Consumer complaint received 2024-05-20 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account — Company closed your account
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
It is great to learn that AMEX corrected XXXX counts that were wrongly accused toward me : XXXX. I never transferred any AMEX Membership Rewards ( XXXX XXXX points to travel partners. The transfer was automatically done by AMEX since those cards are co-brand hotel credit cards, NOT under the XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX. It was AMEX 's own glitch, unable to deduct points from the hotel loyalty program, that resulted in those *unearned rewards* retained in my account. In another word, I have done nothing actively in retaining *unearned rewards* and not even aware of this issue until now. 

By now AMEX and I are on the same page of what happened previously. In this vein, here is a very simple question for AMEX : If AMEX does not have such an issue of points deduction, will *unearned rewards* be retained in my account? Will I be regarded as an abuser or gaming for points?! The answer is very obvious! So the only thing I need to explain is why I am doing such a pattern - booking and canceling trips from time to time. 

Here are my explanations : I traveled a lot and spent XXXX more nights at hotels every year, mostly for business. Hotels usually will not charge anything upon booking reservations but only at checkout. However, some luxury resorts require advanced deposits for each reservation which charges credit cards on file. Nowadays most of my colleagues prefer to have events at resorts instead of traditional business hotels located in city centers. Those resorts offer outstanding landscaping, huge swimming pools and much more. This is the trend for business travels due to such a relaxing environment. 

I must first book quite a few different dates that might fit with our schedules. When things get clear later on I have to cancel or rebook reservations. Such cancellation will result in refunds on my credit cards due to the return of deposit. Please refer to document # XXXX for the transaction history of the XXXX statement of my XXXX XXXX credit card.There is a refund from a resort resulting in a deduction of XXXX Points highlighted on page XXXX. My XXXX account also shows that this amount of XXXX Points was deducted. Please refer to document # XXXX, the highlights on page XXXX. Since XXXX credit cards deduct points upon every billing cycle there will be no XXXX XXXX retained in my account. So obviously I am doing this not to gain any points but only as a travel strategy. Indeed booking and canceling reservations have become a part of my travel life. 

Actually I only made several reservations with deposits charged onto my AMEX cards since last XXXX and stopped doing so in early XXXX, XXXX months before AMEX took action on my credit cards. As an ultra-extensive traveler with nearly XXXX XXXX points in my hotel accounts, I am not even aware of total points variation from time to time. Now since AMEX clearly advised me about this issue, I will absolutely NOT use AMEX cards to book such resorts anymore. And I must return those *unearned rewards* back to AMEX!! 

Here are a few more examples of my travel history : Document # XXXX, I once spent XXXX more months in the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
Document # XXXX, I stayed at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for XXXX XXXX with XXXX on Page XXXX and XXXX. Indeed the resort charged me {$2300.00} for the deposit. Since switching to a different payment method at check out and the resort refunded the deposit, highlighted on XXXX XXXX of that credit card statement. 
Document # XXXX, Selected hotel stays for the recent 24 months as an ultra-extensive traveler. 

I am happy to show my hotel stays as much as AMEX satisfies with the fact that I have no intention of points gaming but needs for real travels at resorts. Please review my travel history above and let me know if you have any questions. 






Also, I am rejecting the claim that " wrong balance transfer to other people '' and " incorrect product change '' are unrelated to the closure of my accounts, although AMEX did confirm these XXXX counts were their mistakes and apologized. The " incorrect product change '' issue happened on XXXX XXXX and I called AMEX to complain on XX/XX/XXXX. Then only in XXXX days, on XX/XX/XXXX, all my credit cards were closed. Such timing sounds to the relation of account closure. However, the " unearned rewards '' issue happened from last XXXX only until early XXXX. The gap is XXXX  months, so the timing does not sound right. If AMEX really wants to apologize, AMEX should treat me, a XXXX customer, with basic respect. For example, can AMEX talk with me about the " unearned rewards '' issue first before taking any actions? AMEX may question me as to why there were many hotel cancellations. Closing all my accounts without giving any information is a red flag for retaliation. However, at this stage, it is important for us to dismiss the previous confusion and rebuild the trust between us. 

In summary, AMEX and I are on the same page about what happened. And here I clarify that my purpose for those hotel cancellation refunds is only a travel strategy with no intention of gaming for points. Now since I am fully aware of this issue, I have no intention of using any AMEX cards for resort reservations anymore. Also I must return " unearned rewards '' retained in my account to AMEX. Even if AMEX is unable to perform points deduction from the XXXX XXXX program, AMEX can deduct my XXXX XXXX from other AMEX cards. I have a total amount of XXXX points with Membership Rewards. AMEX can take away the points with the transfer rate to XXXX XXXX at XXXX. So hereby, my request remains to reopen all my accounts as I had done nothing wrong and was not engaged in abuse with earning points.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation