The AMEX Experience | What Makes American Express Exceptional?

There's a reason that American Express has emerged as India's most trusted credit card brand in India for the 5th time in a row, and the reasons are many. Some would say that the promotions that they offer are outstanding; for some, it might be the Attractive Rewards that they get when they debit their Amex cards. For me, it's their exceptional customer support. They are committed to resolving their customers' queries & issues even when they need to walk that extra mile in doing that. 

I have had many such instances in the past wherein AMEX deserved an applaud. Still, out of many, I would like to share a recent incident that I'm sure if it was not American Express, other players would turn a blind eye towards it. 

It was October 11, 2019, that I received a promotional mailer from American Express that offered Rs 8000 Paytm Flight Voucher if I spend a total of Rs 1.5 Lacs or more on my American Express Platinum Travels Credit Card. The offer was valid till November 30, 2019. 

In no time I enrolled for the offer. 

One of the offer's T&C read, 

One Paytm Domestic Flights Voucher worth ₹8,000 will be sent to eligible Cardmembers on their registered email addresses with American Express by February 29, 2020. In extreme circumstances, it may take up until March 31, 2020. 

On February 29, 2020, I was waiting for the voucher, but to my dismay, the day passed by, but I received no mails form Amex. As per T&C, I decided to wait until March 31, 2020. Still, no emails on March 31 as well. It was at this moment that I decided to call Amex customer support. 

The Amex executive (let's say Mr. A) informed me that I had not received the voucher because I was not eligible for it. The reason he stated was that as I had spent Rs 1,41,900 during the offer tenure and not Rs 1,50,000. 

I was taken aback for a couple of seconds. I informed Mr. A that, because it was not possible for me to track all my spends on various credit cards that I was using during that time; I had called the customer care executive (let's say Mr. B) in the last week of November 2019 to confirm the amount that I needed to spend more to meet a total spend of Rs 1.5 Lac. Mr. B then calculated and confirmed that if I spend Rs X, I will be eligible to receive Paytm Flight Voucher worth 8K. Post confirmation from Mr. B, I debited my card for Rs X + 1K, so it was highly unlikely that I must have missed the target spend. 

Mr. A, on the other end, did a recalculation and came up with a hypothetical assumption that while calculating Mr. B must have added up an EMI amount of Rs 9,100 as well that was active on my card account. Mr. A was convinced that I was no fault of mine and that if I could spend Rs 1,41,900, it was highly unlikely that I would not spend just Rs 8,100 and not avail a voucher worth Rs 8,000. 

Mr. A escalated the matter and assured me that he would come up with a resolution in a couple of days after the backup team goes through the call recording of the convo that happened between me and Mr. B. 

After a couple of days, I got a call from Amex considering the fact that I had no fault in the afore-narrated matter and that I can go ahead and buy flight tickets through Paytm, using my American Express Platinum Travels Credit Card before August 31, 2020. A case ID was provided for 8k credit that would be posted after I take the flight transaction on Paytm. 

I booked a flight ticket for Rs 8,788 using my American Express Platinum Travels Credit Card on June 16, 2020, on Paytm. Post-transaction, I called the customer support and provided the Case ID. You can see below a credit for Rs 8,000 was posted to my card account on June 25, 2020. 

That's the Amex Courtesy that makes them stand out from the crowd. 

How's your experience with AMEX? Do let us know in the comments section below. 

Thanks for reading!