[Updated 3/22] Amex invokes "the right to modify or revoke offer at any time."

[Anonymous]

Update 4 (12/13): Final decision: "American Express reserves the right to modify or revoke offer at any time."

(For your convenience, I have included a summary of this incident on this update. It is self-contained, feel free to start there.)

Update 5 (3/22): CFPB yield lame result two weeks after complaint. But on 3/10 received 50k MR.

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Original content:

So when I applied I saw the 50k points after 2k spend and 20% back on restaurant in first three months offers. This is my first Gold / PRG, I only have had one other Amex card ever (BCE), never closed anything etc. Never saw a pop-up saying I won't qualify for SUB.

Today I messaged CSR and they told me my account isn't showing any SUB offers, said it's weird, and gave me a number to call.

Any past incidents like this?

Update 1 (12/1): Amex says I had this card before, which is not true. They are investigating.

Update 2 (12/2): App chat rep now says he sees the offer on my account. Keeping my hopes low.

Update 3 (12/7): No sign up bonus due to "other factors", making it 3 mutually contradicting responses at this point.

Update 4 (12/13, end of line): Final decision: "American Express reserves the right to modify or revoke offer at any time."

Update (12/9): Another user faces a very similar situation: no pop-up, changing reasons for non-qualification

[red259]

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@Anonymous wrote:
So when I applied I saw the 50k points after 2k spend and 20% back on restaurant in first three months offers. This is my first Gold, I only have had one other Amex card ever (BCE), never closed anything etc. Never saw a message saying I won't qualify for SUB.

Today I messaged CSR and they told me my account isn't showing any SUB offers, said it's weird, and gave me a number to call.

Any past incidents like this?

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Someone else just mentioned having an issue with Amex not giving them the bonus on a card they never had before. I'm wondering if there is a glitch in their system. It seems completely absurd that they make you an offer on a card you never had and you app, do all the spend and then they refuse to pay out. If its happening to multiple people something doesn't sound right. Not to mention they are charging you an AF. I know they give the language saying they can deny bonuses or whatever but at some point if this is intentional it sounds like bait and switch. I'd argue it to the highest level and pull my business if they won't give the bonus. They clearly don't respect you as a customer if they pull a stunt like this.If you had a ton of amex cards opened and closed etc then I would get that but not with only one amex and its open. 

[CBartowski]

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@red259 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
So when I applied I saw the 50k points after 2k spend and 20% back on restaurant in first three months offers. This is my first Gold, I only have had one other Amex card ever (BCE), never closed anything etc. Never saw a message saying I won't qualify for SUB.

Today I messaged CSR and they told me my account isn't showing any SUB offers, said it's weird, and gave me a number to call.

Any past incidents like this?

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Someone else just mentioned having an issue with Amex not giving them the bonus on a card they never had before. I'm wondering if there is a glitch in their system. It seems completely absurd that they make you an offer on a card you never had and you app, do all the spend and then they refuse to pay out. If its happening to multiple people something doesn't sound right. Not to mention they are charging you an AF. I know they give the language saying they can deny bonuses or whatever but at some point if this is intentional it sounds like bait and switch. I'd argue it to the highest level and pull my business if they won't give the bonus. They clearly don't respect you as a customer if they pull a stunt like this.If you had a ton of amex cards opened and closed etc then I would get that but not with only one amex and its open. 

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+1

I am just getting into the AMEX ecosystem and if they pull this stuff with I'll bail. I'm not churning/manuf spending and I only want 2-3 of their cards.

None of their cards are "must haves" that you can't get anywhere else. 

Keep us posted! Good luck with it!

[mongstradamus]

I am not usually one to defend Amex but what if they got more applications then they thought they would, so to make sure people who had it before don’t get bonus again they may be manually reviewing every application, even valid ones. 

[Anonymous]

Update: I contacted Amex and the rewards team told me my account shows I either had this card before, or the PRG, or declined the SUB. Neither was true so she transferred me to another CSR that could look into my account. The new rep told me system shows I had this card or the PRG before and wanted me to confirm this was not the case. I absolutely definitely never had this card. I had applied for one Amex card prior to this, the BCE, and still have that card. I am also only 20+ and my credit report is perfectly normal...

So now they initiated an internal investigation on this and asked that I call back in a few weeks...

[Save-n-Invest]

Amex denied the SUB on BCE in 2015. I have no idea of why. I never received a SUB from Amex. Never had BCE before the 2015 application. I have no intention of ever considering another Amex product. Too many others available that do not cause all the grief Amex does. 

[Anonymous]

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@Save-n-Invest wrote:

Amex denied the SUB on BCE in 2015. I have no idea of why. I never received a SUB from Amex. Never had BCE before the 2015 application. I have no intention of ever considering another Amex product. Too many others available that do not cause all the grief Amex does. 

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Due to this incident I essentially decided to just use them for the monthly restaurant $10 for a year to recoup my AF and then just switch to the new Citi Prestige. But their reps are so nice and apologetic.... maybe I need to man up and demand good service and not just polite service.

[Anonymous]

Yes this happened to me as well. I applied for the offer didn’t get the popup. Messaged them shortly after I applied making sure I was eligible for the bonus and they confirmed it.

I chatted with a CSR a week later to reconfirm my eligibility and was told I was ineligible.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Yes this happened to me as well. I applied for the offer didn’t get the popup. Messaged them shortly after I applied making sure I was eligible for the bonus and they confirmed it.

I chatted with a CSR a week later to reconfirm my eligibility and was told I was ineligible.

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Did you ever find out why?

[Anonymous]

The 1st CSR reasoning was that I wasn’t eligible for the bonus because it was my 2nd time applying for the card. This made literally no sense whatsoever considering I’ve never had the card.

I called AMEX for a CSR over the phone and they told me that I was ineligible due to misuse or gaming the system in regards to Past SUBs.

I do have 3 Amex cards but I never even intended on closing them. Those cards don’t make any sense to be used for normal spending (Hilton, SPG and Amex ED). I have a BT on the Everyday and I use the Hilton and SPG for those hotels respectively. Honestly, I’ll prob end up closing my Gold next October. This at least allows me to double dip the airline credit since I’ve already paid the 250$ AF. This at least allows me to get some value outside of the SUB. I already have the Savor which is grandfathered so if I do drop this card next Octobe, I would have a worthy replacement.