10,000 bonus points per 20 transactions

[vet]

Back from the Heritage Hotel & Conference Centre in Moorabbin with maybe 400 people in the hospitality game. Seems this Amex promo is mentioned in lectures on what not to do.

Simon, I'm waiting on something.

 

[vet]

.... being misled by the other CRs over the phone, and as a result changed my spending habit on the card ... What do you guys think?

Amex is making money out of these representations. Go to the Ombudsman GPO Box 3 Melbourne 3001 with facts and representations and a claim for everything you can think of. Speak to FOS about the sort of things you should include in your letter: at the end of the process, Amex is bound by the Ombudsman's determination. Amex will not be judge jury and executioner if you go thru FOS Financial Ombudsman Service :: Home Page.

 

[js]

Big news (for me at least). I am very pleased to announce that my issues with AMEX appear to be all resolved (re accusations of abuse). In today's post I received a sincerely written letter of apology, which I accept in good faith.

I am pleased to not have had to pursue this further with any external parties involved. Still no new points crediting since they dried up in September, but it would seem they will catch up shortly...

I, for one, am a very happy camper tonight. Thanks AMEX! My faith is restored (but don't leave that points crediting too long, will you? )

 

[Mal]

I got a little laugh out of Amex's latest ad campaign:

So wherever you go, remember to use your card.

I don't need reminding, Amex (at least till Dec 31!)

 

[simongr]

Simon, I'm waiting on something.

Santa? The great pumpkin?

 

[vet]

Big news (for me at least). I am very pleased to announce that my issues with AMEX appear to be all resolved (re accusations of abuse). In today's post I received a sincerely written letter of apology, which I accept in good faith.

I am pleased to not have had to pursue this further with any external parties involved. Still no new points crediting since they dried up in September, but it would seem they will catch up shortly...

I, for one, am a very happy camper tonight. Thanks AMEX! My faith is restored (but don't leave that points crediting too long, will you? )

Its a great relief to see responsible corporate citizens withdrawing vile unsubstantiable allegations. I asked one boffin to put his allegations against a lady in writing because defamation courts get to the real truth

 

[Iza]

Big news (for me at least). I am very pleased to announce that my issues with AMEX appear to be all resolved (re accusations of abuse). In today's post I received a sincerely written letter of apology, which I accept in good faith.

Received a letter (I think similar to your initial accusations of abuse letter js) in the mail today. Basically accusing me of intentionally manipulating transactions to maximise bonus points, and recent unusual behaviour on my card deemed abusing the promotion. :shock:

Goes on to say I'm suspended from the promo, however, if I can substantiate my transactions they may be willing to reinstate my points. They're so giving that mob at AMEX, aren't they?

I will of course be in touch with AMEX. I'll let you know how I go.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Received a letter (I think similar to your initial accusations of abuse letter js) in the mail today. Basically accusing me of intentionally manipulating transactions to maximise bonus points, and recent unusual behaviour on my card deemed abusing the promotion. :shock:

Goes on to say I'm suspended from the promo, however, if I can substantiate my transactions they may be willing to reinstate my points. They're so giving that mob at AMEX, aren't they?

I will of course be in touch with AMEX. I'll let you know how I go.

Unfortunately today I have received the same letter.


Looks to be exactly the same generic letter that JS received a while back.

Hints at abuse without stating what exactly...and implies bill splitting with the example of splitting a monthly bill into dozens of smaller transactions (which I have not done).

I have however been a frequent transactor...and so I expect this letter is really all about me be a frequent user of the promo...rather than an abuser.

If Amex are going to write to people suspending them..and then asking for proof to be reinstated...surely they should specifically itemise the transactions that they are concerned about???

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Big news (for me at least). I am very pleased to announce that my issues with AMEX appear to be all resolved (re accusations of abuse). In today's post I received a sincerely written letter of apology, which I accept in good faith.

I am pleased to not have had to pursue this further with any external parties involved. Still no new points crediting since they dried up in September, but it would seem they will catch up shortly...

I, for one, am a very happy camper tonight. Thanks AMEX! My faith is restored (but don't leave that points crediting too long, will you? )

Hi JS,

Looks like more of us are now getting the same letter that you originally received.

What where the steps you took which have resulted in your re-instatement?

If you could detail these it would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[benhadi]

Guilty until proven innocent eh? They didn't bother to specify how they came to that conclusion?

Good one AMEX. I suppose desperate people resort to desperate measures. They'll have a lot of problem explaining to the ombudsman if it comes to that.

They run a promotion to increase card usage, to change people's spending habits. So people did. Then they turn around and accuse people of abusing it based on "unusual" (or unusually high, rather) spending patterns.

HELLO?!?!?!

Unfortunately today I have received the same letter.


Looks to be exactly the same generic letter that JS received a while back.

Hints at abuse without stating what exactly...and implies bill splitting with the example of splitting a monthly bill into dozens of smaller transactions (which I have not done).

