Still kind of shocked writing this.
I applied for the Amex Business Platinum after being shown the 300k Membership Rewards offer for $20k spend. No pop up jail, no warning, nothing saying I wasn’t eligible. Clean approval.
I had a big expense coming up, so I specifically chose this card for the bonus. Paid the $895 annual fee and put over $20k on the card within the timeframe. Important detail, the merchant charged about a 5 percent processing fee. I would never have paid that fee or used this card if the bonus wasn’t part of the deal.
Only after I finished the spend did Amex tell me I was “never eligible” for the bonus and that I must have seen a pop up during application. I did not. At all.
Called Amex, escalated to a supervisor, and they basically said there’s no chance I’ll get the points, but I can file a complaint that will probably fail anyway.
What really hurts is that I passed on a targeted Chase business offer because this Amex offer was better for the same expense. That opportunity is gone now.
So to recap:
Approved for the card
Paid the annual fee
Spent over $20k
Paid extra vendor fees
Then got told sorry, no bonus
It feels misleading at best and borderline predatory at worst.
I’ve escalated to the executive office and will keep pushing, but this has completely changed how I view Amex. Posting both as a warning and to ask if anyone has actually gotten Amex to reverse something like this.
If you’re applying for a big Amex bonus right now, screenshot everything and don’t assume approval means eligibility anymore.
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