Consumer complaint received 2018-06-16
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: PA
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:
Note : there's a TLDR version at the bottom CFPB has identified opportunities for credit card issuers to improve the transparency & fairness of their products. But did American Express pay attention? At least my case suggests it didn't, apart from coughing up the fines that CFPB imposed on it. 

How far are credit card issuers allowed to go to hide key facts about their rewards programs, and then come up with the 'my-card-my-rules ' excuse when questioned regarding something not covered by the Terms & Conditions of the rewards program? Is there some sort of a line to be crossed? Or do credit card issuers have complete leeway over cheating their customers by including some text in their 'fine-print ' that gives them freedom from consumer-protection-regulation over their rewards programs? 


CFPB 's former Director, XXXX XXXX, remarked at the CARD Act field hearing in XX/XX/XXXX, " we are concerned about the quality of disclosures that are made about rewards products. Many consumers are picking their credit cards based on rewards programs. These offers, however, can be highly complex, as consumers may face detailed and confusing rules about how they can actually use their rewards. We will be reviewing whether rewards disclosures are being made in a clear and transparent manner, and we will consider whether additional protections are needed ''.

In XX/XX/XXXX, he said, " We are also concerned about certain aspects of rewards programs. According to our research, over half of all consumers say they select credit cards based on the rewards they provide. They are lured by the promise of airline miles, hotel visits, points toward purchases, and a variety of other attractive offers. But the specific terms of rewards programs are often not available to consumers until after they have already applied for the card. Even then, the terms of rewards tend to be obscured by glossy program guides, which provide only partial information. Once people are enrolled, they may face detailed and confusing rules about how they can  actually use their rewards. And if consumers were to find, read, and understand the terms, they would often discover that issuers retain the right to change those terms at any time and for any reason ''. 


American Express ' rewards program, Membership Rewards, has temporarily revoked my ability to redeem Membership Rewards points. The reason provided to me was 'Your account is currently being reviewed to make sure that all qualifying purchases meet qualifying criteria '. It seems totally fine for a credit card issuer to hold off points redemption until it verifies a customer 's purchases, except that the date I last received some of those points was XX/XX/XXXX, and today 's XX/XX/XXXX, but I was told verifying transaction would take 6-10 weeks, and there's no way to expedite the process! 

No reason was provided as to why this account-review action was triggered, and why it takes 6-10 weeks to verify a few transactions. 


American Express has a dedicated Membership Rewards team. I talked to one of its supervisors on XX/XX/XXXX who told me that his team has no way to reach out to the 'clerical team ', which 'd actually verify my transactions, so this process can't be expedited. 

An American Express Customer Care supervisor also said, on XX/XX/XXXX, that she had no way of expediting the process of verifying transactions. 


My concern is that first American Express dupes prospective customers into signing up for Membership Rewards points, and then freezes their points without any explanation, just asking them to wait for 6-10 weeks! This wait-period of 6-10 weeks isn't mentioned in the Terms & Conditions, so it seems to be covered by the overarching 'If we in our sole discretion determine  that you have engaged in abuse, misuse or gaming in connection with earning or using points or that you may attempt to do so, we may temporarily suspend your ability to redeem points '. However all my transactions are legitimate. My complaint is not that American Express is not letting me use Membership Rewards points until it verifies my transactions, but that nowehere in the terms & conditions does American Express even vaguely mention that it can take 6-10 weeks to review the transactions of an account. The only fraud being committed here is by American Express! 


While the decision to revoke my ability to redeem MR points may seem discretionary on the part of American Express, I've attached my monthly statement, so that you may verify if even one of my transactions stands to be fraudulent. After those 6-10 weeks ( or given my pathetic experience with Amex, even more ), when American Express would find that all my transactions are legitimate, it would either let me resume redeeming my Membership Rewards points without offering as much as an apology ( as an aside, even their apologies are a euphemistic way of asking one to go XXXX oneself, so they mean nothing to me ), or it would continue to hold onto them, without any explanation. 


It may seem ludicrous, but there's a remote possibility that American Express may have revoked my ability to use Membership Rewards points, as I had been complaining about it on XXXX, and have started using their cards as sparingly as I can, in protest of its execrable customer service. But retaliating against me for exercising my rights as a consumer by complaining to you & the FTC regarding deceptive privacy & data security claims may not sound as ridiculous ( I'll be registering this complaint & evidence later today, about which I had informed American Express on XXXX XXXX ). 


TLDR : 1. CFPB had advised credit card issuers to improve the transparency & fairness of their products, but American Express seems to be looking the other way.

# NoTransparency # NoFairness 2. How long can the CFPB & the FTC allow credit card issuers to operate by the 'my-card-my-rules ' maxim without strong regulation to protect consumers?

3. My card 's & Membership Rewards ' terms & conditions do not mention anything regarding a 6-10 week delay in verification of transactions, during which one can't redeem one 's Membership Rewards points. # NoTransparency 4. No reason was provided as to why a review was triggred to verify my account 's transactions, and I was explicitly told that there's no way to know the reason.

# NoTransparency # NoFairness 5. I think that if Machine Learning algorithms underpin the account-review-triggering process, they may be biased ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ). The rationale behind triggering account-review isn't explained to customers, so this factor can't be ruled out. # NoFairness

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation