Consumer complaint received 2024-08-05
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Problem with rewards from credit card
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY (NJ)

Subject : Complaint Against American Express On XX/XX/year>, a cash rewards credit balance of {$9.00} due me was issued to my American Express Business Cash account. On XX/XX/year>, without prior warning or notification, American Express refunded this credit balance to themselves. 
I called American Express on XX/XX/year>, to inquire about this. I was informed by a customer service representative that if an account is inactive for 60 days, American Express takes back any credit balances. ( Note, this refund was done after 105 days of inactivity on XX/XX/XXXX ). I asked where this policy/practice was documented. He said it was a part of my card member agreement. Upon reviewing the agreement we both noticed it only made reference to a rewards balance being forfeited at the time an account is closed. We both continued to search for the answer to my question. In the interim, the representative offered to send me a check for the amount of the balance while subsequently stating it is the card members responsibility to request a check. I suggested that he not spend any more time on searching for the policy, and that I would continue to search for answers independently. 
Eventually what I found in the The Reward Dollars Summary subsection of the Cardmember Agreement : If a credit to your Card Account places your eligible purchases in a negative status, the Reward Dollars Summary on your billing statement will show a negative balance. It will continue to show a negative balance until you accumulate eligible purchases exceeding the negative eligible purchases. 
Also, in the Credit Balances subsection ( Page XXXX ) of my statements : A credit balance ( designated CR ) shown on this statement represents money owed to you. If within the six-month period following the date of the first statement indicating the credit balance you do not request a refund or charge enough to use up the credit balance, we will send you a check for the credit balance within 30 days if the amount is {$1.00} or more. 
While logged into my account online, I found no way to inquire further about this practice, no email address for customer support, and no option to attach a document with my findings to the 'dispute ' the customer representative opened on my behalf. 
This practice of reclaiming credit balances without clear communication or documentation is unacceptable and caused unnecessary inconvenience and research only to find confusing and conflicting statements as to how credit balances are handled. I believe it violates consumer protection laws and regulations designed to ensure fair and transparent treatment of customers. I ask that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau investigate this matter and take appropriate action to ensure that American Express rectifies these issues and adheres to fair business practices, as well as to their own practices. Please find attached copies of relevant documentation, including billing statements. 
Thank you for your attention to this matter.