Amex Business Platinum bonus refused [because I forgot to exclude the fee]

[jobo147]

Hi Rob,

I have been an Amex Personal Platinum cardholder for over 8 years. Earlier this year I took out the Amex platinum Business card. It was offering a bonus of I believe 80k points? Anyway, I spent over the £12,000 within 3 months (actually did it in 2) and waited for my points, which never came.

I then contacted customer services who informed me that I had only spent approximately £11,600 and therefore hadn’t spent enough. Upon checking I realised that they had not included the £650 annual fee as part of the spend and they informed me that fees were not included as part of spend. I verified this on their website site.

I did request from their “managers” some leniency considering it was a genuine mistake and had it not been for the fact that my business partner subsequently took out the Gold Business Card, I would have likely carried on spending on the Platinum business card and met the spend. They still said there was nothing they could do.

I am very disappointed and dissatisfied at how they are handling this. I am losing 80k points over £400. The fact that I am considering cancelling not only my business platinum as well the business gold and my personal platinum, you would think they might consider a more flexible approach.

So before I do cancel all three cards, I thought it maybe wise to see what your thoughts were on it and whether you knew anyone “higher up” who can think more logically about this than a manger who’s answer is “the computer says no”.

Thanks in advance and I await to hear your response.

[Rob]

That’s unfortunate. However, there’s nothing we can do because you didn’t meet the published rules. You are also an established Amex cardholder so they would argue that you should know the system.

Your only grounds for a complaint, I suspect, would be if Amex delayed a response to your query or told you ‘to wait, because they will turn up’, in which case you would have grounds because you would otherwise have done the additional expenditure.

If you didn’t raise your complaint until after the three months then I think you are stuck, although putting in a formal complaint via the process outlined in the T&C won’t hurt.

You should also remember that it was a 2-stage offer:

“American Express Business Platinum now offers up to 120,000 Membership Rewards points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points when you make a single transaction between Month 14 and Month 17.”

If you keep the card to Month 14 you’d receive 40,000 points, even though you didn’t earn the 80,000. This may or may not impact on whether you cancel.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

The fee (and forex fees too) have always been excluded from the spend calculation.

I’ve read of people missing the target by literally a few quid and have had their appeals denied.

Threatening to cancel other cards rarely works.

Why would they give you the bonus when you basically stooped using the card the moment you thought you hit the target?

[ChrisBCN]

I appreciate it sucks big time for you, but you didn’t follow the rules and you stopped spending immediately after you reached the limit so im not surprised they won’t help. You gotta suck this one up I think.

[JDB]

@jobo147 – Amex isn’t usually remotely sympathetic in these circumstances, even if you go higher up the organisation. It’s also a case of Amex being strictly correct in disallowing the SUB so you aren’t unhappy entirely reliant on goodwill, so they need to be approached accordingly. I would really expect them to offer much by way of a compromise goodwill gesture. They might agree to a free cancellation and click reset, although on business cards there is no longer the requirement to have a gap between cards but they might not allow a new application immediately.

It’s an unfortunate and costly error, but I’m afraid that when the stakes are quite high, like 80,000 MR, it pays to be cautious, read the terms, spend comfortably over the threshold in case you get some untimely unexpected refund or an expenditure is excluded, check everything with Amex and ask them for your up to date qualifying spend if there isn’t a spend counter in the app.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

“I would really expect them to offer much by way of a compromise goodwill gesture.”

Shouldn’t that be “I really wouldn’t …” ?

[AndrewT]

Given that the OP had already effectively signalled their intention not to use the card any more by spending £12K in two months then no more, it’s not exactly as if Amex are going to feel encouraged to reward their potential future business.

[Scott]

You misinterpreted the T&Cs, you’ve lost out, I get that it’s annoying.

But see the attitude where managers are described as “managers” and the coming here seeking contacts of people higher up in the organisation – that comes across as arrogant and entitled, and as JDB says it’s not going to be helpful if you’re hoping to get some goodwill from Amex. Try being humble and Amex may be nice to you, but be prepared to learn from it and move on.

[jobo147]

Thank you everyone for your input.

For those that may have not fully understood why I stopped spending on it. I did so because my business partner took out a Gold card and to hit the target on that we had to as a business use it first. I had no intention of never using my platinum again considering it costs £695 per year.

When I say “expect” some leniency, I understand that can seem presumptuous and to some a tad arrogant. This wasn’t my intention. After running my own business I understand the value of my customers and clients. After all, without them where would I be?

Like the agent who originally took my call agreed, if upto him, he would have considered some sort of recompense. This not only builds brand loyalty but makes a customer feel valued. Like I said I have been loyal to Amex Platinum for several years.

I also appreciate rules are rules but when one does something like miss a target by a few hundred pounds out of error then some may see that as a mistake that shouldn’t be punished.

Anyway, I appreciate we are all different and everyone handles these matters in a way which they see fit.

Rant over!

[The Savage Squirrel]

jobo147 wrote:

I did so because my business partner took out a Gold card and to hit the target on that we had to as a business use it first.

So your justifying post admits that multiple partners (and who knows how many there are) are signing up to Amex business cards on rotation every couple of months so that the business spend from this single business is always working through, well, who knows how many, Amex bonuses.

Clearly that’s not sustainable or attractive for Amex – in fact they’ll make a thumping loss on that situation. You may want to reassess your value to them as a customer – sounds like they’ve assessed and understand customer value rather better than you…

[CJD]

I took out the Platinum Amex, didn’t spend on it, and received no MR points. Who do I speak to for compensation?

[gavalar]

I closed my Business Plat having achieved the 12k spend and received the points – am I right it would be 24 months before I am eligible for the SUB again