Consumer complaint received 2018-05-31
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: WA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms

Complaint:
I've been the holder of an XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX since XX/XX/XXXX. The card is issued by U.S. Bank. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a promotional email offer from U.S. Bank : Simply use your XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX to make four online purchases of at least {$25.00} each by XX/XX/XXXX and you'll earn a {$25.00} Statement Credit! 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made four separate purchases {$25.00} at XXXX. I did not receive a {$25.00} statement credit and in early XX/XX/XXXX I called U.S. Bank to inquire. I was told to wait another week or two to give the credit time to post. 

When the statement credit still failed to arrive I called U.S. Bank again on XX/XX/XXXX. I was told I did not qualify for the offer because one of the four transactions invoiced to my statement on XX/XX/XXXX. I quickly checked online and saw three XX/XX/XXXX items and one XX/XX/XXXX item on my corresponding statement. I found this curious because I knew that all activity was completed on XX/XX/XXXX well before XXXX and I told this to the representative. I made the point that the offer referred to " purchases '' and that I had placed and completed all orders on XX/XX/XXXX. The representative said she had no information regarding the offer language. I said I had XXXX order details for all four items, each and every one dated to XX/XX/XXXX. The representative said I would be mailed a form that would allow me to demonstrate the purchase times. 

When that form did not arrive I called U.S. Bank on XX/XX/XXXX. I spoke at length with a representative named XXXX and a supervisor named XXXX ( employee ID XXXX ). XXXX said that no claim form had been mailed to me. He repeated that the statement credit had been denied because one of the four items had an invoice date of XX/XX/XXXX. Again I disputed the " invoice '' method of determining what transactions met the offer terms. I said I had XXXX order history, order numbers, order details, order confirmations for all four items, each and every one dated XX/XX/XXXX. I also had email confirmation from XXXX for each item, dated to XX/XX/XXXX. I said that, because all the items were XXXX e-gift cards, actual delivery of all four items had taken place virtually instantaneously with placing the orders themselves and that I have the emails from XXXX proving XX/XX/XXXX delivery, time stamped well before XXXX. 

I referred the supervisor to the offer language which says " make purchases ''. I said my actions and XXXX activity clearly demonstrate purchases. He said that he had no knowledge of the terms as U.S. Bank does not keep records of the promotional offers they make such as these. I was ( and remain ) incredulous at this statement but the supervisor repeated it several times. I asked him if U.S. Bank had the exact time I used the U.S. Bank XXXX card to buy the items on XXXX. He said yes and confirmed the exact times to be XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX CST, XX/XX/XXXX. 

I asked, if those are the acknowledged times, why is my claim being denied? He would only repeat that U.S Bank was denying the claim. I read him the offer terms verbatim from the original U.S. Bank email. I asked him, given such language and the fact that the purchase times are acknowledged to be within the offer window, if he thought the rejection of my claim was fair. He said it did not seem fair. He gave me a U.S. Bank fax number to submit further claim information, which is where we stand today. 

I believe the evidence is clear that I fulfilled the terms of the XX/XX/XXXX offer and that I am due a {$25.00} statement credit to my XXXX XXXX XXXX account. I completed a purchase the moment I hit the " place order '' button on XXXX. It is the moment where I " make '' a purchase, i.e. when I have control and act with intent. I can not " make '' the invoice time to a monthly statement. The offer clearly states " making purchases '' ; nowhere in the offer terms or fine print are " posting '', " invoicing '' or references to outside definitions mentioned. Therefore, we must rely on the reasonable and common sense definition of " make purchase ''. If I use my XXXX  XXXX in a brick and mortar store to make a purchase I am entitled to leave the store with the merchandise at that very time, not hours or days later. An online purchase should be interpreted in the same way. We've all clicked that XXXX button, and if we were speaking with a friend about it we would say, " I just now purchased it online. '' There is no dispute as to when I clicked the button. I walked in to XXXX 's virtual store where full price was paid and received and I left with the items. All of this occurred on XX/XX/XXXX. If that's not a purchase I don't know what is. Even U.S. Bank acknowledges that the actual time I used the card to buy all the items was on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I also find it interesting that all the purchase times are closely bunched well before XXXX and three post to XX/XX/XXXX and yet one purchase, conveniently for U.S. Bank, was invoiced to the next day. 

I am quite irked by U.S. Bank 's position of pleading ignorance of the offer terms. When speaking to customer service, I kept referring to the text of the email offer and was told repeatedly by each rep that they had no idea what the offer said, as U.S. Bank does not keep a copy of email offers such as this. Is this a responsible way to do business? If true, they are making decisions about what to honor on an ad hoc basis. On what basis can U.S Bank deny my claim if they don't know the terms? And yet, they  have done it, which means U.S. Bank is either being disingenuous, or in the alternative, behaving negligently. Without a knowledge of terms, how do they deal with disputes that arise? Poorly, is the answer. It is irresponsible and shows a lack of thoroughness and concern. It is sloppy. It's as if U.S. Bank can't be bothered with details and will use ignorance of terms to try to weasel out of its obligations. That's their choice. However, I do have a record of the terms and I believe it shows I'm due a {$25.00} credit. 

I am attaching the original U.S. Bank email offer and screenshots of XXXX information and email receipts to show that I used my XXXX XXXX card to buy the items on XX/XX/XXXX. Therefore, I am due the {$25.00} credit. 

I ask that you please look into this matter. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. I look forward to hearing from you soon on this issue. 
Sincerely,

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 explanation