Hey American Express, where are my 50,000 points!

amexReidun Gauger and her husband Georg have been loyal Northwest Airlines customers and American Express cardholders since 1972. So when they were offered 50,000 each from Amex during their transition to a Delta awards card, the couple jumped at the chance.

They should have read the fine print. Amex withdrew its verbal offer when the Gaugers tried to collect their points, leading to a series of heated exchanges between the company and its customers.

Reidun explains what happened. It all started with a sentiment a lot of credit card users have felt lately: confusion.

We didn’t know which card to use, now that Northwest is becoming Delta. We called American Express.

The man was very friendly, looked up my husbands name and information and said: You have been a customer in good standing since 1972 and we are offering you 50,000 miles if you sign up for this card. Also, your wife will get the 50,000 miles as well.

He took a lot of information from us. Then we anxiously checked our statement — and we had only been given 15,000 miles.

We immediately called American Express and asked them why we didn’t get the 50,000. They said sometimes it doesn’t come all at once. They did file a complaint for us and we received a letter, explaining that we only got 15,000. I sent a letter back to them and called them. They promised to get back to us within 10 days.

It is more than 10 days and we have not heard back from them. I am very disappointed in American Express. I didn’t think they would use a scam like this to induce us to get a new card.

I contacted American Express to get its side of the story. Gauger heard back from the company almost immediately. It called the couple and followed up with a letter claiming that they were “unable to confirm” that they made a 50,000-mile bonus offer.

At that point, it was the Gauger’s word against American Express. I was afraid the company wouldn’t budge.

But Gauger refused to take “no” for an answer, and phoned American Express to protest the denial.

I got someone in Tuscon, Arizona, and she confirmed that we both were offered the 50,000 bonus miles from American Express Skymiles card. Problem solved. Thank you for your part.

What a bizarre case. Why would Amex offer a 50,000-mile bonus, then withdraw it, then deny it made the offer and then reinstate it? These don’t seem like the actions of a rational company.

I guess if there’s any lesson to be learned here, it’s that “no” is never the final answer. Keep asking until you’re happy.

(Photo: jontintinjordan/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Joe Farrell

    Explanation from AMEX:

    “We appreciate the loyalty of all of our customers. Mr, Gauger has been our customer since 1972; this means he has held a card for 37 years. Assuming he obtained the card when he was 28, which was the average age at that time for a first AMEX card, Mr. Gauger is not 65 years old. While we do not often bring up the age of our customers, in this case it is relevant.

    “Our investigation of the incident reveals that Mr. Gauger was indeed offered fifteen thousand miles, which he received. We believe that Mr. Gauger’s present level of years impacted what he heard, mishearing fifty instead of fifteen. The mistake is understandable. We regret the misunderstand and have credited him with the appropriate level of miles. Thank you for your inquiry”

    Sincerely,

    Ima Stooge
    Customer Relations
    American Express Travel Company

  • Justin

    What’s worse, why would you risk alienating a 37 year customer over something so petty. Talk about customer loyalty in a day and age where people jump ship for the best offer. Why would you risk these two leaving over such an argument? Do companies use their brains or just see dollar signs. A business smart person would take these two people (pending they pay on time and are never delinquent) over those that default. Strange behavior indeed. Amex needs to learn a thing or two. It seems some companies are struggling under their own mess at times, versus the economy… What do others think?

    Justin

  • David Z

    Probably a mix-up somewhere. Why that happened is anyone’s guess…except AMEX’s.

  • Carver Farrow

    I agree with Justin

    A 37 year credit card customer is almost by definition a good customer. Any semi-competent manager should have immediately given them the miles as a courtesy regardless of whether they could confirm anything.

  • Lisa S

    @ David Z: Please, you are being really too kind. AMEX knew exactly what it was doing. Companies do this all the time. This is why I have brought a tape recording device for phone calls (especially for when I am dealing with AT&T whose representatives don’t lie–they simply “didn’t have accurate information at the time”!) Consumers need to protect themselves from the shady actions of businesses. Sad but true.

    @Justin: It seems to me that credit card companies don’t really appreciate customers who pay on time. They prefer customers who pay part of the bill on time each month while racking up usurious interest charges. Also sad but true. And companies wonder why their market share decreases?!

  • Jesse

    I just received a letter from AMEX saying they are raising the Late Payment Fee and the Interest, not that it matters, but they are now treating their customers in a different way seems like…(and not a good one)

  • Christopher Elliott

    @Jesse, I’m following this story. I should have a post about this next week.

  • http://dangph.si.polymtl.ca Dan

    Lost in translation. Fifteen and Fifty sound very closed on the phone. May be AMEX stretch the confusion at their advantage.

  • Justin

    @Lisa

    I totally agree. Credit Card companies love late payers and those who rack up fees, without a doubt. Yet, here’s the problem. Just because you OWE SOMETHING doesn’t mean you can pay for it. Credit Crisis / Housing Market anyone? I mean you CAN buy a 250,000 dollar house, but can you make the payments? The same for charging stuff. You might make small monthly payments, but as interest accrues, so does the amount you pay each month. After a while, people fall under their bills and all payments cease or a bankruptcy arises. So AMEX might never see the full charge even if someone is paying 50 dollars a month on a 5000 dollar bill. As let’s face it, that person will continue to charge. So at the end of the day, you are FAR BETTER OFF with those that simply pay outright. That’s not just business and marketing sense. That’s common sense! Maybe CEO’s could learn a thing or two from the general populous. Agree?

    Justin

  • Justin

    @Carver,

    Here lies the issue. We assume competence is the norm versus the exception. Sadly, where dollar signs are involved, those brain cells part in favor of less rationale ones. As I said to Lisa, they have to be absolutely crazy to alienate someone of 37 years. It’s like Sprint. I have been a customer for over a decade. Their customer support downright sucks. They have messed up our service repeatedly. I had it one day and said look. I’m finished and sick of being treated like this. So either you rectify the problem NOW and i won’t need to call back. Or we can cancel and I take my 10+ years of loyalty elsewhere. Sometimes you have to lay it out on the line, and MAKE THEM SEE the reality of it all.

  • Lisa S

    @Justin, did Sprint fix the problem or shrug their shoulders?

    I agree that credit card companies should value the customer who pays on time, which is what I do. Why pay usurious interest rates? And how is it legal to charge $25 to $35 dollars plus interest if a payment is late? I am not sure how banks have gotten away with this, but obviously someone in Congress likes them. But I digress.

    I also agree with you, Justin, that competence does seem to be the exception rather than the rule. And then these companies complain when they lose market share!

  • http://www.TripInsuranceStore.com Steve Dasseos

    My wife and I have been Northwest Worldperks members since 1989 and have had the their US Bank’s Visa card for over 7 years. When Delta told us we could get bonus miles & one free year to switch to their Amex card with its 25 day grace period, we took advantage of it. We also kept our US Bank Flex Perks card as a backup.

    We have now received 2 statements where the due date was 7 – 8 days after we got the bill. I’ve called Amex twice, but they can’t say why that is. We almost are ready to cancel our card and just use our US Bank Flex Perks card. We’ll see what happens with our next bill.

  • Joe Farrell

    I sent in a comment to this on 14 Aug but it is not posted – Chris – can you check the spam please? Your blog roll told me that I submitted it twice – so I know it supposedly was submitted – thanks

  • Bob P

    Amex played games with my Starwood Amex card. Been a Amex cardmember since 1973. I cancelled when my interest rate was raised, “due to the cost of doing business.” No apologies from them, no counter offer. No concern with my satisfaction.
    Is there corporate strategy to shrink the company? If so they are succeeding. After over $500,000 in charges without a dime being lost, they are treating their best like dirt.

  • barbara

    I also received a note from Amex raising rates. I thought it had to do with the “hit” my credit card received when I used it at the SJD Dollar Car Rental in July. The next day I was charged for 3 airline tickets that I didn’t buy. AMEX caught 2, but somehow a ticket on SW Air slipped by ($79). They took it off with no problems when I saw the charge to my card online.

    Beware of the Dollar Rental Car site at the SJD, Mx airport. When I attempted to inform Dollar, all they could do was say they didn’t overcharge me for my car. They seemed to have NO INTEREST in catching the perpetraitor of the fraudulent charges.

  • Joe Farrell

    $500,000 in charges is only about $10,000 in fees to them – you are most definitely not a good customer – according to AMEX they can probably figure out some way you have actually cost them money since 1973 . . . you ungrateful lout you. [smiles]

  • Ronda

    I”m confused. Is the amex representitive who commented blaming this on the guys hearing?! what does it matter if he’s 65? His hearing is probably bad. You have no grounds in which to make that statement other than his age which is dispicable. I beleive that your agent who phoned him offered the 50 000 airmiles or whatever they’re called and whether he had clearance to do that or not, you should’ve paid up instead of making him run through hoops and insulting him. No wonder credit card companies have such a bad rep.

  • Ed

    Ronda–it was SATIRE!! Read it again. (Ima Stooge…..)

  • Anonymous

    I want to register a formal complaint about the terrible service and the rude behavior of the driver of the Supershuttle Airport Transfers,New York that my family and I took on May 5th, from La Guardia airport to the Hotel Pennsylvannia.My 10 months old grandson, become very upset…I guess we were penalize because we had so many bags…Surely American Express can select a better shutlle service for their customers..We took a taxi back to airport. Telma Agee