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The FOS is definitely the way to go once you’ve got your final response – if enough people do that Amex will quickly realise its cheaper and better to pay offers when they’re supposed to.
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!
Have had, so far, the same argument put forward regarding our Air France offer (which was identical terms).
Told last week that the spend wasn’t business class, when it was. Was asked to send a confirmation; thankfully neither bookings appear to include a Z class, but have a feeling we’re heading the same way as you.
Currently waiting to hear back from their Offers Team, but have also raised a complaint because the sheer time taken to resolve this has been pretty abysmal.
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!
Have had, so far, the same argument put forward regarding our Air France offer (which was identical terms).
Told last week that the spend wasn’t business class, when it was. Was asked to send a confirmation; thankfully neither bookings appear to include a Z class, but have a feeling we’re heading the same way as you.
Currently waiting to hear back from their Offers Team, but have also raised a complaint because the sheer time taken to resolve this has been pretty abysmal.
Good luck. Clearly something amiss with what’s reported by AFKL to Amex then. (I did also have the Air France offer saved, but didn’t manage to make use of it).
I received a further update today to tell me that “unfortunately our Specialist Department are still reviewing the offer credit in question”. The complaints handler has pointed out the “90 day rule” and I’ve said that I’m content to wait until the 90 days are up before going to FOS.
Chased Amex today, and got through to someone in Brighton.
They said the documentation had been reviewed and because the flights were “not direct” the spend was not valid. I pointed out that the offer was for Prem Econ/Business class spend, making the offer redundant because you can’t fly Premium to France with AF, and you’d struggle to spend £1.2k in Business to Paris, for example.
Interestingly, my complaint also hadn’t been raised, so has now. Asked for the offer to be paid as the resolution. If not, would be interested to see what the FOS has to say about an offer where half of it definitely cannot be achieved…
I’m expecting them to also use the “direct” excuse with me in their next update. It really does feel like any excuse not to pay out.
I don’t think that FOS would be very impressed with Amex’s interpretation of this when it was also a condition that flights must start from the UK. The only fair interpretation of “direct” in this context is “without a stopover” as not even the worst value Business Class fares to CDG or AMS from the UK cost £1.2k and there is no Premium Economy on Short Haul.
Their so-called “Specialist Team” don’t seem to have much specialism though. I doubt they’re even aware that AF only flies to CDG from the UK and that KL only fly to AMS from the UK.
I’m expecting them to also use the “direct” excuse with me in their next update. It really does feel like any excuse not to pay out.
I don’t think that FOS would be very impressed with Amex’s interpretation of this when it was also a condition that flights must start from the UK. The only fair interpretation of “direct” in this context is “without a stopover” as not even the worst value Business Class fares to CDG or AMS from the UK cost £1.2k and there is no Premium Economy on Short Haul.
Their so-called “Specialist Team” don’t seem to have much specialism though. I doubt they’re even aware that AF only flies to CDG from the UK and that KL only fly to AMS from the UK.
Do KLM offer any one-stop direct flights from the UK? I think the terminology is:
direct – between two airports, with one flight number, may include a stop, may stay on the plane
non-stop – between two airports, with one flight number, no stops
connecting – between two airports, different flight numbers.Here it sounds like you are on a connecting flight, so they might hold that against you, despite it not really being in the spirit of the offer. If they don’t offer any direct premium economy flights from the UK then I think it’s reasonable to presume that ‘direct’ is a bogus part of this. Perhaps they copy and pasted the terms from an NL offer. It seems hard to believe that they were targeting full-fare last minute business fares with this.. but even that is hard. Pricing up for a flight today returning tomorrow is still under £1,200 (unless you increase to 4x checked bags!!
I wonder if there is something else at play here. Is one of the flights on KLM Cityhopper but you needed to be on mainline KLM, but this isn’t detailed in the T&C’s?
john
Do KLM offer any one-stop direct flights from the UK?
No. Everything requires an XXX-AMS leg before you can go any further after connecting onto a different flight number.
I wonder if there is something else at play here. Is one of the flights on KLM Cityhopper but you needed to be on mainline KLM, but this isn’t detailed in the T&C’s?
In practice, yes, the first leg will be operated by KLM Cityhopper. This is not mentioned on the ticket or booking confirmation though (all legs say “Operated by KLM”). Ironically, Amex have no problem with those BRS-AMS legs in any case, as they booked into J. The ones that they have (so far) said don’t qualify are those on KLM mainline from AMS-AUS as they booked into Z.
I have also pointed out to them that what I purchased was actually the most expensive “Business Flexible” fare offered for sale on klm.co.uk that day. They weren’t selling J on the long hauls (even when booking flex). If I’d phoned to book J all the way (ignoring the fact that the terms say nothing about this), then I’m sure I’d have been pointed to the very first term which states that the offer is only valid for flights booked online at klm.co.uk…
I’m expecting them to also use the “direct” excuse with me in their next update. It really does feel like any excuse not to pay out.
I don’t think that FOS would be very impressed with Amex’s interpretation of this when it was also a condition that flights must start from the UK. The only fair interpretation of “direct” in this context is “without a stopover” as not even the worst value Business Class fares to CDG or AMS from the UK cost £1.2k and there is no Premium Economy on Short Haul.
Their so-called “Specialist Team” don’t seem to have much specialism though. I doubt they’re even aware that AF only flies to CDG from the UK and that KL only fly to AMS from the UK.
My thoughts exactly — especially when the headline terms don’t outline the “direct” requirement. There was also plenty of talk on at the time of the offer about people have successfully claimed for connecting flights in the past.
From my perspective it’s misleading given half the offer is unachievable right out the gate.
Anyway, I’ll update here when I hear back.
Had a call back regarding my complaints yesterday. It was raised as two complaints, one for my Plat Supplementary and one for my Gold card.
They upheld the complaints on both, but for different reasons. On the Platinum card they claimed the same as the OP — that the “O” fare on our booking was discounted Business class, and therefore not eligible, but were upholding as a gesture of good will. In the end, I didn’t argue that the terms don’t specify which fare class it had to be in.
On the Gold card, they claimed I should’ve been credited anyway, and apologised for the poor service.
Seems they make it up as they go along; four different reasons in the end.
All in all, a very strange few interactions, but glad it’s resolved. Hope the OP manages to get it sorted too 🤞
Glad to hear that they paid out in the end @morgan (despite the strange reasoning). I will hope for the same outcome.
I’m sad to say that I’ve just had to submit my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service as American Express are still refusing to pay out on the KLM offer. This was their very poor final response:
Thank you for your email, and your patience whilst this matter was being investigated.
I can confirm that our Specialist Department have completed the review of the offer in question, and confirmed that unfortunately the spend detailed previously is not eligible as the flights were not direct.
I would like to refer you to the below Terms and Conditions which state,
Offer only valid on flights Premium Economy and Business class direct flights.
Offer only valid on round trip bookings.Whilst I acknowledge the frustration this may cause you, as detailed in my previous response you can escalate your concerns to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Just to say my pair of £200 cashback items for Air France have finally hit the account this morning. So keep an eye on your statements.
My £200 for Air France appeared today too. I had forgotten about it and wasn’t actually expecting it to pay out as the flight didn’t start from the UK, it was Accra to UK return but booked from the UK and paid for in sterling. My understanding of the offer was that the flight had to depart from the UK but maybe I was wrong and as long as it’s not rescinded I’ll consider it a nice bonus 😊
Amex have been terrible at sorting credits for me. I have a zero tolerance.
– complaint
– when inevitably declined, then escalate to ombudsman (at ~£700 cost to Amex)
– complaint resolved in my favour at Cashback + £50 time and effort for each credit I’ve escalated. I’ve done it for several £5s previously.
Total waste of Amex’s time. At £50 per complaint it is not a waste of my time. But you’d think they’d learn.Amex have been terrible at sorting credits for me. I have a zero tolerance.
– complaint
– when inevitably declined, then escalate to ombudsman (at ~£700 cost to Amex)
– complaint resolved in my favour at Cashback + £50 time and effort for each credit I’ve escalated. I’ve done it for several £5s previously.
Total waste of Amex’s time. At £50 per complaint it is not a waste of my time. But you’d think they’d learn.Wasn’t there someone who posted last year that Amex closed his account down after doing lots of complaints about missing cashback and doing complaints to the ombudsman.
Amex have been terrible at sorting credits for me. I have a zero tolerance.
– complaint
– when inevitably declined, then escalate to ombudsman (at ~£700 cost to Amex)
– complaint resolved in my favour at Cashback + £50 time and effort for each credit I’ve escalated. I’ve done it for several £5s previously.
Total waste of Amex’s time. At £50 per complaint it is not a waste of my time. But you’d think they’d learn.Wasn’t there someone who posted last year that Amex closed his account down after doing lots of complaints about missing cashback and doing complaints to the ombudsman.
Maybe. That would be another complaint though, if my complaints had been upheld.
I’ve also just had the two Air France statement credits hit my accounts (Plat Supplementary and Gold Rewards)… In addition to the complaint credit they previously gave me for the same issue 😬
Very frustratingly, the FOS investigator has concluded that Amex was right to refuse me the £200 credit on the basis that my flights were not “direct”. Apparently, I should have spent £1,200+ flying UK-AMS…
I’ve asked an Ombudsman to make a final decision. The investigator did a pretty poor job as they included a line around understanding that “part of the flight was in economy” when the ticket I provided clearly shows this not to be the case. They laboured heavily on the “direct” point though, so I’ve made further representations about why this should be disregarded / interpreted contra proferentem (not least the fact that Premium Economy, which was also a qualifying cabin, is not offered between the UK and AMS). Very frustrating that Amex are trying to rely on a clear drafting error to wriggle out of this and that FOS have (so far) accepted this.
I shall probably have to let this go if the Ombudsman takes Amex’s side (rather than going to MCOL) as fares do, unbelievably, appear to have risen to the point where it is now possible to buy a Business Flex ticket from BRS-AMS that costs more than £1,200 (leaving today, returning tomorrow), so I can’t be as confident as I would have been of winning this in court. It leaves an incredibly bad taste though – a feeling that Amex have acted (and continue to act) in bad faith here.
I continue to be amazed as to why anyone would give Amex £700 a year with this kind of thing going on, and service fallen off a cliff. Who ya tryin’ to impress?
I’m certainly not. I couldn’t get value out of Platinum in any event.
Gold does still work for me at £160 (just), but I’ve stopped factoring in the value of offers to the same extent that I used to, as they don’t reliably pay out anymore.
I have made good use of the recent hotel offers, which have paid out, but I’ve also had lower value offers for other things that have not paid out.
Very frustratingly, the FOS investigator has concluded that Amex was right to refuse me the £200 credit on the basis that my flights were not “direct”. Apparently, I should have spent £1,200+ flying UK-AMS…
I’ve asked an Ombudsman to make a final decision. The investigator did a pretty poor job as they included a line around understanding that “part of the flight was in economy” when the ticket I provided clearly shows this not to be the case. They laboured heavily on the “direct” point though, so I’ve made further representations about why this should be disregarded / interpreted contra proferentem (not least the fact that Premium Economy, which was also a qualifying cabin, is not offered between the UK and AMS). Very frustrating that Amex are trying to rely on a clear drafting error to wriggle out of this and that FOS have (so far) accepted this.
I shall probably have to let this go if the Ombudsman takes Amex’s side (rather than going to MCOL) as fares do, unbelievably, appear to have risen to the point where it is now possible to buy a Business Flex ticket from BRS-AMS that costs more than £1,200 (leaving today, returning tomorrow), so I can’t be as confident as I would have been of winning this in court. It leaves an incredibly bad taste though – a feeling that Amex have acted (and continue to act) in bad faith here.
This really is so silly – you almost want to shake someone at AmEx and go “look, this doesn’t make any sense, apply some common sense…!”
Just to finish my story on this:
I noticed upon checking my American Express account this morning that Amex has finally paid me the £200 credit – nearly six months after I made the qualifying spend.
I was a bit surprised, obviously, after I received the negative opinion from the FOS on Wednesday.Given that the posting date for the credit was 27th April, I can only imagine that someone at Amex Towers took a fresh look and decided that this really didn’t make any sense.
Obviously pleased with the outcome (provided they don’t try to take it away again), but what a palaver to get there!
Cheers for update.
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