(Hat tip to Miles per Day post and Tom’s comments in that post)
Good morning everyone, happy Star Wars Days (“May the Force be with you” = May the Fourth = May 4th) – that was painful to explain. Anyway, I was reading Miles per Day and there were a few comments on that blog post AMEX Offer statement credits posting very slowly that stuck out to me. Commenter Tom said the following:
Are your AMEX offer credits even posting lately? Within the past 2 or 3 weeks, I’ve used about 12 offers or so and only 2 of the credits actually posted (the boxed offer, but the same offer also DIDN’T post on 2 of my other cards)…. I’m starting to get a bit worried…
Later, Tom said:
No, I only received the email on the 2 credits that actually did post, the others received nothing (although I’m 100% certain that I met the terms and conditions of the offer). There are also quite a few datapoints coming in on the AMEX offers thread on Flyertalk, but I’m shocked that none of the bloggers have picked up on this issue yet, something is definitely going on with AMEX…. ordinarily I would just dismiss it and wait a while, but considering all of the other recent negative changes, especially the recently announced delay with the Biz Plat 50% rebate, I’m really starting to worry about AMEX offers… I hope they don’t make us wait 90 days until after the offer ends…
I have noticed the same with my AMEX Offers – the statement credits seem to be posting erratically and slower than usual. As part of my manufactured spending routine, I buy and sell gift cards and a big portion of the gifts cards that I buy are with AMEX Offers. I keep pretty detailed records of when I buy the gift cards, when they arrive (via email or mail), and when the AMEX Offer statement credits post to my American Express cards. Here are my AMEX Offer statement credit findings from mid January through early May:
AMEX Old Blue Cash (OBC); Blue Cash Everyday (BCE); Everyday (ED GT); Everyday authorized user card from my dad (ED ST); Business Platinum (Plat); Business Platinum employee card for me (Plat GT); SPG Business (SPG B); SPG Business employee card for me (SPG GT)
After gathering all the data points, I was able to determine the average number of days between when I made the purchase with my American Express card and when the AMEX Offer statement credit posted to my American Express card. With the exception of Lancome, most AMEX Offer statement credits posted in under 4 days. Near the end of April, I noticed a definite slowdown in how quickly AMEX Offer statement credits posted. Some purchases from Nike and Sur La Table would trigger the AMEX Offer statement credits to post quickly, while some of my other purchases from the same merchants have taken 10+ days and still haven’t posted to my accounts. This is in stark contrast to my posts from last month: $100 Statement Credit from Delta AMEX Offer Posts Very Quickly (March 22) and Membership Reward Points Post Quickly for Dollar Shave Club & Kate Spade AMEX Offers (April 2).
I received the AMEX Offer thank you email for every order that is outstanding, so I am not sure what is taking so long. It could be that American Express is having cash flow issues with their AMEX Offer statement credit cash account, or merchants are slow to pay American Express for the successful AMEX Offers, or the service that automatically pays out AMEX Offer statement credits is not working properly – who knows.
If you have noticed a slowdown in the speed in which AMEX Offer statement credits are posting to your American Express cards, please share your data points and conspiracy theories in the comments below. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!
I have only been receiving emails on a fraction. I’ve noticed time to post is about a week now. Previously, I would always receive an email and see the credit post in 1-2 business days.
Thanks for the data points, Jeremy. This trend is not good.
I have moved from what used to be instentsneous email confirmations to getting them days later. And the last offer I used still hasn’t posted several days after getting the email.
No specific data here, but I appreciate your post!
Thank you Elijah. This looks bad :(
I am still waiting for one credit to post. I no longer receive the emails when I use an offer. I, as well as others, also had issues getting the Whole Foods offer added to the card.
What do you mean difficulty adding the Whole Foods offers? I have that AMEX Offer on a few cards but haven’t linked the offer since I don’t shop at Whole Foods (my loyalty lies with Trader Joe’s).
It wouldn’t load to card.
Same with me. I used to get emails instantly (within minutes) and the credit would post within 1 day. I just recently qualified for an Embassy Suites stay last week (spend $225, get $45 back) and I didn’t get an email and it didn’t post. So I called AMEX and talked to customer service. They didn’t really have an answer as to why it hadn’t yet posted except to say that it was pending. The charge itself was processed, but the credit was pending. But the customer service person immediately posted the credit from my call. Something strange going on.
I’m glad you were able to get the credit to post manually, but that is annoying if you have to do this every time going forward.
Amex is having technical issues with amex offers. I was told this issue will be fixed in 7-10 day and then credits will start posting.
Good to know, thank you Damo. Did you speak with them yesterday or 7-10 days ago?
I spoke with them early this morning.
I made several purchases on April 22 out of which got confirmation emails on just a few. Some credits posted some not. I called amex and was to told to wait for 90 days and then expect the credits to be posted. According to her, I got lucky for the credits posted so soon as I was not supposed to get them this quick? Really! it was never like that before.
I’ve never had to wait close to 90 days for any AMEX Offer statement credit to post ever.
I have not received the confirmation email for using the Boxed offer even though I met the criteria. (on April 25) I usually receive the emails within minutes of using the offer. Amex has tried to tell me this is ok, but in the past, every time I have not received a confirmation email, Amex has had to manually post it.
I guess I’m in the minority, but I receive 90% of email confirmations within minutes of making the purchase / the pending charge going through.
If you want to know exactly when the pending charge goes through, set up email alerts for “card not present transaction approved.” This works for online transactions since in-store offers process payments instantly, but you could set up alerts for “large purchase” and set your threshold as low as 1 penny, I believe.
I resell gift cards to TPM and participated in the Hotels.com offer. Out of 8 cards, 3 didn’t pay yet. All 8 purchases were on 4/24-4/25. I didn’t receive instant Amex Offers email confirmations on those 3 either when I made the purchase. I chatted with AMEX on 4/30 and they told me to check on 5/2. I’ve been delaying chatting again at it but I need to look into it again.
We’re the 3 cards that did not receive the email confirmation cash back cards, MR earning cards, or other Amex cards?
A mixture: Amex Blue for Business, Simply Cash, and Schwab Investor. Like you said, I usually get Amex offer used emails immediately but didn’t on these three.
Hmm, the mystery continues. Keep checking back daily, like I do, and hopefully it posts one of these days :)
Yeah, still waiting on Sur La Table to post on 3 cards.
Sur La Table is being slow for everyone apparently :/
Also the facebook Amex offers app is gone.
I’ve never heard of that app. Was it on the Facebook app or somewhere on Facebook desktop?
Are you buying and reselling gift cards at all of those merchants in your excel spreadsheet? Didn’t think they all would be easy to sell.
Yes, all these GCs were sold to The Plastic Merchant.
Ordered from Boxed.com with my personal SPG AMEX on 4/24 , charge posted 4/25, rec’d email 4/30 still no credit posted as of 5/4
ordered from Boxed.com with my business SPG Amex on 4/30, rec’d email instantly, credit posted 5/2
I’ve noticed irregular / erratic AMEX Offer statement credit posting times. So strange.
I received the Boxed credit on two cards and did not receive it on a third card. I also had trouble adding the Whole Foods offer but after successfully adding it I was able to use it and received the email instantly upon use.
Got it, thank you for the data points, Jason.
I made purchases at Boxed.com on 4/24 and 4/26 and have not received statement credits. I just did an on-line chat and was told that there is a known technical glitch causing a delay in posting the statement credits. They are working on fixing it and told me to check for the credits in a few weeks. I then asked if they could manually post the credits because the Flyertalk thread referenced above had mentioned success with this. The rep said that if the credits had not posted by 5/10 to contact them again and they would manually post them at that time. As an aside, the rep did at least confirm that both my purchases were eligible for the statement credits, which was helpful.
It’s reassuring that Amex is aware of the problem, hopefully they will fix it quickly.
Boxed purchase posted on 4/25 with SPG personal
Have not received e-mail or statement credit
Good to hear its a known issue
We will wait together :)
I redeemed AMEX offers for Boxed on three cards. Statement credits were posted in two days for two order, and in one day for the third order. Got almost immediate notifications on AMEX App.
That’s good to hear success stories, especially with boxed.com, since lots of other commenters have said those statement credits are slow to post.
After the Nike offer, most of my offers have been posting very slowly and emails on some of the offers are sporadic. The Jcrew offer took the longest. On one card I made the purchase of a GC on April 5 and received the credit on April 27.
Dang! Thanks for the data points, Dustin.
I’m still waiting on matchesfashion.com $150 credit. The purchase is made on 4/24. I’ve contacted Amex via online chat twice and they are telling me they are having an issue with this. I’ve been getting instantaneous emails / app notices on my phone on other amex offers, but this specific one is bothering me for about 10 days!
Thanks for the data pint, keep me posted on that AMEX Offer :)
I purchased a $200 Amex GC with the $10 statement credit offer on 4/28. It’s still showing as added to my card and I have not received an email about notice of using my offer. Boxed.com offer posted next day (4/25->4/26) and I received the email instantly. Not sure what to think yet but happy to contribute a data point and see some others.
Thank you for the data points, Kyle. I hope everything works out in the end.
I used to get the email that I’ve used an offer immediately after it got charged and then get the credit after the charge posts. But I didn’t get the notification for my Petco offer until days after the charge posted. And I still haven’t gotten the credit. Same with my sisters ebags offer
Got it, thank you for the data points. I hope your missing statement credits post soon.
Used Air France offer 3/28. Still not posted. Called three times – told they will investigate and reply 6-8 weeks later. Still waiting. Indicated I won’t use any of their cards until offer posted. Have screenshots of offer plus usage etc. they not interested will do their own investigating. Disappointing at best.
That’s really bad customer service. If they can see your charge, they should be able to manually post the statement credit to your account.