Consumer complaint received 2016-08-31
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: OH
Product: Credit card
Issue: Rewards

Complaint:
I signed up for an AMEX Platinum card with a signup bonus of XXXX XXXX points after {$3000.00} in spend in the first three months since account opening. The spend requirements are subject to the following requirements, per AMEX 's terms : " Please note, under the terms of the promotional offer, the following charges do not count towards the threshold amount : fees or interest charges ; balance transfers ; cash advances ; purchases of travelers checks ; purchases or reloading of prepaid cards ; or purchases of other cash equivalents. '' I was able to meet the minimum spend through spending at my local grocery store & pharmacy in the first statement I had the card ( XXXX 2016 ), which I have attached for reference. I am confident that the spending requirements were met appropriately and within AMEX 's terms of agreement when I applied for the credit card. With that in mind, American Express posted the XXXX XXXX points to my account for meeting the minimum spend once the XXXX 2016 statement had posted. 

These miles were not immediately made available for my use, per AMEX rules ; the miles vested for a month before becoming available for use. In the meantime, I continued to use the card and the many perks that come with it, including utilizing the airline reimbursement for my XXXX in XXXX, which can be seen in the XXXX 2016 statement I have also attached. 

My XXXX spending was {$3000.00}, already putting me over the minimum spend requirements. I also paid the {$450.00} annual fee the month after and utilized the card to be reimbursed for XXXX purchases I made. The minimum spending was clearly met and AMEX acknowledged this by posting the reward to my account. 

However, on XXXX XXXX, 2016, the XXXX points were then taken out of my account without notification. There was no explanation to the points being taken away & my XXXX point balance was now negative ( and still is XXXX ). With that in mind, I contacted American Express through both the online chat and customer service methods to discuss the issue. Neither channel was able to explain the points missing, merely that they would investigate and get back to me in 3-5 days. 

American Express did not get back to me & has still not reversed their decision to take away the points they stated they would give in the agreement made when I applied for the credit card on XXXX XXXX, 2016. These points were only clawed back AFTER the three months had passed in which I was eligible to make purchases towards the minimum spend, ensuring that American Express would not have to give me the bonus based on the terms of their agreement. While I am a loyal American Express customer and will continue to be one, I felt this was deceptive behavior by the company. 

The main reason I signed up for this card was for the signup bonus ( XXXX XXXX points ) -the additional perks of the card are mostly services I have with other companies already and I do not need them. I was incentivized to get the card by American Express through an abnormally large sign-up bonus and with American Express 's behavior thus far, it appears as though they are misrepresenting the terms of their agreement and hoping to get away with not honoring a contract. 

XXXX XXXX, 2016 marks the day that American Express will no longer give prorated refunds for their cards past 30 days of the first billing statement. As I am well past this now, I feel that this is my last channel to get justice in this case. I hope to keep this card for many years but I want to receive what I contractually agreed upon with American Express per the terms of our credit card agreement on XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX points. 

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing back from you. 

Best, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation