Consumer complaint received 2018-04-11
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: AR
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with rewards from credit card

Complaint:
I signed up for an American Express Gold Business credit card, because of an offer to me of XXXX  " Membership Rewards '' points upon spending {$5000.00} within 3 months. While I was making spending on the account, a transaction of {$4700.00} was placedpayment to my music managerand then refunded in a single day, placed in the morning and refunded in the afternoon due to technical issues with the card processing company, and I resumed spending as normal, while trying to sort out that issue. Meanwhile, I received an accusatory email from American Express, stating I was " gaming '' the system, and my points were being taken away. I was very confused, as there couldn't be any points yet as far as I knew, because I was still in the first month of owning the card and hadn't even had a statement close yet. When I spoke with a representative of American Expressthis was in mid-XX/XX/XXXXI learned that American Express had, upon seeing the {$4700.00}, immediately, without my knowledge, posted the welcome offer of XXXX points to my account, and then when the charge was reversed several hours later, American Express rightfully took the bonus back, because of course I hadn't officially reached the {$5000.00} spending. I agreed with the representative and explained that firstly, I hadn't anticipated receiving any welcome bonus for some time, let alone within hours of making a charge, and secondly, I was a little flustered at being falsely accused of " cheating, '' when it was not my fault that American Express had so quickly posted a welcome bonus without even allowing the transaction to complete, and then reversed it.

Now, it has been two months since that time, and I reached the spending threshold of {$5000.00} ( and then some ) one month ago, paid off all my spending, and the statement has closed, and no membership rewards points are even showing as pending on the account, let alone have posted. Whereas last time the bonus was posted within hours of reaching the threshold, against my knowledge, now that I have officially met their spending requirements, it has been over a month and there is no sign of them posting any time soon. I had signed up for this card because of the perks but largely because of the signup bonus American Express promised! This is fraudulent of American Express, and I accuse THEM of abuse for leading me into spending so much, and giving American Express so much in transaction fees, and then withholding the very bonus that was their side of the bargain.

I have spoken to representatives of American Express on three more occasions now, twice today, XX/XX/XXXX, and once a week ago, and I have been told conflicting things every time. I have been told that there is nothing to be done, and that I simply have to wait ; then another representative told me that that previous representative was wrong, that an investigation has to be done, because the points will never be rewarded since American Express deemed I was " abusing '' the system by returning the {$4700.00} transaction two months ago.

I would like to speak on the phone with this " Abuse '' team that has been vaguely mentioned, an elusive power within American Express that has of yet not contacted me, or inquired, or asked ANY questions about this situation, yet made very harmful decisions without facts, and I would like for them to explain themselves very clearly, and listen very carefully, so that this ridiculous, blown-out-of-proportion affair can be resolved without further escalation.

Thank you.

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation