nwflyboy

Um, this would be pretty noteworthy if true - and I think is worth getting some clarity on.

@paladin732: can you please confirm the following are all true?

1. You did not apply for the Amex Plat targeted offer back in May-ish (that is, you did not use the leaked link for that 100K Amex Plat offer).
2. Whatever MR points you accumulated were not generated from that targeted 100K Amex Plat sign-up offer.
3. Your points were frozen.

Are the above all true?

If yes, what other shenanigans have you done that you suspect would cause Amex to bring the smackdown?

I bet a lot of folks would be keenly interested in details. Thanks for sharing.

Voli

Even if it was legitimate refunds then I would counter argue that cause on what planet are you not allowed to have refunds else you risk your points. WHAT!? amex. it's just an excuse but not a valid excuse and one person had an investigation opened for them to review again because the MR agent agreed it was nonsense.

Mine are still under review but there were refunds from restaurants cause they charged me twice. I will argue to hell if I get clawed back for those refunds or Amazon partial refunds. I had no MS and about 6k organic spend.

This sounds like the person at corporate reviewing it just saw refunds and without thinking much clawed it back afterwards. Cause it's hard to find someone with common sense and two brain cells...............

PumpkinSmasher

Question: Do the airline incidentals ($200) count towards the spend requirement? Since they are essentially refunded back to the card?

chrisremo

Traditionally, that spend does count. That's always been my experience. But in this case it seems like many traditional practices are not being adhered to.

Voli

They do as they are still legitimate charges. Confirmed with multiple reps before the shitshow and on what planet do they not. Common sense better prevail for these charges lol

artgriego

Points unfrozen. Applied via 5/9 link, about $1500 in MS across grocery/malls. Timeline:

7/12 awarded, test transfer went through
7/30 15k to B6 successful
sometime after 7/30 discovered they were frozen
9/9 were still frozen
9/13 unfrozen, dumped them all out

Never contacted Amex about this. Hoping I'm in the clear of course...

oneworld82

The thing that stinks the most is that we lost the chance to earn bonus on that card

msthegame

My points are still frozen. I have done some ms to reach the threshold. Is it better to cut my losses and apply the points toward statement credit before they have the chance to take the points away?

artgriego

See my DP above, depending on your risk tolerance/desire to fight Amex if they clawback, you might want to hold out. For another account I manage I balked at the risk and just cashed out for hotels and flights on Amex Travel, about 0.7 cpp rather than 0.6 for statement credit.

jleli

I am in a similar boat. Applied 5/9 link. MS'd about 500. Points were awarded early August and frozen. Points were unfrozen a few days ago after small transfer to Avios.

Should I just transfer the rest out now? Has there been any repercussions of having a -100k should a clawback happen to my account due to the MS (ie being billed for the negative balance)? This is my only Amex MR card, and after getting the CSR, I am fine cancelling the Platinum.

PumpkinSmasher

How soon after the spend requirement is met should the points post?

mia

This varies by individual. It might post within a couple days, or it might take the full eight weeks specified in the offer terms, or they might never post if the offer is not correctly linked. In general, if you do not currently have an open Membership Rewards account the longer time is more likely.

However, if you applied for the offer that is the subject of this thread the points may not be available even if they post.

isriam

This is my 2nd CFPB complaint. The first, Amex responded that I did not meet the spending requirements of 3k. On the phone, I was told I met spending requirements but my bonus was returned because I owned a previous Ameriprise Amex. Then I opened my 2nd CFPB complaint about why would I not get a bonus if I had never had a personal platinum only Ameriprise, and this was the response I got. I had 75% MS and 25% organic spend on the card, although I could have done 100% organic. They are not willing to provide any proof or detail which purchases they say did not meet the requirements.


Subject: Concerns Regarding the Membership Rewards (MR) Points on Your Platinum
Card from American Express Ending in XXXXXXX
Dear XXXXXX,
Your recent correspondence to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concerning your
above referenced account has been forwarded to me for review. Our records show your spending
during the first three months of Card Membership did not reach the spend requirement of
$3,000.00. Please allow me to respond to your inquiry.

American Express records indicate you applied for the above referenced Platinum Card from
American Express. The promotional offer associated with the application included receiving
100,000 Membership Rewards (MR) points after making $3,000.00 in eligible purchases on the
card in the first three months of Card Membership.
Your MR account was reviewed to make sure the total of all eligible purchases met the spend
requirement of $3,000.00 in the first three months of Card Membership. Per the terms and
conditions of the promotional offer, MR points may take up to 6 to 8 weeks after the spend
requirement is met to become available for redemption. During the 6 to 8 week review period,
although MR points are unavailable for redemption, any continued spend on your card during the
first three months of Card Membership is also reviewed for eligibility toward the promotion.
The review period does not restrict you from continuing to make purchases on your card.
Under the terms and conditions of the promotional offer, the following charges do not count
towards the threshold amount to qualify for the MR bonus points: fees or interest charges;
balance transfers; cash advances; purchases of Travelers Cheques; purchases or reloading of
prepaid cards; or purchases of other cash equivalents. Our records indicate that a portion of the
purchases on your card were deemed ineligible towards the threshold amount. As a result,
you did not meet the spend requirement to be eligible for the promotional MR points. Since your eligible spending did not reach $3,000.00 by the end of the promotional period, the 100,000
MR points which were previously added to your account have been removed

michael_v

Thank you for posting the letter, it's finally starting to make sense.

artgriego

isriam, depending on how blatant your MS was (e.g. if you just loaded Serve, forget about it) you might want to push for arbitration. I seriously doubt it's worth their time and just submitting claims will probably call their bluff and get your points back.