Consumer complaint received 2019-02-04
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY
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:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I applied, and was approved, for the American Express Business Rewards Gold card, which I decided to obtain in order to take over most of the spending from my Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card I had opened earlier in the year. I was unhappy with the Gold Delta SkyMiles card because of the high fees ( " carrier-imposed surcharges '' ) imposed by Delta on SkyMiles award tickets. For the record, my discontent with Delta 's SkyMiles frequent flyer program is not American Express 's fault. Since I was unhappy with Delta, but happy with American Express, I decided to shift my spending to one of American Express 's core Membership Rewards business cards, the American Express Business Gold Rewards card. I was informed that while I could not change my Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit card to the Business Gold Rewards card, I could apply for the card outright. 

The American Express Business Gold Rewards card came with a promotional offer ( " Welcome Offer '' ) of receiving XXXX Membership Rewards points after spending {$5000.00} within three ( 3 ) months ( defined by American Express as 92 days ). Having met this spending requirement in early XX/XX/XXXX, I verified my completion of the terms with an American Express customer service representative on the " Live Chat '' feature of their website on XX/XX/XXXX. The representative confirmed that the requirements had been met and that the Membership Rewards points would post to my account within 6-8 weeks. A copy of this transcript is enclosed herewith as Exhibit A. 

I followed up this chat with another question on XX/XX/XXXX, as I was unsure as to whether I needed to actually " pay in full '' the {$5000.00} balance before the XXXX Membership Rewards points could be issued. I was admittedly in a rush to obtain the Membership Rewards points in order to plan a vacation for my family for XX/XX/XXXX. While I was assured by the representative that I did not actually have to pay the {$5000.00} amount spent in full before the Membership Rewards points would be issued, the representative was unable to locate any Welcome Offer on my account. Upon further review by the representative, I was told that my eligibility for the Welcome Offer was " declined '' and that I would not be receiving the Welcome Offer. No reason was given, apart from it being an " internal decision ''. After pressing the representative for more information, I was transferred to a supervisor over live chat and the supervisor confirmed that I was not eligible for the Welcome Offer. The supervisor also strangely asserted that I should have been alerted to my non-eligibility at the time of my application on XX/XX/XXXX. Obviously, I was never alerted to this non-eligibility, or I would not have spent {$5000.00} and contacted the chat representative on XX/XX/XXXX in order to confirm the requirements had been met. A copy of my conversion on XX/XX/XXXX with the representative, and the representative 's supervisor, is attached herewith as Exhibit B. 

At this point, I was very concerned, as I had already made plans to travel based on my conversation with the initial representative on XX/XX/XXXX. I decided to re-read the full terms and conditions of the Welcome Offer myself. Upon reviewing the terms and conditions of the offer, I came across a clause stating that the Welcome Offer is not available to applicants who " have or have had '' this product. Having never had an American Express Business Gold Rewards card, this was not an issue. 

The terms further state that American Express " may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility ''. The terms and conditions attempt to clarify this clause by stating that " abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with the welcome offer '' will render an applicant ineligible and lists the following situations as examples : ( 1 ) applying for offers which were not intended for the applicant, ( 2 ) cancelling or downgrading the card within twelve ( 12 ) months of opening the account, or ( 3 ) cancelling or returning purchases made to reach the {$5000.00} " Threshold Amount ''. 

None of these particular exclusionary situations apply to me personally because : ( 1 ) the offer was publicly available and was not specifically targeted to any individual or business, ( 2 ) the card has not been cancelled or downgraded since the account was opened, and ( 3 )  despite a few returned purchases, the total amount spent on the card has not dropped below {$5000.00} ( and in fact, as of the date of this complaint, the 3-month/92-day spending period has not yet elapsed since the account was opened ). 

In spite of the fact that I appeared to be eligible, having never had the card in the past and not " abusing, misusing, or gaming '' as described above, American Express stands by its " internal decision '' that I am not eligible for the Welcome Offer. In denying my eligibility for the Welcome Offer after having themselves confirmed my eligibility on XX/XX/XXXX American Express makes it impossible for consumers to make informed credit decisions with impermissibly and unenforcably vague terms and conditions as to offer eligibility. 

For me personally, as someone who always pays in full and on time, " interest rates '' and " late fees '' are not factors that I consider when selecting a credit card. Rather, I focus on a credit card 's benefits, rewards, and promotional offers. As a result, eligibility for such promotional offers is always an important consideration for me when making credit decisions. 

Ultimately, my complaint is as follows : ( 1 ) American Express 's vague terms regarding offer eligibility make it impossible for consumers to make informed credit decisions at the time of their application for credit ; ( 2 ) American Express themselves profited from card processing fees, colloquially known as " swipe fees '', generated through my spend of over {$5000.00} since XX/XX/XXXX, while simultaneously refusing to honor the Welcome Offer extended to me which motivated the {$5000.00} spend ; and ( 3 ) by informing me on XX/XX/XXXX that I was eligible for, and would receive, the Welcome Offer within 6-8 weeks, and then subsequently denying me the Welcome Offer two ( 2 )  weeks later, American Express allowed me to rely on Membership Rewards points which would never be credited to my account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation