Not upheld: promotional offer registration failure and refusal to backdate enrollment complaint against American Express Services Europe Limited (AESEL)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr J complained that AESEL failed to record his registration for a tier points promotional offer on 18 June 2025 and refused to backdate the enrollment when he discovered the issue on 12 October 2025. Mr J claimed he had completed the online registration and received confirmation, and pointed to his spending patterns and contact with AESEL as supporting evidence. However, AESEL's internal system records showed no enrollment prior to 12 October 2025, and the ombudsman found insufficient evidence to conclude AESEL had made an error. The ombudsman upheld AESEL's goodwill offer of 15,000 Avios points as fair compensation and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found there was very limited evidence in the case and insufficient evidence to conclude that AESEL made an error. While Mr J provided testimony and circumstantial evidence of his intended enrollment, AESEL's internal system records definitively showed enrollment only from 12 October 2025. The ombudsman noted that Mr J did not have a screenshot of the confirmation and that AESEL's review found no wider systemic issues with the enrolment process. The ombudsman considered this a fair and reasonable offer of 15,000 Avios points as a goodwill gesture.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website