Consumer complaint received 2022-02-15
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid 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:
On Sunday XX/XX/2022 at approximately XXXX EST, I was purchasing a plane ticket on XXXX XXXX XXXX website. On the payment page there was an offer to apply for the American Express Delta Gold Skymiles credit card ( see attachment " amex offer on XXXX website '' which is an example of offer ). The credit card offer as advertised is that if you are approved you can purchase the plane ticket with the credit card immediately. My intention for applying for the card was to purchase the plane ticket ( in order to enjoy the benefits the card provides when flying on delta like free baggage ) and use the card on the vacation I was taking associated with the plane tickets. After being approved for the credit card at approximately XXXX EST ( see attachment " CC approval '' ), the American Express website failed to both purchase the ticket directly and when I clicked the button on the approval webpage to get my instant credit card number to use immediately, the webpage failed to work. I immediately called customer support and was told that I would need to speak to the New Accounts Department to resolve the issue, but they are closed on Sunday 's. Customer support also told me that 1 hour after approval I will receive an email confirmation of my approval that will again have a link to access the instant credit card number in order to use it immediately. I did not receive the email until 2 hours later at XXXX EST and the link to get the instant credit card number failed again ( see attachment " instant card number process 1 '' and " instant card number process 2 '' ). The webpage said the physical card would not be delivered until Wednesday XX/XX/2022. As a result of the first delay, the plane ticket I wanted to purchase was no longer available. As a result of the instant card number webpage failing the second time, I was forced to cancel my vacation. Additionally, I was leaving on my vacation on XX/XX/2022 so even if the instant card number process worked, I would not have had the physical card to pay for other expenses prior to leaving and would not have had the physical card to use while on vacation, which was my intention. ( end paragraph ) On Monday XX/XX/2022 I called the New Accounts Department to see what resolution could be provided as a result of American Express not doing what they advertised. The representative first sent me an email in order to access the instant credit card number. Again the process failed. This time the failure was not the webpage but the process. In order to get the credit card number, the webpage needed the 3 digit security code from the back of the American Express XXXXelta Gold Skymiles credit card, which no consumer would have access to at that point in time, especially with American Express knowing they would not deliver the physical credit card for another 1.5 weeks ( see attachment " instant card number process 3 '' ). How could American Express build a process that fails from the start. The representative said they would document what happened. I requested to speak with a supervisor to see what resolution could be provided. When I spoke with the supervisor, they said they would create a ticket of what happened, which would be used to provide feedback internally. ( end paragraph ) That was the only resolution the supervisor would and could offer ; that American Express would give their people feedback and that me, the consumer would just have to accept what happened to them. ( end paragraph ) This complaint is about the failure of American Express to provide the services that they advertised, of being able to purchase a plane ticket immediately if approved for the credit card. This process failed 3 times which is unacceptable if you are going to advertise it to a consumer and the consumer makes a decision to apply for the credit card based on it. Additionally, American Express via their plugin on the XXXX website have upfront access to the date of departure for the plane ticket. If American Express knows that the credit card wouldn't be delivered until after that date, then this is information that absolutely should be advertised to the potential consumer before they submit the application, so that they have complete transparency about the services that will be available. ( end paragraph ) At the very least, American Express 's actions constitute false advertising and may rise to the level of fraudulent activity. It is incomprehensible that a $ 100+ billion dollar company, that is federally regulated, can have such significant process and procedures failures and act in such a manner where consumers are deceived. ( end paragraph ) All the information American Express has related to this case if under reference # XXXX ( end paragraph ) *To be very clear, this complaint is not about the introductory offer of a monetary statement credit plus bonus miles, which I knew ahead of time that I was not eligible for and has no bearing on what happened.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation