Consumer complaint received 2018-04-17
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: GU
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
Dear US Bank, I am writing in regards to my US Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account and it's advertised sign-up bonus of {$2000.00} in eligible Net Purchases ( purchases minus credits and returns ) on your card within the first four months of account opening. I contacted US Bank by email regarding the status of the bonus. This email is as follows : " Hi US Bank, I just wanted to inquire about the enrollment bonus on my account. I was informed that by spending {$2000.00} in the first four months of account opening, I would be awarded XXXX XXXX in addition the usual XXXX awarded for purchases. However, I noticed that I have only received the XXXX on my net purchases and not for the enrollment bonus. 

Would you be able to see what happened? Thank you for your time. '' On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a response from XXXX XXXX, Card Service Advisor. His email is as follows : " Thank you for contacting U.S. Bank via our website about your U.S. Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account ending in XXXX. 

Our records do not indicate that you are eligible to receive the XXXX bonus XXXX   because the threshold of {$2000.00} in net purchases ( purchases minus credits and returns ) was not met within 120 days of account opening. 

Our records show that your account was opened on XX/XX/XXXX. Therefore, the 120-period ended on XX/XX/XXXX. Our records indicate that a total of {$1600.00} in net purchases were made during the promotional period. 

Please contact us again if we can be of further assistance. " In response, I wrote the the following : " Thank you for your email. I see that I barely missed the cutoff and made the spending requirement on XX/XX/XXXX, Would management be willing to extend a 5-day grace period on the 120 day limit? I know it's my fault and I should of been more aware. I incorrectly assumed that my approval date was XX/XX/XXXX since I received the welcome email and was billed the annual fee on XX/XX/XXXX. Also, XX/XX/XXXX was the day I applied and the person who took my application said more time was needed to review my application. 

However, I hope you can extend a few days on the timeline for the following reasons. The first card that was sent to me was sent to the wrong address. I applied over the phone and maybe it was mistyped over maybe I confirmed the wrong address on the read-back ( XXXX instead of XXXX ). Then being from Guam, mail takes 2+ weeks to get here, so I just assumed it was delayed en route. Then when I finally did call to follow up and correct the address, I had to wait a few more weeks for the card to get in. Mix in being off-island for late XXXX and early XXXX, I was only able to start using my card in XXXX. 

Thanks again for your time. I hope this appeal isn't too much. : ( " I received my last correspondence from XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX stating the following : " Thank you for contacting U.S. Bank via our website about your U.S. Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX account ending in XXXX. 

We are obligated to apply our policies in a consistent manner to all cardmembers. As such, we are unable to extend the promotional period of an offer. We apologize for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you. 

Please contact us again if we can be of further assistance. '' To XXXX and XXXX 's credit, they may not have had the ability to extend the promotional period even if they wanted. In cases like these, its often that management holds sole discretion in overriding these issues which is why I write to you today. 

I would like to appeal to management in extending the promotional by at least 5 days for the following reasons : 1. Date of Application Approval/Account Opening Unclear a ) Reported date to all three credit bureaus is XX/XX/XXXX which is very misleading and unhelpful. I can understand if this is a common practice among banks to date the first of each month as account opening, but so far I have only encountered this with US Bank. 
b ) First email from US Bank titled, " Welcome to the U.S. Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '' received on XX/XX/XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Guam Time ) c ) Applied over the phone and was informed more time needed to review my application. However, the same day my credit report was pulled, XX/XX/XXXX, was also the day I was approved. 
2. Mailing Address listed incorrectly a ) Had I applied online, this would be entirely my fault. But given I applied over the phone, I am unsure if this mistake was a mistype on the representative who assisted me on the application or my mistake on verifying wrong information on the read back. Perhaps, US Bank can look into the audio recording to confirm. 
b ) The discrepancy between the incorrect mailing address and what is listed on my credit report should of led to some additional address verification on the application, which in itself is probably a bigger issue in regards to identity theft. 
c ) Given that mail takes two or more weeks to receive from the US mainland, this meant that I was not able to get the card until XX/XX/XXXX after following up and did not get to use until I returned in XX/XX/XXXX. 

I hope you will be able to sympathize with the above reasons in extending a 5 day grade period on the promotional sign up bonus. The reason why I had to call since Guam is not listed in the drop down list of states, so thank you again for providing services to people in Guam as many banks refuse to do so.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief