Tiojelly

I recently applied for an Amex / HH branded card from a mail promotion sent to me.

The offer was to reclaim instant Gold status for a year after applying for the card. I had fallen from Gold to Blue in March or April, so completing the offer in the 4/1 - 6/30 window was perfect timing to recapture status.

Aside from the upgrade of status, there were another 62,500 points available for 1st purchase, $500 in the 1st 3 months, a per stay bonus and signing up another member. All in all a great sounding offer.

I typed the URL provided in the hardcopy promotion and applied for (and was approved for) the card. It has arrived, but my status was only bumped from Blue to Silver.

I have now called HH twice and Amex once with initially both indicating it was the other companies issue. My latest call to HH lead me to believe they are the correct group to fix this, however supervisors would not believe the offer was as stated. I am now waiting for a higher level of review - after spending 90 minutes on the phone dealing with this so far.

This is rediculous that they can create these promotions, screw up providing the benefits associated with them, and then claim they have no knowledge of them and that the customer does not know how to read a letter that shows in 30 point font that:

Simply apply for the card and you can reclaim your Gold Status.

Have others had this issue? Who did you speak with to resolve the issue?

kenbo

It sounds like you signed up for the Surpass card but I'm not sure why you were given the April through June dates to re-qualify. With the Surpass card you should have it automatically for the first year without any sort of qualification period.

Any chance you got the no-fee HHonors AMEX?

Tiojelly

There was no mention of Surpass anywhere.. Yes it is the no fee HHonors Amex.

No qualification period was required -- the April - June dates were just the application window. The offer stated instant gold upon card approval.

travelinfoo

What do the T&C and fine print say? The large print blares the headline but does not tell the whole story. The offer also does NOT consist solely of the large laettered statements.

dickieducker

if there's no sign of Surpass on the original invite, then you will probably have to keep pushing with Hilton rather than Amex (if it was Surpass and you have somehow been downgraded to regular no-fee then you'd need to pester Amex).

they seem to be really pushing these 'gain/reclaim status' promos - i received a 'stay 7 times before June 30' one the week i fell from Diamond (as did my wife, even though she'd only been Gold anyway), and i wouldn't be surprised if their CSRs don't really know about all of them (nor if i have hassle trying to get mine back with only the original flyer as proof).

let us know how you get on after the higher review.

tikiboy

I initially applied for the 30K offer and then found the 62.5K offer.
I was told I could get the 62.5K offer, but it took from Feb until this past week to get the final part of the 62.5K offer.
My advice: Keep calling, be polite and firm.
Good luck.

Tiojelly

In followup -- must have left the correct messages as the points and status posted the next day.

The hotel stay I was hoping it would be ready for was recognized at Gold. It was a pain and certainly not pleasant to be challenged by customer support, but the final outcome was what had been promised by the offer.