Consumer complaint received 2020-05-28
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: NE
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:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I applied for an XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  MasterCard credit card from Barclays Bank Delaware under a promotion that said I would receive XXXX bonus points from XXXX XXXX and pay no annual fee for the first year after making the first purchase. The brochure with the offer stated that the offer expired on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email back from Barclays informing me that my application was received. I received an email on XX/XX/XXXX informing me that my application was approved and I made the first purchase on the card on XX/XX/XXXX. I never received the XXXX bonus miles and I was charged an annual fee of {$99.00} for the first year. 

My son XXXX and I called XXXX MasterCard on XX/XX/XXXX and explained that I applied for the credit card under an offer that stated I would receive XXXX bonus miles and no annual fee for the first year if I applied by XX/XX/XXXX. The customer service representative told me that their records showed that I didn't qualify for the offer because I applied for the card on XX/XX/XXXX. The customer representative said that a case would be opened to investigate and I was given a case number ( XXXX ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, my son XXXX sent a letter to XXXX  MasterCard explaining that I applied for the card on XX/XX/XXXX under the promotion in effect until XX/XX/XXXX for XXXX miles and no annual fee for the first year. He included a copy of the front page of the brochure with the offer and a copy of the email I received on XX/XX/XXXX stating that my application was being reviewed. A copy of the letter is enclosed. 

Several weeks later, I received a letter from Barclays stating that I would not receive the bonus miles and that I was required to pay the annual fee. On early XX/XX/XXXX, my son and I called XXXX MasterCard and asked why I was not going to receive the bonus miles and was required to pay the annual fee for the first year. The customer representative said that the reason was that although I applied for the credit card on XX/XX/XXXX, which was the last day of the promotion, the application was not approved while the promotion was in effect. She said that I would only qualify for the promotion that was in effect when my card was approved - which was XXXX bonus miles and a companion certificate for XXXX XXXX. She said that I would receive the bonus miles and the companion certificate if I paid the {$99.00} annual fee. I stated my objection to this response and stated that I should receive the offer that was in effect when I applied for the card. She said that there was nothing else she could do, so I agreed to pay the annual fee and receive the XXXX bonus miles and the companion certificate. 

I paid the {$99.00} annual fee on XX/XX/XXXX. However, I never received the XXXX bonus miles or the companion certificate. After several weeks, I called Barclays and asked when I would receive the bonus miles and certificate. I was told that I would not receive any bonus miles or companion certificate because I did not apply for the card when that offer was in effect. This is the opposite of what I was told on XX/XX/XXXX. When I explained that I applied on XX/XX/XXXX when an offer was in effect, the Barclays ' representative said that they would open another investigation and get back to me. I later received a letter from them stating that they were unable to give me any bonus points or a companion certificate.

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 non-monetary relief