Consumer complaint received 2018-06-20
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY
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:
This is the second CFPB complaint I am filing because I have not heard from American Express and my second try at coming to a resolution with customer service was unsuccessful. I recently tried to transfer XXXX membership rewards points to a partner airline program, but my request was rejected by the system. The system notified me that my point transfer was denied because my account was membership rewards were under review. I contacted membership rewards and a representative tried to help me transfer the points over the phone. They were unable to transfer the points and received the same message about a review, so they transferred me to customer service. A customer service representative then told me that membership rewards had to help me with membership rewards-related issues, so they transferred me back to membership rewards. The new membership rewards representative again tried to transfer the point over the phone, only to be met by the same notification that my points were under review. After a lengthy hold, the representative was able to explain to me that my membership rewards were undergoing a " standard review '' and that this was normal. I have never heard of this happening to anyone else I personally know who has American Express membership rewards. For context, I earned the XXXX membership rewards after meeting minimum spend requirements as part of a promotional sign-up bonus. All of my spending has been through legitimate purchases and I have never participated in manufactured spending. My understanding is that American Express has stated in its promotion terms that it reserves the right to review the promotional bonus in the 6-8 weeks after the bonus posts to the account. My XXXX membership rewards bonus posted on XX/XX/XXXX. It is now XX/XX/XXXX. We are well beyond that 6-8 week period. I find it extremely unfair and disturbing that American Express would arbitrarily choose to freeze what a customer does with their legitimately earned membership rewards after the standard review period has passed, under the guise of a " standard review ''. I am very disappointed in American Express ' business practices regarding this issue, especially considering that I wanted to transfer these points before a significant loyalty program point devaluation. American Express was unable to provide me a timeline as to when the " standard review '' would be completed, but I have read online from other victims ' experiences that this process can take up to 2 months. The only reason I even signed up for the American Express card in question was to use the promotional sign-up bonus to transfer to points to the loyalty program before the devaluation. Clearly that is no longer a possibility and I feel as if I have been duped by American Express into signing up for one of its high annual fee credit cards after being offered a misleadingly restrictive rewards program.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief