Hi all. I apologize ahead of time for the lengthy story: I applied for the Chase Marriott credit card and was approved several months ago. The card hadn't arrived by the time I left for a planned extended stay in Israel. My housemate was supposed to forward it to me in Israel, kept delaying it, and when the envelope finally arrived it included the billing statements but no card. Contacted Chase who said they would send a new card to Israel, and I asked if the deadline to make purchases to receive the 80,000 marriott points bonus could be extended due to the circumstances. Was told my request would be forwarded to the marketing dept. and they would send me a response. Card arrived beginning of Jan. but no answer from Chase regarding the bonus points. Wrote a secure message, was told it could be extended till Jan.12.
I then began furiously using the card in an attempt to make the deadline within a week or so. Not surprisingly given the short time frame and the necessity to use the card at a high volume, I received several notifications from Chase that purchases (such as buying giftcards online, etc.) were seen as suspicious for fraudulent activity and were put on hold. Thus, by Jan. 12th I had made the $3000 in purchases, but, also due to the delays mentioned, part of it was labeled "pending" and wasn't yet categorized as a sale.
I was informed by Chase (by an "account specialist") that due to this 'pending' status my bonus points were denied.
I'm aware that I played a part in this fiasco due to the miscommunications with my housemate. Nevertheless, especially given that I've been a Chase customer in good standing (several cards and a checking account) for the past 10 years, I was shocked that they wouldn't make an exception for the two days when some of the purchases went from 'pending' to 'sale', esp. since some of it had been delayed due to the fraud flags from Chase.
I'd be really grateful and appreciative to hear any suggestion re what to do in this case, or whom I could try to appeal to. Thank you!