I have however been a frequent transactor...and so I expect this letter is really all about me be a frequent user of the promo...rather than an abuser.

If Amex are going to write to people suspending them..and then asking for proof to be reinstated...surely they should specifically itemise the transactions that they are concerned about???

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Guilty until proven innocent eh? They didn't bother to specify how they came to that conclusion?

No not at all. There was no specific reference at all. Not even a date or dates let alone the actual 'suspected" transactions.

It asks that you substantiate the transactions. But does not indicate what transactions!!!!!


It would not surprise me at all if this is just a generic bluff letter they send out to anyone with high transaction activity in the hope that they will meekly go along with it.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I would add that even though the letter was dated very early in Dec, that it was only received today.

If at least two readers of this forum (which is in the scheme of things arealtively small group) received this letter today, no doubt others who are registered in the promo received a similar letter today.

It might explain why some are not receiving bonus points...and if so more suspension letters will be in the mail.

 

[futaris]

I don't think that the BFSO/ACCC will look kindly upon these sorts of letters, particularly as everything received from Amex has used the word unlimited, without any fine print regarding numbers of transactions.

In any case, this thread is approaching 4000 posts. I wouldn't be surprised even if this thread approaches 10000 posts after the promo ends.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I don't think that the BFSO/ACCC will look kindly upon these sorts of letters, particularly as everything received from Amex has used the word unlimited, without any fine print regarding numbers of transactions.

.

Indeed...and when I rang to check (as detailed by many early in the thread) I was advised on the phone that there was no minimum spend, and no limit to numbers of transactions made...

Plus on registration one was shown:

You are now registered to receive 5,000 Membership Rewards™ Bonus Points for every 5 transactions you make each month from 1 September to 31 December 2008, with no limit to the Bonus Points you can earn.

 

[colcha]

Lovetravellingoz, Vet and Iza - did any of you get the recent letter dropping you down to the 10T/5K promo from Oct 1 and the subsequent apology letter? Just curious as Amex seem to be sending out some very mixed signals of late.

I received my apology letter on Tuesday and today I got a phone call from MR to personally apologise for the "mistake".

Vet - what process did you go through within Amex to get the accusations resolved?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Lovetravellingoz, Vet and Iza - did any of you get the recent letter dropping you down to the 10T/5K promo from Oct 1 and the subsequent apology letter? Just curious as Amex seem to be sending out some very mixed signals of late.

I received my apology letter on Tuesday and today I got a phone call from MR to personally apologise for the "mistake".

Vet - what process did you go through within Amex to get the accusations resolved?

No I did not get either of those letters.


A while back I received a letter confirming that I had registered multiple times and was being put on the one promo, the 5K/5 one despite not having been sent the postcard (they claimed). That was interesting as I had in fact been sent the 5K/5 postcard.

 

[vet]

MR accused +1 of fraud, but +1 sits in a room with a gavel and she'd love lots of free flights after selling up someone's house in Sydney.

 

[js]

No not at all. There was no specific reference at all. Not even a date or dates let alone the actual 'suspected" transactions.

It asks that you substantiate the transactions. But does not indicate what transactions!!!!!

It would not surprise me at all if this is just a generic bluff letter they send out to anyone with high transaction activity in the hope that they will meekly go along with it.

Just to confirm, my original "abuse" letter was exactly like this and it would seem this is the "generic abuse letter" that gets sent when some sort of threshold is reached.

At a guess, they are particularly interested in anyone with an overall very high volume of transactions. But my advice if you received this is to put the list of your MR transactions into a spreadsheet (if you haven't already) and sort by merchant name. For me, it was fairly obvious which ones would have looked suspicious once I did this exercise. It was then a matter of explaining those particular transactions with some supporting tax invoices.

While I am a very high transactor, I have been very careful to keep good records and to avoid doing anything I don't feel comfortable substantiating to AMEX or a reasonable third party (ombudsman or such).

 

[baldman]

Hi All

I've just picked up on this thread so excuse me if I'm repeating what's already been shared during the previous 4000 posts....

I rcvd the invitation to join and did so just after receiving the offer back in sept for 5000 points per 5 trans, unlimited till end of dec. When my first statement came in the bonus points showed. The next statement, nothing. I rang amex and queried this with them and they told me that back in late sep (apparently about five days after I signed up) they had to amend the program due to some misuse. It seems that the offer was not intended for all members and that some "legitimate" qualifiers had passed on the offer to others who weren't qualified - whatever that means.

The CSO assured me that as I'd signed up prior to the offer being amended, my bonus points would be credited and the lag time was about 6 weeks for same.

I dont know the criteria for who they initially sent the offer to. I'm platinum amex foundation member 30 years if that counts for anything...

vbr

baldman

 

[simongr]

That is the same situation that many other are in. Some people have received bonus points throughout Oct, Nov and Dec but other have not.

Some people have started to complain to Amex now that the 6-10 weeks since points last posted has passed.