Good morning everyone.  Long story short, I contacted American Express via chat because I had an issue with the monthly $10 dining credit on my American Express Gold Card.  I was a procrastinator in June and used my AMEX Gold Card to make a Grubhub purchase on June 30 (to trigger the June $10 dining credit).  The purchase posted the following day on July 1 and the $10 dining credit posted to my account on July 4.  The next day on July 5, I made another Grubhub purchase (to trigger the July $10 dining credit).  I immediately received the “Great news! You just used your Amex Offer” email from American Express.  Fast forward to today and I was still waiting for the $10 dining credit to post to my account.  I reached out to American Express via their chat feature.  Here is my conversation with the AMEX Rep and my thoughts…

Here is the conversation from my AMEX chat (I changed the rep’s name to protect the innocent and I cleaned up minor spelling mistakes by myself).  I added my thoughts in red.

Grant – Missing $10 dining credit

AMEX Rep has joined the conversation

AMEX Rep – Hi, I see the reason you’re chatting with us.

AMEX Rep – May I please know the charge amount and date?

Grant – Good morning. GRUBHUB*NIKONIKOJAPANEW YORK NY $38.83

AMEX Rep – Good Morning. I will surely look into this for you.

AMEX Rep – Meanwhile, I hope you are taking good care of your health in this current pandemic situation and you & your loved ones are safe & healthy.

(I feel bad that I did not thank the rep for wishing my family and myself good health.)

Grant – I made the purchase on June 30, but it posted on July 1. I received the $10 AMEX Gold dining credit on July 4.

Grant – That credit should have counted for June. And then on July 5, I made this purchase: GRUBHUB*CORNERBAKERYNEW YORK NY $17.86

Grant – But I haven’t received the $10 dining credit for this purchase yet.

AMEX Rep – I completely understand you here. Dining credit always works from the charge posted date and as it has been posted in July so the credit has been used for July month

(I don’t think this is the official policy on the dining credit.  I think the date in which you make the purchase is the month in which the credit is associated.)

Grant – I see. How many days before the end of the month should I make purchases to ensure that they post in the same month?

Grant – Would the 27th or 28th be safer?

AMEX Rep – We always suggest to make the charge by 25th or 26th so the charge gets posted within the same month and credit will also posts for the same month

(Again, I don’t think this is the official policy of the dining credit.)

Grant – I see, so I should not use my AMEX Gold card for Grubhub purchases made after 26th of the month?

AMEX Rep – Yes. However, if you make a charge on 26th and if merchant posts the charge within the same month, you will see the credit posts on the account for the same month.

Grant – But what would happen if I made the purchase on the 25th and then the charge doesn’t post until the 1st?

AMEX Rep – Usually merchant takes 24-72 hours to posts the charge.

AMEX Rep – To be safer side we always suggest to make the charge for dining credit by 25th or 26th to ensure that the credit would apply for the same month.

Grant – I understand. This is disappointing because I received this email from American Express on Sunday July 5: Great news! You just used your Amex Offer

(I then copied the text from this email into the AMEX chat.)

AMEX Rep – I’m sorry to hear this.

AMEX Rep – Please allow me a moment to check this for you and will help you in best possible ways

Grant – Check this out

(I then copied the text from the $120 Dining Credit terms into the AMEX chat.)

Grant – “American Express relies on the merchant to process transactions within the same calendar month that you made the purchase in order to apply the $10 monthly statement credit in the month that it was intended.”

(This was my BOOYA / check mate move and I hoped it would work.)

AMEX Rep – Thank you for waiting

AMEX Rep – We really appreciate your card membership with American Express since 2008

AMEX Rep – Great news for you. The credit of $10 as a goodwill has been issued and you will see it posted on the account within next 24 to 48 hours.

(I was annoyed that the rep said that I would receive a $10 goodwill credit since I felt like I was entitled to this June $10 dining credit.)

AMEX Rep – If you like I can share the chat reference number with you.

Grant – Thank you, I appreciate the goodwill credit. Please share the chat reference number. Thank you.

AMEX Rep – You’re most welcome. The chat reference number is #######

AMEX Rep – All your chats are saved on the account and when you chat with us, you can just scroll up on your conversation and would be able to check the previous chats without any problem.

Grant – Yes, the chat feature is a great. Thank you for your help. I look forward to receiving the credit in the next 24-48 hours. Have a great day.

If everything goes according to plan, I should have the $10 goodwill credit in my account in the next 1-2 days.  If you have any questions about the $10 dining credit or about using the AMEX chat feature, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!