cabinboy

I have the Costco-Amex card - the one that allegedly gives you 3% cash back for dining, 2% for travel, and 1% for everything else. I say allegedly because two of my recent hotel charges (totalling $1600) were coded as "everything else", shortchanging me $16 in rewards. When I called customer service, they said it was due to how the merchant coded the charges (even though my statement shows an arrival and departure date for both hotels), and that she would submit a request for reclassification. This has happened before, and after about a month or so, I received a polite letter from AMEX telling me that I was out of luck because that is how the merchant chose to code the charges.

So my question is - does anyone have any advice as to how I can get the $16 Amex advertised I would recieve by using their card at a hotel? Is there another phone number (someone higher up the food chain than a CSR) or person I could write a letter to that would actually result in something getting done?

thanks in advance.

JAGMAP

Not that it helps, but...

I worked for a Westin (in accounting) and we had to change our classification from a restaurant (don't ask me why it was coded that way) to a hotel because customers who used their Corporate AX would often get declined. Many corporations put limitations on spending (ie - no "restaurant" charges over $200, or just plain no "restaurant" charges at all).

Reason I say this is that the hotel had to pay $500 to get their classifcation changed so most merchants won't bother.

Rather silly that AX charges this (much) if you ask me.

nytango

and this has what to do with membership rewards as costco card doesnt qualify and has nothing to do with rewards.

Maybe contacting Amex rather than posting here will help.

cabinboy

I guess that I thought that some of the collective intelligence on this board would have an effective contact at AmEx or a good way of resolving this problem with them, since I have already contacted them to no avail - also, a search of the forum revealed several postings related to the Costco-Amex card. And the forum title of "American Express Rewards" fooled me into thinking my question about a cashback reward was appropriate for this forum. I'm Sorry to have wasted your valuable time with my silly question.

JAGMAP

This thread raises valid issues for all AX customers. Imagine if a gas station is classified as a restaurant - no Everyday Spending Bonus (2x MR/DL points). That's the "Rewards" connection.

I find it interesting that out of the 18 threads you started on the AAdvantage forum, only 4 of them actually had to do with the program itself

KimJSCP

American Express is up front about the coding issue in their account terms and realistically can't police every transaction to make sure the merchant coded it properly. So that leaves it up to you and I don't think even if you found the right person, anyone at American Express can ethically change the coding as coding is up to the merchant.

I too have had this problem with both my Costco Amex and my Citi Platinum Dividend cards. So, here is what I do - I make it known to the merchant that if they want my business or future business, they need to code the transaction properly (and I mean it). You need to contact the merchant and if they don't fix it immediately, then you need to work your way up the chain of command with the merchant.

Good Luck!

mia

Experienced same problem today with Citibank on a transit pass transaction which posted as a "misc gov't service". The CSR offered to make an immediate manual adjustment, which is nice but it will be a recurring purchase. She claims the classification is controlled by the "credit card processor" rather than the merchant per se. Nonetheless she offered to call the Miami Dade Transit office to see if it could be changed. I'll report back if anything happens.

dennis