which is incurred after credit is awarded(14 days).

We are sorry, the account does not qualify for credit.

Firstly, the only 'qualifying action' was said to be:

The Advertiser must resume a paused Sponsored Products campaign, renew an old Sponsored Products campaign or create a new Sponsored Products campaign within the Promotional Period (the “Qualifying Action”).

Yep, done that.

Secondly, yes the campaign is paused, and it clearly shows in the terms and conditions:

Advertisers can suspend or pause their ad(s) at any time before the promotional clicks amount is exhausted if they do not wish to receive additional advertising charges.

Ok good...

So why have amazon promised advertising credit but then declined when it was asked for?

I suspect basically they want me to spend 1000 and then they will send me another 1000 in credit, so essentially i get 2000 credit for 1000, which sounds good, but not when the advertising ROI is always negative!