Consumer complaint received 2018-08-26
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

Complaint:
Dear American Express, This complaint is relative to a public welcome offer listed on the American Express Surpass XXXX offer that advertises a free weekend night after the first anniversary of card membership. The offer also includes a XXXX XXXX XXXX bonus points after spending {$3000.00} in purchases within the first 3 months of card membership. While the spending requirement has been met and the XXXX XXXX XXXX bonus points received, I have yet to receive my weekend night certificate upon my annual membership date ( XX/XX/XXXX ) or payment of my annual fee, even within the generous 6 - 8 week window listed in the terms and conditions of the offer. 

I have contacted American Express through the websites chat and was unable to find resolution to this issue. I first contacted XXXX who then forwarded me to XXXX. Our main point of contention can be summarized as the following : There was a free night certificate for the XXXX  surpass card but on the XX/XX/XXXX, we changed the terms of card as we changed the name from XXXX Surpass to XXXX Ascend. A condition was added that the Card member needs to spend {$15000.00} in a calendar year to earn that free night certificate. Hence, the Card member 's whose anniversary date was after XX/XX/XXXX will only get the free night once the spending is met on the account. 

I disagree and here are the reasons why this argument does not hold : 1. I mentioned that if I were to apply for an AMEX card with a signup bonus today and tomorrow AMEX immediately pulls the offer, changes the card slightly, and removes the welcome language from any offer terms and conditions, would I be grandfathered into the new  terms and no longer be eligible for the bonus? In response, XXXX states that The card is eligible for the welcome bonus which it is linked with and I agree. The weekend annual night certificate was included as a special welcome bonus and NOT as a traditional feature of the Surpass card. Yet, she contradicts herself by saying, A condition was added that the Card member needs to spend {$15000.00} in a calendar year to earn that free night certificate. Hence, the Card member 's whose anniversary date was after XX/XX/XXXX will only get the free night once the spending is met on the account. 
2. She argues that the Ascends universal feature of awarding an annual weekend night certificate after {$15000.00} of calendar year spend is a valid substitute of the one-time annual weekend certificate from Surpass limited welcome bonus offer. She makes no distinction between the Ascend or Surpass weekend night certificates regardless of why or how they are awarded. On the other hand, opening a Surpass with a welcome offer but completing the requirements shortly after the change to Ascend still satisfies the opening bonus, but XXXX insists each certificate is now mutually exclusive to each card. Still, there are counterexamples from XXXX users who could secure both during the start of the Ascend. If Shannons logic were to hold and instead the Ascend card offered no annual certificate for {$15000.00} calendar year spend or at the very least some incentive other than an annual night certificate ( {$100.00} statement credit, XXXX points, etc. ), then the Surpass annual free night certificate would have clearly been awarded on account anniversary. She makes no distinctions between annual night certificates, despite one being a unique welcome offer and the other a general feature of the card. 
3. XXXX mentions, American Express reserves the right to modify or revoke offer at any time. I am sure there are certain boundaries in which AMEX can enforce this without any form of repercussions, though in this case it would be certainly a disingenuous and silly mechanism to avoid upholding its end of the bargain for what should have been an extremely simple case and resolution. The account has been in good standing, does not involve fraudulent activity, and only needed to be open for one year. In return, all AMEX needed to do was award just a single ( 1 ) weekend night certificate. I fail to see how refreshing a card or changing its name somehow justifies invalidating the weekend certificate bonus requirement that an account be open for one ( 1 ) year.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation