Consumer complaint received 2026-06-11 00:00:00
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
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, I applied for a XXXX American Express credit card through American Express 's Apply by Service program. During that application process, I spoke with a representative named XXXX. I made it clear that I wanted to know the welcome offer prior to accepting the card because I would cancel my application if it was not competitive and she assured me that she would provide the information. She informed me that no barriers/limits were on my welcome offer on her end, which was XXXX Membership Rewards points after spending {$12000.00} within the first XXXX months. Based on that representation, I accepted the card and completed the application process. A few hours later, after downloading the American Express app and logging into my new account, I discovered that my account reflected a welcome offer of only XXXX Membership Rewards points rather than the XXXX points that had been represented to me during the application process. I immediately contacted American Express to report the discrepancy. During XXXX calls on the evening of XX/XX/year>, I spoke with XXXX male Amex representatives. Both confirmed that the apply by phone representative had a duty to communicate the welcome offer correctly before asking me whether I wanted to accept the card. XXXX of those representatives advised me that he was opening an investigation into the apparent misrepresentation of the welcome offer. After receiving no update, I later contacted American Express again to check on the status of that investigation. During that call, I was informed that American Express had no record of the prior investigation and no record of the earlier calls concerning this issue. I provided the dates, times, and exact lengths of my previous communications in an effort to help locate the records. The representative on that subsequent call opened a new investigation and provided me with an investigation identification number. Since then, I have contacted American Express multiple times seeking an update on this investigation. Each time, I have been told that the investigation remains pending. The last time I was called, I was advised to keep calling or else they wouldn't " reopen '' the investigation. When I asked what that meant, the representative assured me that the investigation was still open despite her usage of the term " reopen. '' All of the representatives told me this investigation would take different amounts of time to complete, from as little as XXXX weeks to up to XXXX months. More than XXXX months have passed, and American Express has not provided a substantive response or resolution. I applied for and accepted this credit card based on the representation that the welcome offer would be XXXX Membership Rewards points after meeting the required spending threshold. Instead, American Express attached an XXXX offer to my account and has failed to resolve the discrepancy despite repeated contacts and multiple investigations. I would not have accepted the card with an XXXX offer attached but only learned of the figure after it was too late to cancel the application without harm to my credit score. I am requesting that American Express honor the XXXX welcome offer that was represented to me at the time of application or provide an equivalent remedy. I also request that American Express explain why records of my initial calls and investigation could not be located and why this matter has remained unresolved for an extended period despite repeated follow-up requests. I have retained records of my communications with American Express, including the dates and times of calls and the investigation identification number provided to me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation