Consumer complaint received 2022-05-17
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: IN
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
I would like to file a complaint about a promotion from American Express ( AMEX ). 

In later XXXX and early XXXX, AMEX is running a promotion on their XXXX card that if you spend XXXX dollars or more on your XXXX card, you will receive a XXXX night certificate. The promotion is going on from XX/XX/XXXX to the end of XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX, two days before the end of the promotion, I called in to check whether I had fulfilled the amount, I was notified to have spent around XXXX dollars which is XXXX dollars more than required. And I will need to wait like 8 weeks to receive the free night certificate. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called AMEX for some other matter. And inquired about this promotion. That is the moment I find out that I did not fulfill the spending requirement. And they need time to investigate what happened. Until the third representative, they find out I enrolled the XX/XX/XXXX. So the eligible amount only counted the spending after that date. This is the first time I receive this message after so many representatives. She offered me XXXX XXXX points to compensate. But XXXX hilton points are not comparable to the value of free night certificate by a big margin. 

She then gave me the address of the AMEX executive team for a further escalation. I physically mailed my arguments to the AMEX executive team TWICE. But the problem remains unsolved today. AMEX executive team once reach out to me, but I was not been able to take the call. And then I never hear from them since. Thus, I decided to file the complain to CFPB. 

I was very disappointed with this experience. 
Here are my arguments : 1. Did I spend XXXX dollars more on the promotional period from XXXX to XXXX. 
Yes XXXX dollars. 

XXXX. Did I spend XXXX dollars more from the beginning of the year to the end of XXXX. 
Yes, I spend XXXX dollars. 

XXXX. Did I called before the end of promotion to make sure I spend enough money? 
Yes, I called and get the answer of around XXXX dollars. 

XXXX. Did Amex not responsible for full advertising the terms? 
I think Amex is responsible. By talking to the representative, I had made sure if I specifically ask for the spending of the promotional free night. The system will generate the money. If the Amex is not responsible, why the first representative tells me the amount of XXXX dollars? If Amex is not responsible, why was the representative on the day of XX/XX/XXXX, did not aware there is something wrong with the enrollment date? I further go back to check the posters AmEx has sent to me. There are two posters. The first one did not emphasize the enrollment day. This is why I have the impression that I only need to spend XXXX from the start of the promotion. Yes, there are some small terms at the bottom of the email saying that I should enroll and count the money. But for such important information, Amex fails to address like what you did in the second poster, I can not say Amex can be excused. 

5. Most importantly, if I have the correct information that I only spend XXXX, can I spend the full amount even in a very small period from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. 
The answer is yes. The reason I called on XX/XX/XXXX, is to check how much I need to spend on the free night certificate. My apartment support advances rent payments, and I can also pay some of my friends rent if the processing fee is out of my own pocket. So it would be easy for me to make it up to XXXX, given I already spent XXXX dollars in only the month of XXXX. 

XXXX. Did I try to reach a settlement internally. 
Yes. I even physically mailed my complaint to the AMEX executive team in new york not only once but twice. 

I also attached the two mails I physically mailed to AMEX executive team here. The team called me once after they receive the first mail.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief