Failed Successful Marketing

SO I got this email offer from newspaperarchive.com, who I used in the past, and almost went for the offer. But then I ran into issues. This is the email I ended up sending to their customer service:

Hi there,

I received an offer to reactivate my account for 50% off.
I wasn’t sure about it, but then thought, ah, what the heck, I can probably find some more stuff for my genealogy research.

I clicked the link, which brought me to this page:
[URL HERE[

When I clicked the “Save 50% Now” button to continue, a popup informed me:
“Sorry, but you are currently not eligible for this promotion.”

What?

Why?

Why send me an email with an offer if I can’t use that offer?

I mean email marketing is about getting people to:
a) read the email
b) click through the email
c) take action on the page they are brought to

Here I was, that most desirable of marketing targets, one willing to do all three things, and what do you do?
You tell me “no.”

No only does this fail to make a sale, but it makes the potential customer (me) dislike you for pulling a bait-and-switch.

So tell me, what was the point of this whole exercise?

-Tev Kaber, annoyed