Back in August of 2011 Mrs. ariyo15 and I both applied for two AMEX cards. I got the PRG and the Business Gold, while she got the PRG and the "standard" gold. We applied at the end of August, about 10 days before the shut down of the "better-bonus-bumps."

At the time, I wasn't 100% aware of everything going on, but I "knew" that I could call up and match to a better offer. "Great," I figured. "This is awesome! Instead of just 15 or 25,000 points, I'll now get 175,000 between my two and the Mrs. will get 100k!" Sounded great, but as many of you know, the next 8-10 months were a nightmare!

With hours - nay, days! - spent on the phone between August, 2011 and April, 2012, I was continuously spun in circles. I started (for about the first three months) with "Of course you're getting them. Just wait the 6-8 weeks!" Then it was "Hmm. That's weird, they should have posted by now. Not to worry - I'm not allowed to manually post them, but I'll take care of it - you'll get your points." Then, it was "I don't think you're going to get those." And lastly it was "This is as far as we can escalate this problem - our final answer is no!"

Needless to say, that didn't sit well with me. Just last week though I had an epiphany as I saw a smart car with some local business' art on the side, saying "Accredited with the BBB." That was it - I dusted off the old notes I had taken during each call, with names, times, dates, offer codes, etc... and put it all into a BBB complaint online. I didn't waste the time with my wife's b/c I honestly didn't think it would go anywhere, so why double my trouble. That though, is where I was wrong. Yesterday (about six days after the initial complaint being filed) I noticed 185,000 points posted into my MR account!!!! 175,000 broken into the two different bonuses, and 10,000 with some other coding - seemingly compensation for my troubles! WHOOAA!!!

Of course, after seeing that I quickly fired one off for my wife.

Honestly though, it's ridiculous. To think I have to be on top of this for A FULL YEAR before I see any benefit - and to have to take it to the BBB on top of it! Well, at least it's all water under the bridge now

Moral of the story: The BBB is your friend!!