Reply To: Amex Platinum Dining Credit – Restaurant not accepting Amex

[Matt]

I’d expect the FoS to take a while, charge Amex several hundred £ for the complaint, and order Amex to pay oxforddoc at least £150 (or whatever was spent at the restaurant), assuming a vaguely competent complaint. Core part of the benefits, clearly on Amex’s list of restaurants, wouldn’t have gone but for the list/offer.

JDB wrote:

@oxforddoc – the dining credits programme is largely on a ‘best efforts’ and good faith basis. There are some simple terms and conditions but Amex can’t, and can’t be expected to guarantee that any particular restaurant even takes the card or is still participating. As above, it’s also not wholly one sided; if it was mission critical that you got the credit, a small effort would have told you that the credit was unlikely to be forthcoming. While Amex might offer you something as a gesture of goodwill, there can be no certainty about that or whether they will respond before year end.

I think Amex can reasonably be expected to ensure the list of restaurants they publish is accurate, and if they fail, can be expected to make good the customer they have let down. They clearly have the data to know which restaurants are taking payments on Amex cards. It’s a significant part of the advertised benefits of the card!