Consumer complaint received 2023-01-02
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: TX
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:
American Express did not respond to my previous complaint, they responded in a way that I already mentioned in my complaint. To me, this tells me they did NOT consider the main part of my complaint so I am submitting to focus the complaint on the problem. 

The problem is the missing value of the gift cards. There is missing value in gift cards that American Express promised that I would have access to but then withheld. Their response was that they reissued a portion of the gift cards back, and cited their policy that they can not reissue gift cards more than a year old. However, that was not the issue. The issue was not having access to my gift cards and not being returned the value or access to the missing gift cards. What they stated as their solution/response was part of my complaint, that this was an unjust resolution and a false equivalency was being done with the gift card reissuing policy and my situation. I am not asking to break a policy to reissue gift cards to me, I am asking to access the gift cards I already owned or be returned the value of them, of which I provided multiple options of how I could work with the company to do so. Some of those include trying to go to shops to see what was purchased with gift cards or even making a dummy new card to see if I can get access to my wallet. 

The year limit to reissue gift cards has nothing to do with the fact that I was told that I would have access to my gift card wallet. My ability to prevent this issue was lost after confirming with at least TWO customer service representatives that my access would be safe. I have given multiple options of how I would be happy to help figure out the value if they can not do some simple system changes but keep getting pushed to the response that they can not reissue the gift cards. That is not what I am asking for. I am asking for the value of my gift cards back or access to my gift cards that I already own, have purchased, and was told that I would continue to have access to. 


Here is the summary of events : On XXXX XXXX, I used rewards points to purchase XXXX dollars worth of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX from American Express. These are included in my digital gift card wallet and I can access these cards using an account number and pin number that is in the wallet to pull up the cards at the vendor website and review the balance. I closed my American Express platinum card in the first week of XX/XX/XXXX. I called multiple times in XXXX and XXXX ( I believe once in XXXX ) asking about my account since I was not sure if I was planning on canceling and I wanted more details about the process. There are at least two phone calls, both of which are recorded, that I specifically asked about access to my digital gift card wallet. I asked a number of other questions including access to reward points and other aspects of my account and was told I would not have access to these. I understood and made arrangements so that I would lose what had to be lost. I was specifically told I would be able to access already purchased gift cards through my digital gift card wallet once the card was canceled. After I closed my account I no longer had access to the digital gift card wallet. It took many attempts to work with American Express and was finally able to open a case. My goal is simply for someone at American Express or me to access the already purchased numbers that I already owned to be able to use them without accessing the wallet. The case was closed with re-issuing of three cards I had purchased in XX/XX/XXXX, but none of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that had a remaining balance. I had thought giving my access to my own purchase would be reasonable since I had used some of the cards and was trying to be considerate in not wasting anyone else time to review each individual gift card. I would estimate I had between XXXX dollars of remaining balance on my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I contacted american express again today XX/XX/XXXX and was told that I was at loss for the amount because they could not reissue new cards for points purchased over a year ago. The reason I am bringing this up to the CFPB for arbitration or help is because I was specifically told my multiple customer service representatives that this specific situation would not occur. I have wasted time over and over again trying to resolve this and provide and easy solution. I was told there was nothing else that could be done and would like help in finding someone that could have the ability to provide me with this simple situation. I offered going through my receipts and going to the vendor ( Athleta ) at which some of the cards were used to determine the exact remaining balance. I have offered to do the work for them in determining the balance on the gift cards. If they had simply told me, on multiple occasions, that my access would have been lost, I would have written down the account number and pin number. The company is now telling me that what their representatives told me was wrong and that I am responsible for their mistake, despite me offering reasonable solutions to help them balance my account. American Express had great customer service when I was a card holder. I had only planned to discontinue my card for a few years when I have a low period of travel but this experience ( among other issues post closure, including not sending me my remaining positive balance until I had to call again to remind them ) had made me wary of the accuracy of the services they provide.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation