Consumer complaint received 2023-12-16
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: CA
Product: Credit 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:
In XX/XX/XXXX, I was prompted to open a credit card with PNC Bank through a promotional email, which I received multiple times - the headline of the offer was a {$200.00} credit on the card if I were to spend {$1000.00} on the card within the first 3 months after opening the card. 

I made over {$1000.00} of purchases on the card within the deadline specified, but the bonus was never applied ( it was supposed to be applied within a couple of months after the deadline ) by XXXX of XXXX. 

When I called to signal this to the bank in XX/XX/XXXX, I was transferred from representative to representative as my claim was apparently being 'escalated '. 

The escalation agent my case was ultimately assigned to left the company just as she received my case. I was never alerted to this and so the case was effectively closed without any resolution in early XXXX. I then picked this up again in the summer of XXXX and unfortunately was forced to restart the entire process and go through the exact some escalation process - from case handler to case handler - until I finally received a definitive answer in XX/XX/XXXX. 

The answer was that my purchases on the card did not qualify for the promotion as they were 'made with a financial institution. ' As substantiation for this response, I was provided a link to the XXXX terms and conditions for the promotion, which did, in fact, state that all purchases with 'financial instiatuions ' did not qualify for the promotion ( the promotion was essentially the same in XXXX as it was in XXXX- just with updated fine print ). 

Once I raised the point that the XXXX marketing emails and terms and conditions documents I was sent back as part of signing up for the promotion used *different language* than their XXXX version, my complaint was escalated further. 

To help you understsand the difference I'm talking about, the XXXX marketing verbiage simply stated the following : 'Some limited transactions, such as cash advance transactions ( including the purchase of cash-equivalent products ) and balance transfers, are excluded. ' In contrast, the XXXX marketing verbiage is much more detailed and features many more clear examples of what does not apply. Clearly there was an evolution in the marketing language, which was prompted by a lack of clarity in the previous version. You can find the updated XXXX exclusion clause at the end of this message, which - for the first time- mentions transactions 'made at or with a financial institution ' as being categorically excluded. 

Despite my claim that the marketing language evolved greatly and became clearer between the XXXX and the XXXX versions of promotion, my claim was ultimatley denied. I was told that my purchases ( I use the card to buy shares/cryptocurrency from a financial institution ) fell under the XXXX limitations, more specifically they were deemed to fall under 'transactions, such as cash advance transactions ( including the purchase of cash-equivalent products ) ' and for this reason the promotion did not apply. 

I feel the company cknew they had unclear conditions for this promotion- and for this reason they greatly invovled the campaign 's verbiage between XXXX and XXXX. This was probably due to many cases like mine where the individuals were misled by the ( comparatively ) vague description of what transactions will not be counted for ths promotion. Therefore, I would like for them to come clean for their initital lack of clarity and apply the {$200.00} credit to my account. 

For reference, here 's the XXXX version of the marketing verbiage regarding what purchases are excluded : Purchases do not include ( and you will not earn Cash Back for ) ( A ) interest, annual membership fees, Balance Transfers, transactions made at or with a financial institution ( such as purchasing gift cards, money orders, or travelers checks, or making loan payments ), cash advance transactions ( including ATM disbursements and automated teller or cash equivalent item transactions ), convenience checks ( regardless of whether any such check is a cash advance and subject to the cash advance rate or has been issued subject to the terms of a special offer that includes a promotional rate and/or fee ), insurance premiums for insurance products obtained through us or our affiliates, debt cancellation fees, late fees, overlimit fees and other fees and charges assessed on your Account or ( B ) purchases made at merchants with gambling or gaming merchant category codes.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation