Refusal to honour statement credit offers

[MichaelR]

I was just wondering whether anyone else has noticed a worrying trend of late, whereby Amex seems to throw up a series of bogus reasons for refusing to apply offer credits in situations where they do not post automatically (which also seems to be becoming a more frequent problem).

I’m very annoyed that I didn’t receive the £200 back on a £1,200+ spend with KLM on Business Class or Premium Economy flights from the recent offer. I’ve phoned in three times about this now, and was eventually given (today) the following reasons why they won’t give me the £200 despite having spent well over £1,200 on a Business Class flight and met all of the stated offer terms:

* Not all the segments are in Premium Economy or Business Class
– I immediately challenged this as nonsense and asked them to look again at the fare code information they have, which shows all segments in J or Z. They then came back with:
* The long haul segments are in Z, which is discount business class and doesn’t qualify. Their decision on this is final.
– This really, really, annoyed me as the offer terms make no such distinction between full fare J and any other fare class – the flights just have to be in Premium Economy or Business, per the terms.

I’ve had to open a formal complaint to try to get my £200. Hopefully, it won’t require escalation to FOS.

The other one I’ve had problems with is Disney+. I keep getting told that whatever I spend with them doesn’t qualify for the offers they keep sending me as “recurring transactions” are excluded by the terms. This, I get, is technically true (even though I often cancel Disney+ after a month). When I point out that all transactions with Disney+ are technically recurring transactions though (as it is a subscription service and one must agree to be billed on a recurring basis, whether one signs up to a monthly or annual subscription), Amex seems to have no reasonable answer…

Sorry if this is a bit of a “get it off your chest” rant, but American Express used to be so much better than this. I shouldn’t have to keep fighting so hard to get them to honour their offers. Has anyone else been experiencing such problems as of late?

[Andrew.]

Have Amex start a charge back, as you were missold a Business Product by KLM when it turns out it wasn’t.

No issues with Disney+ here. I’ve tom-catted my subscription payment around between BoS, Halifax, Virgin, Barclaycard, MBNA and Amex to trigger offers.

[MichaelR]

Well, it is a business product. That’s the whole point. Ticketed in World Business Class. It’s even a refundable fare, so wasn’t cheap, although Amex is saying that in their mind only full-fare eye-popping J qualifies…

[PeteM]

Those sound like really silly excuses to me – I’d raise a formal complaint as you are planning to.

[Lady London]

I like @Andrew.’s suggestion.

Call them back in Brighton business hours Monday-Friday after they’ve had time to have a coffee. Make sure you’re talking to Brighton. Have the agent transfer you to Brighton if not.

Go through your request for the missing £200 – just request it again.

If they still refuse, tell them what @Andrew. says – in that case you wish them to do a chargeback on that KLM transaction immediately. As based on any Amex response saying this is not a ticket in Business, KL haa fraudulently sold you a ticket that is not the Business class ticket that you bought from them on the card. Therefore you request them to charge it back.

Tell them the alternative is if they continue to refuse to credit the £200 any more than 7 days more (give them 14 saying you would only give them 7 after the trouble you’ve had with them on this but as it’s Christmas you will give them 14) and then you will report them to the FOS. ie the @PeteM solution. But the @Andrew. suggestion should give them pause so give it a whirl first.

Then report them to the FOS which will cost them £750-£850 in FOS fees as the FOS ‘free’ allowance of complaints handled per firm, has gone down to only 3 complaints.

Then ask yourself why you are paying nearly £700 for a card with shoddy service, if it’s a Plat.

[JDB]

There’s an awful lot of advice here. Has anyone read the terms of the offer before opining?

[PIL]

Raise a formal complaint with all facts outlined (leave emotional language out). They will get it right with a gesture of good will

[MichaelR]

Thank you everyone.

I’ve already made a formal complaint (before I posted) as it was obvious that pressing informally (but politely) wasn’t getting me anywhere. I was just rather bemused by the increasingly strange reasons I was being given for the credit being refused, as in my experience Amex hasn’t ever really been a company that plays such games. It’s really disappointing.

I was really more interested in whether anyone had started to notice the same, rather than looking for advice on how to handle complaining. I’m not going to do things such as requesting chargebacks – KLM would quite rightly cancel my ticket (which I need) if I did that. KLM have done nothing wrong in this.

I have obviously saved down the offer terms and checked these carefully. The only possible cogent arguments that Amex could have are that the flights are not “direct” against this term:

• Offer only valid on flights Premium Economy and Business class direct flights.

But as it’s also a term of the offer that only flights starting from UK airports qualify (I meet this – flights are from Bristol (BRS) to Austin AUS)), it would be impossible to comply with a strict reading of “direct” as KLM only fly “direct” to Amsterdam from the UK and even their worst value fares to AMS don’t cost £1,200….

Or that I just have to wait:

• Credit should appear on your billing statement within 30 days from qualifying spend but may take up to 90 days from 29 November 2022.

But they’ve already told me I’m not getting it because they’ve invented something about Z and J fare classes that’s not in the terms…

I will wait and see what happens next. I’ve found the Amex complaints handlers to be good in other cases. I just find it very sad that I increasingly have to resort to bringing them into action.

[meta]

JDB wrote:

There’s an awful lot of advice here. Has anyone read the terms of the offer before opining?

Has anyone bothered to read OP’s post that the fare is refundable? KLM will just refund and that’s the end of the chargeback process.

[Matt]

Amex’s customer service has gone significantly downhill – lots of “wait for 90 days” that used to be just sorted for example. Things don’t happen automatically as much as they used to, and when something is missed they won’t/can’t fix it.

Assuming that you meet the T+C for the offer then you’re right to put in a formal complaint and then if that doesn’t fix it head to the FOS – it’s the only way it might ever improve.

[Lady London]

JDB wrote:

There’s an awful lot of advice here. Has anyone read the terms of the offer before opining?

Do you think we are making a mistake to assume posters have read the terms of the offers they receive @JDB? Hopefully the OP did read them and has understood them correctly.

Or, do you know something about this offer the OP may have missed?

[Lady London]

meta wrote:

JDB wrote:

There’s an awful lot of advice here. Has anyone read the terms of the offer before opining?

Has anyone bothered to read OP’s post that the fare is refundable? KLM will just refund and that’s the end of the chargeback process.

I think the proposition of chargeback waa a negotiating thing to point up the ridiculousness of what Amex was saying about the ticket not being a business class ticket meta.

Direct can mean with connections, in airline language.

[JDB]

Lady London wrote:

JDB wrote:

There’s an awful lot of advice here. Has anyone read the terms of the offer before opining?

Do you think we are making a mistake to assume posters have read the terms of the offers they receive @JDB? Hopefully the OP did read them and has understood them correctly.

Or, do you know something about this offer the OP may have missed?

My point was that people keep giving extremely strong advice on a variety of subjects when they don’t know the facts or in this case the terms of the offer. Personally, I think that is very counterproductive.

[dougzz99]

Wouldn’t this all simply be solved by posting the terms of the offer.

[Scott]

MichaelR wrote:

I will wait and see what happens next. I’ve found the Amex complaints handlers to be good in other cases. …

Re above, for reference just had a relatively simple complaint finalized (not in my favour) after 13 weeks. Speaking to them at around 7 weeks I was told they had a very large backlog.

On top of that they didn’t even address the specific reason for the complaint, so good luck!

[MichaelR]

dougzz99 wrote:

Wouldn’t this all simply be solved by posting the terms of the offer.

In case anyone is interested:

Spend £1200 or more with KLM, get £200 back one time

KLM

OFFER DETAILS

Save to card to get a £200 statement credit when you spend £1200 or more online at KLM in Premium Economy or Business by 29 November 2022. Valid for flights departing from the UK, once per Card for the first 20,000 Cardmembers. Terms and Conditions apply.

OFFER TERMS
• Offer only available online at klm.co.uk, until 29 November 2022.
• Only one £200 statement credit per qualifying UK Card.
• Offer only valid on flights departing from a UK airport.
Offer only available to the first 20,000 Cardmembers who save the offer to their Card.
• Offer only valid on flights Premium Economy and Business class direct flights.
• Offer only valid on round trip bookings.
•Offer only applies to spend made in Great British Pound (GBP) on the Card to which the offer is saved, including an American Express Card loaded into a mobile payment wallet.
•A rewarded credit may be reversed if qualifying transaction is refunded or cancelled. Any misuse, as reasonably determined by us, relating to your redemption of Amex Offers may result in an awarded credit being reversed, and ineligibility from future Amex Offers and other promotions. This reversal may take place up to a maximum of 180 days after the offer campaign end date. Please note that if an awarded credit is reversed after you have paid your bill you may be returned to a negative balance.
• Offer excludes Cargo and Freight transport for KLM.
• Credit should appear on your billing statement within 30 days from qualifying spend but may take up to 90 days from 29 November 2022.
Offer is only intended for the targeted recipient of this offer.
• Spend must be billed to your Card account by 29 November 2022 to be eligible for this offer. If KLM do not charge your Card during this period, you may not be eligible for this offer.
• We will use your personal information such as name, email address, account number and transaction information to manage your participation in the offer and to track your spend. Please see our Card member Privacy Statement for details of how we use your personal information.
• For full Offer Terms and more details about statement credits please click here.
• By saving the offer to your Card, you agree to the Offer Terms.

[MichaelR]

Scott wrote:

MichaelR wrote:

I will wait and see what happens next. I’ve found the Amex complaints handlers to be good in other cases. …

Re above, for reference just had a relatively simple complaint finalized (not in my favour) after 13 weeks. Speaking to them at around 7 weeks I was told they had a very large backlog.

On top of that they didn’t even address the specific reason for the complaint, so good luck!

Oh dear. That sounds like a further unwelcome slide in service…

[polly]

Similar situation here. Spent the £200/£75 back with Marriott offer in Paris, 30th July. Bill came to £204. They claim it came to 199.17. Their conversion! Excluded the 2.99% which was almost £6. They told me several times l met the criteria on phone and chat, until this week they said l didn’t. Expressed concern so asked for supervisor, who offered me £50 goodwill. Pressed on, said they would see if their manager would approve the £75. Told her l was humiliating to beg for the £75! And that Amex were nit picking excluding the exchange fee…. Phoned me back as promised with the full offer. Almost 4 months. She mention she could allocate up to 7k Bonvoy points, should have taken them. But probably would have only given us £75 x 2! Useless.

Other one we are waiting for is the One Fine Stay night, added an extra night. OFS billed us directly, supposed to have 200 credit back, it was a 276 bill. Again, big discussion, hadn’t a Clue where to find it, had to guide them…. Asked us to phone them back Today, can’t. So will do next week. So yes, having to drag certain credits out of them.

Saying that, the restaurant credits both U.K. and Singapore posted quite quickly. HN now to buy a gift card/candle.

[alexm]

Yes!!! I have a case in which flights were bought for £498 plus a £5 seat reservation fee on the LAX – LAS leg meaning £503 total in the United Airlines spend £500 get £250 cashback. I was sent a secure payment code for £503 which furthered my belief that it was a single transaction of £503. To my horror, the transaction then showed on the statement as £498 and £5 so I messaged amex on live chat and explained all to an advisor who stated that I would be elegible due to the £503 secure payment email I was sent (i did screenshot this luckily) I ensured I done this as I was at the stage whereby I could cancel the flights within 24 hours but due to the advice given to me by the agent I left it. I never got credited after a while so I uploaded some documents from the case at which point I was reassured again it would come. After sending an email to complain, i’ve now been told I won’t get it as it’s not a single transaction (even though I’ve got proof that I was asked to confirm a single transaction of £503) and also because my flight never departed from the UK which I have no idea where they got that from as I departed from Heathrow. Any advice in where I could take this further would be massively appreciated

[polly]

@alexm
Learning the hard way. HUACA ask for a senior agent, that’s what they told me last week. And ask for Brighton office hours, if you get the Philippines. They must honour that one, as the 5 is part of the fare. That’s the worst nip picking, as it was sterling. No excuse.
In future add a charity 2 to total it up. I certainly will in future.

