Consumer complaint received 2015-08-05
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: MD
Product: Credit card
Issue: Rewards

Complaint:
i have received an offer for American express card in the mail in XX/XX/2015, the offer had a stipulation that if i spent a certain amount in a certain time frame i would be eligible for XXXX points. I have read all the small print in the original offer before applying. When i completed my side of the agreement i was told that it would take a few weeks for me to receive the points i kept calling back every XXXX weeks or so and after few months was told that i was not eligible to receive points as i have had a card like this in the past. I asked for a copy of the document that stated this information in the original offer letter that was sent to me and was told that it would be sent for my review. Weeks went by and i did n't receive anything, i have called several times and was told that they will send me the requested info. Last call that i made today i was told by rep XXXX first name XXXX XXXX that i was going to be able to speak with the manager about this, the manager placed me on hold and hung up. I called back and was told by a different rep that they can not tell me if or when they would send out the info from the original offer that i have received that shows that i was not eligible for the XXXX points. I have spent hours on phone with american express and kept getting different answers every time and eventually they just said that they can not tell me if or when i would receive the info that shows that i am not eligible. I have read all small print on offer letter and am confident that there was no language in there precluding me from being eligible. I feel that the company is taking advantage of other people just as they did with me and wish this practice to be investigated by appropriate oversight body. While this is not about customer service i can tell you that while i had to call several times to discuss status of this issue there is an undeniable practice of placing caller on hold and hanging up as if by accident. Every time this occurs and i called back i was told that the case notes did n't show the name of previous person i spoke to. This is sad practice from a company that advertises itself to be different due to " excellent '' customer service. I am not even as upset about the points as i am about the treatment that the company provides to customers like me. The culture seems to be give customer a runaround until they stop calling or stop being a customer. This is evident from the numerous people i spoke with at the company. They claim that the calls are recorded for improving customer service but yet blatenly disregard the behaviour of call center managers that hang up on callers. It is very sad that companies are able to get away with answers like, " ... we will provide you the proof but we can not tell you when or if it will ever occur because it is in the hands of our marketing dept. '' -- amex manager. To me this is clear case of a bait and switch where an offer is extended and later wording that is not made available to the customer even after numerous requests is used as way to remove the company from obligation of providing points as advertised. It is very sad that this practice is allowed to take place and the only option the consumer has is to close the card.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation