AMEX $100 reward rescinded due to return - anyone else had this happen?

[Anonymous]

I applied for and received the AMEX Blue Cash Everyday card, and one of the offers with the card was $100 in rewards dollars if I spent $1000 on the card within 3 months.

After about 1 month of having the card, I hit that $1000 mark.  The purchase  that put me there was a $50 item at Lowe's.  After getting home I learned that I had bought a slightly wrong product, so I went back to Lowe's and exchanged it.  The Lowe's associate told me she'd just process the returned item for store credit, and then turn around and pay for the replacement item using that store credit.

It turns out what she actually did was process it as a return and put the money back to my AMEX, then charged the AMEX again.

They said it would take 6-8 weeks to get the $100 reward, but it never showed up.  I contacted AMEX and they said it was due to the fact that the purchase that put me over $1k was reversed.  Since then I have far surpassed the $1000 in purchases requirement, but they said that I am not eligible for the reward anymore - even though we're still within the 3-month window and I've gone about and beyond $1k.

Has anyone else experienced this?  The reward is not a huge deal, but a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks, so I'm interested in seeing if there's anything I can do about it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I applied for and received the AMEX Blue Cash Everyday card, and one of the offers with the card was $100 in rewards dollars if I spent $1000 on the card within 3 months.

After about 1 month of having the card, I hit that $1000 mark.  The purchase  that put me there was a $50 item at Lowe's.  After getting home I learned that I had bought a slightly wrong product, so I went back to Lowe's and exchanged it.  The Lowe's associate told me she'd just process the returned item for store credit, and then turn around and pay for the replacement item using that store credit.

It turns out what she actually did was process it as a return and put the money back to my AMEX, then charged the AMEX again.

They said it would take 6-8 weeks to get the $100 reward, but it never showed up.  I contacted AMEX and they said it was due to the fact that the purchase that put me over $1k was reversed.  Since then I have far surpassed the $1000 in purchases requirement, but they said that I am not eligible for the reward anymore - even though we're still within the 3-month window and I've gone about and beyond $1k.

Has anyone else experienced this?  The reward is not a huge deal, but a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks, so I'm interested in seeing if there's anything I can do about it.

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You need to keep contacting them because that makes no sense.  If you reached the $1K spend requirement it shouldn't matter that you had a return at some point.

[Imperfectfuture]

They minus the returns for the spend.

[Ghoshida]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I applied for and received the AMEX Blue Cash Everyday card, and one of the offers with the card was $100 in rewards dollars if I spent $1000 on the card within 3 months.

After about 1 month of having the card, I hit that $1000 mark.  The purchase  that put me there was a $50 item at Lowe's.  After getting home I learned that I had bought a slightly wrong product, so I went back to Lowe's and exchanged it.  The Lowe's associate told me she'd just process the returned item for store credit, and then turn around and pay for the replacement item using that store credit.

It turns out what she actually did was process it as a return and put the money back to my AMEX, then charged the AMEX again.

They said it would take 6-8 weeks to get the $100 reward, but it never showed up.  I contacted AMEX and they said it was due to the fact that the purchase that put me over $1k was reversed.  Since then I have far surpassed the $1000 in purchases requirement, but they said that I am not eligible for the reward anymore - even though we're still within the 3-month window and I've gone about and beyond $1k.

Has anyone else experienced this?  The reward is not a huge deal, but a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks, so I'm interested in seeing if there's anything I can do about it.

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AMEX CSR seems highly, and I do mean HIGHLY, overrated. They are one of the most incompetent bunch, at most slightly ahead of Cap One, that I have come across.

I do not have the Platinum and do not care about the awesome Plat service. But for almost all of my queries, I keep getting disappointed. 

Anyway, rant aside, as long as you have purchased $1,000 worth of stuff less returns in the 3 months, you should get your cash back bonus.

Instead of calling or chatting with the rep(s), try either (1) sending a PM so that someone understanding your problem calls you or (2) send them a message through social media (Facebook comes to mind). 

Edited to add:

it is possible that they are waiting 3 month period to get over and make sure you don't return anything else. However, that's unusual behavior.

[Anonymous]

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@Imperfectfuture wrote:
They minus the returns for the spend.

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True but it still shouldn't affect his bonus because according to his post he went past the spend requirement during the 3 months even if you deduct the return.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Imperfectfuture wrote:
They minus the returns for the spend.

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True but it still shouldn't affect his bonus because according to his post he went past the spend requirement during the 3 months even if you deduct the return.

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Yes, that was my thought. I've now put about $1800 through the card so the return was negligible. 

[Anonymous]

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@Imperfectfuture wrote:
They minus the returns for the spend.

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Correct, but at the same time they processed the return they processed a new purchase for the same amount. Then I charged another $800 or so to it since then.  So ultimately I'm almost at double the $1k requirement.

[Anonymous]

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@Ghoshida wrote:

AMEX CSR seems highly, and I do mean HIGHLY, overrated. They are one of the most incompetent bunch, at most slightly ahead of Cap One, that I have come across.

I do not have the Platinum and do not care about the awesome Plat service. But for almost all of my queries, I keep getting disappointed. 

Anyway, rant aside, as long as you have purchased $1,000 worth of stuff less returns in the 3 months, you should get your cash back bonus.

Instead of calling or chatting with the rep(s), try either (1) sending a PM so that someone understanding your problem calls you or (2) send them a message through social media (Facebook comes to mind). 

Edited to add:

it is possible that they are waiting 3 month period to get over and make sure you don't return anything else. However, that's unusual behavior.

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The rep I talked to seemed adamant that I was no longer eligible at all, so hopefully they are just incorrect then. I will try your other methods of contact and see what I get.  Thanks.