[bruinbrown]

polly wrote:

Similar situation here. Spent the £200/£75 back with Marriott offer in Paris, 30th July. Bill came to £204. They claim it came to 199.17. Their conversion! Excluded the 2.99% which was almost £6. They told me several times l met the criteria on phone and chat, until this week they said l didn’t. Expressed concern so asked for supervisor, who offered me £50 goodwill. Pressed on, said they would see if their manager would approve the £75. Told her l was humiliating to beg for the £75! And that Amex were nit picking excluding the exchange fee…. Phoned me back as promised with the full offer. Almost 4 months. She mention she could allocate up to 7k Bonvoy points, should have taken them. But probably would have only given us £75 x 2! Useless.

Other one we are waiting for is the One Fine Stay night, added an extra night. OFS billed us directly, supposed to have 200 credit back, it was a 276 bill. Again, big discussion, hadn’t a Clue where to find it, had to guide them…. Asked us to phone them back Today, can’t. So will do next week. So yes, having to drag certain credits out of them.

Saying that, the restaurant credits both U.K. and Singapore posted quite quickly. HN now to buy a gift card/candle.

I’ve had a situation relating to this recently. I had a setup where I’d get to £395 spend in GBP plus the 2.99% to take me over the £400 offer on Marriotts. I asked on chat about what settled amount meant and the chat agent was absolutely adamant that the offer would apply if the transaction fee caused it to go over the threshold. In the end though we didn’t need to worry as we went well over, but I’m thankful I have it written down for the future now.

[tamnavulin]

alexm wrote:

Any advice in where I could take this further would be massively appreciated

You could possibly take it to Amex Customer Service?

[alexm]

tamnavulin wrote:

alexm wrote:

Any advice in where I could take this further would be massively appreciated

You could possibly take it to Amex Customer Service?

I did but after 2 months waiting from the letter I sent them, I got a reply saying they refuse to honour it

[MichaelR]

Quick update on this:

I received an email yesterday in response to my complaint, telling me that it had been upheld but offering only £75 for poor service. (So not really “upheld” at all in my book).

The complaints handler has not stated why they say that the transaction was not eligible. Merely that: “I can confirm that based upon the information presented to our Back Office Department, the transaction was unfortunately not eligible.”

I have provided Amex with what I believe is incontrovertible evidence that all of the offer terms were met, so this is clearly an unacceptable answer.

I have replied to say that this is unacceptable and that FOS or County Court will be the next step if they continue to refuse to pay out the £200. I’m not sure that I really have their “final response” yet as the email also says “Please be assured, that once I receive any update form our Back Office Department I will contact you by email or phone.”

Honestly the worst service that I’ve received in all my years with Amex. It’s a simple issue and in my mind there’s no absolutely no doubt at all that the £200 is due to me. No cogent argument has been put forward as to why Amex say it isn’t.

Would be interested to know if this offer actually paid out for anyone, as there’s nothing unusual about my ticket at all!

[polly]

@MichaelR

We got our same email this morning re the One Fine Stay 200 credit; still not explaining why it didn’t post within the usual 5 days. A big apology, and a 50 for our phone calls, around 6-7 hrs on hold, albeit reading the paper, working out, etc. but still my time on hold… just under 4 months from booking. Villa in Bali beautiful, so worth the effort, but that’s by the way.
Got the Marriott £75 back a while go. Took months.
Keep fighting, ask for final letter, then try claim on line. Would really be good if someone actually has managed to get the credit. Or ask for charge back, fraudulent description of Biz class… good idea, that one…..
Amex have definitely changed direction with credits. It really is nit picking to the extreme.
We have 4 x OFS bookings to make, by end of March, spend £1k, get £500 back, but hesitating to book as we may not get those credits. Too much of an outlay to risk methinks, with what we have recently experienced with them.
Best of luck!