Renes Points

This. There is a "cost of doing biz" with MS. I have even take a 0% (1% fee) one year "loan" on a card to max out MS for a promo. This game is max value and count the costs.

When you count the literal millions of points I have earned net - I am happy to eat a few costs (yes I did get AM$x charge backs but am OK with this).

Anyone not letting the game go on should give up the game! :-:

mia

Terms like cash equivalents and bulk purchases are flexible. American Express may well regard single use giftcards as cash equivalents, but that doesn't seem to be the issue in this incident. Staples may well regard cumulative purchases of gift cards by the same individual using different payment cards as a bulk purchase.

kaiotes

So what.is everyone's strategy to get the clawback reversed?

What has been done if anything.

I am personally out thousands. I know others out in the mid five digits. If it was a few hundred I can let it slide.

craz

ouch! I highly doubt anyone will get back any of the clawbacks. If a person sues them it wouldnt surprise me to see Amex not only close up their cards but ban them from getting any other card. Now even if a person wont mind that, bear in mind the persons credit report will have a nice fat red flag showing Amex closed them down which will kill ones Credit and probably no other bank will want anything to do with them

So eating it may be the best policy and move on and forget about going after the big kill any more

mia

I believe American Express card agreement includes an arbitration clause, but I haven't verified.

craz

to me its the samething, go after them for something that was a loophole and kiss everything goodbye , Credit wise that is

I have always looked at MS simply as something I dont want to get in over my head, I wont hold onto more then X$s in GCs at any 1 time, since venues to unload them change all the time, so I wont sit with more then I know I can use up myself

It wasnt always like that but holding $25k in cards was NUTS, had nothing to do with being float it but rather how the heck will I spend it if tomorrow all avenues are shut down to get MOs or Bill Pay. I decided it was much better off being safe then sorry. And after 1 Wally yesterday where its friendly to GCs watching those ahead of me standing there with a hand full of GCs swiping away , another ripping open the pkg at the counter and another having no idea how to work an MCGC. I realized how big MSing has gotten and exactly why policys are ever changing against it.

Its sort of like a mistake fare, years ago it lasted a few hours, today 1 hour will be amazing. Part of the blame is how it goes viral so fast, and how folks dont buy 1 but a few tkts and then call up the airline to make sure they wont get cxed or whatever.

gw14

You and the "others" are lucky to still have accounts with AMEX.

dethkultur

I'm sure you've heard it before...

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

Also....

Always leave something on the table.

Happy MS is learning how to not let setbacks get you down, because there's always a new one around the corner. We all know our chosen tactic of the moment might have the rug pulled out at any second. At least most of us do.

Mamibear

Last I've read and I know to be true ~ Pigs don't get a chance to be fat since they're also slaughtered with the Hogs whose motto is go big or go home

The blogger who got the hammer from cycling his CitiDCs via the Plastiq gig had no remorse when he was shutdown because he raked in several Ks CB that others may take years to earn what he did in a few months. This is proof we cannot control what others do but sad to say, others who toe the line also get in the trap...with nothing to show for it.

dealhunter32

If American Express wanted more time to review purchases before paying out the offer credits, they could have done so; the terms say it could take up to 90 days after the end of the promotion period to receive 10% back, which is 2/28/2019. They are not required to be paying out Amex Offers two days after the charge posts, but by doing so it made it look like we were eligible for the offers... very deceptive. They certainly have no problem taking up to two months to pay out other rewards (Membership Rewards, SimplyCash, BlueCash, and so on).

UserMark

I am going to start by mailing a letter to dispute the charges.

dealhunter32

Personally I am out $4K but worried they will take retaliatory adverse action if I open complaints with government agencies. Being able to continue being an Amex customer is worth more than $4K to me. I also just got approved for the Platinum personal 100K offer.

UserMark

Many people had to sue Amex (and other issuers) about the cyberrebate disputes back in 2001. Almost everyone who sued got their money back. I think only Discover showed up to small claims court and won a few cases here and there. I do not recall hearing of anyone who was retaliated against because of that. Perhaps banks are not allowed to retaliate against customers who assert their legal rights. I don't know.

CDO

The bottom line is this one was pretty shady by Amex.

kaiotes

I sued Citi for minor MS shutdown a few years ago. I won. They paid up. I am on good terms with them. Have gotten few cards since. AA, premier etc. Credit still 850+ didn't impact my score one bit w account closed by lender text. No impact whatsoever.