Update 9/8/20: American Express has sent out an official letter about these points posting and specifically calls out the terms of promotion that we highlighted below as well. Hat tip to EyesOnThePoints.
Original post (July 4, 2020): American Express added some limited time benefits, one of these was 12x Hilton points on grocery store purchases on the Hilton Aspire from May 1st until July 31st. American Express had been delaying some points from posting normally and now some users are seeing those same points being clawed back. This isn’t particularly surprising given American Express’ recent history and the previous actions of the RAT team. The terms of the promotion state:
Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of traveler’s checks, person-to-person payments, the purchase or reloading of prepaid cards, and purchases of other cash equivalents.
Further down that page it also states:
Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards, person-to-person payments, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Hilton Honors Bonus Points you earn with your Card will be posted to your Hilton Honors account up to 12 weeks after the end of your billing period.
I imagine most people that have clawed back points will have purchased gift cards. It’ll be interesting to see if American Express is basing this on level three data (this shows the card issuer a break down of what items were purchased) or if they are just targeting accounts that have spent large amounts at grocery stores.
Datapoints
- Points clawed back: 1, 2 (less than $2,000 in spend. Only two gift card purchases made), 3, 4, 5, 6,
Please check your account and share your datapoints in the comments below. This is also affecting the Delta & Marriott promotions.
Hat tip to MtM
Yesterday night, I was told that the points/miles are on hold for all my accounts due to violating the terms of the groceries promotion. I’ve now been asked to upload receipts. That’s totally fine for me. I made bulk purchases because the pandemic has resulted in unprecedented discounts.
So it turns out that the promotion was actually meant to earn lots of transaction fees by not giving out points/miles to folks who MSed, but even legit high-value purchases took a hit. Also, Amex got to profile people who engage in MS. Good for Amex, but frustrating for people with legit high-value purchases.
I’ll be complaining to CFPB after uploading the receipts so that the issue would be resolved within 2 weeks, as opposed to the 6-8 weeks period a supervisor told me.
I didn’t get any points or miles from my cards, although the statements list them. Customer service doesn’t know about it. I didn’t MS & all my spending was organic. Could they have clawed back legit points & miles?
Should I complain to CFPB?
How much time does Amex take to post miles to a Delta SkyMiles account after the statement date?
Every month, I mean
It amazes me all the crap that AmEx does like this…yet, people still apply for the cards and take a chance on it.
Answer: Greed
Not really. People can purchase in bulk as well. eg
Discounted toilet paper to last 2 years.
Got the letter for a Surpass. Bought $15K of gcs at Kroger in May. 21K points removed.
21k is too less! 180k would have made sense
Purchased some gift cards ($100 or less each time) mixed in with groceries at Trader Joe’s, Fresh Market, Piggly Wiggly, and other large supermarket chains. Legitimate business and personal reasons for purchasing the GC, not MS. Received points for everything. No points withheld or clawbacks.
Can anyone who’s been clawed back share if the purchases were done at stores that provide L3 data to Amex? (You can check this by finding the original purchase in your online login, clicking it, and seeing if the item you bought is listed.) If not, this is very concerning, as it would mean that Amex is clawing back points without actually knowing for sure the terms were violated. It reminds me of what Discover did during the crazy Apple pay promotion they had in 2015, refusing promo rewards solely based on amounts and asking for receipts to prove otherwise (though in the end, years later, Discover reneged and awarded all points). Except AMEX isn’t even asking for that, they’re just clawing back, so here’s hoping they have L3 data for all clawbacks…
They don’t have L3 data for all purchases. They asked me to upload receipts.
“We know this may come as a surprise, and we’re sorry about that.”
Lol. 😀
A “non apology apology”. “We’re not sorry for screwing you we’re just sorry you were Still surprised that we do such things.”
So strange to see a letter with contractions. Must be some cutbacks in the letter writing department.
Yeah and the space between Unfortunately and the comma, no footer, 24/7. The signature line seems odd- “American Express”. Random PO Box in Ft Lauderdale seems strange, unless they use local hubs for mail.
I’m going to say this appears to be a fake letter. And not a particularly good one. Has anyone else received one? I have not.
If this was a fake letter, why isn’t (is not?) there a fake phone number to call and provide account info to a fake customer service agent? Who would go out of their way to sent a fake letter in the mail, only to Hilton car holders that bought gift cards at grocery stores, and not put a fake phone number to call?
Oh man… the bear is back 🐻