Consumer complaint received 2023-03-13
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: AR
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a reservation through the credit card travel website for my vacation accordingly ; XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) All these flights above are for two people, my husband and me. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I realized I had made a mistake with my last name on the ticket. I made a reservation for my flight with my married name, but my passport is my maiden name. These two names need to be matched to fly internationally. I took action by contact to my travel credit card company immediately to solve my problem. 

First credit card travel agent situation : the agent told me that I needed to contact the airline because they could not change my name on their end. I received that solution and contacted the airline immediately after their call opened. 

XX/XX/XXXX Airline agent situation : I have been on hold for 2 hours to talk to a human. She told me that I had booked my flight through the travel agent, so I had to speak to the travel agent, not the airline. I was confused and decided to merge their call to get the right answer. 

Second credit card travel agent situation : After I merge the call of a credit card travel agent and airline, we found that the credit card company need a waiver code from the airline to change my name without extra charge on their end. The credit card travel agent has to find the flight with the same itinerary and class ( O class ) to change my name without an extra fee with the waiver code from the airline. The credit card agent told me that she would talk to her supervisor and give me a callback. 

I never received any call back from the credit card company, and I was so worried. I decided to give them a callback. 

Third credit card travel agent situation : I asked her about my case, and she said the girl that works for my case won't be back until Sunday ( XX/XX/XXXX ). I said that I could not wait and needed this problem to be fixed. She told me that the only way that they could do is to cancel my flight and re-book a new flight. I asked if I could only cancel part of my flight and leave my husband 's as it was. She said that I could not because it was the same reservation number. My original flight for 2 was {$2300.00}, and If I created a new reservation for two, it would cost around {$5200.00}. I was not sure what to do, and I asked her if she could put on a note, and after I discussed it with my husband, I would call her back. She said yes, and she will leave the note for my case and the waiver code that they got from the airline. ( She mentioned that the refund would come back after two statements ) Fourth credit card travel agent situation : I made a diction with my husband that we were willing to cancel our flight and re-book after receiving the refund. The agent on this call was telling me that she could cancel only my flight and leave my husband 's flight as it was. I will get a refund of {$1100.00} for my flight that cancels with a waiver code. I will need to buy a new flight to replace that one. I said, ok, I am willing to do that so I can get to the destination at the same time as my husband. She books my new flight at the price of {$2600.00}. And she mentioned that I would receive the refund after 7-10 business days. She told me everything was good to go. I only have to pay the difference between my new flight after a refund which is {$1400.00}. I will get an email after 24 hours to confirm my flight detail. 

XX/XX/XXXX I checked the email in the morning and found my new flight that has only my name on it. I also got another email with my husband 's name + my name on that itinerary with one extra flight from XXXX to XXXX. I was so confused about why I got that flight. I contact my credit card travel agent immediately after receiving the email. 

Fifth credit card travel agent situation : The guys told me that it was just an error with the system and staff that did not intentionally want it to happen. My flight is still good, and my husband 's flight is still good. I was still worried about getting charged for that extra flight, so I asked him if I would get charged for that flight or not. He said I wouldn't get charged for that flight, and he will delete that extra flight and leave everything as it was. I also asked for my refund, and he said that it had already been issued and I should get a refund within 3-5 business days. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a refund of {$1100.00} from the credit card company. I still want to make sure that my flight is ready to go and that everything is all set. I try to check my flight through the airline app on my phone again. I found the flight that I re-booked, but I can not find my husband 's flight from that confirmation number. I decided to give call to my credit card company again. 

Sixth credit card travel agent situation : I called to double-check if everything was ok and ready for my trip. I told them that I could not find my husband 's flight with the confirmation number that I had. The agent told me that my husband 's flight got canceled, and the refund that I got back was from the original flight that I booked with the wrong last name. They meant to cancel my flight and re-book it. And leave my husband 's flight as it was. She told me that, unfortunately, the flight that got canceled was my husband 's flight, and the refund that I got from his flight got canceled. If he wants to go with me on the same itinerary, he has to book a new ticket at the price of {$2800.00}. It was an agent error, and they are sorry that it happened. I checked my original flight with the wrong last name again on the airline app to make sure that they told the truth. I can not find my original flight at all, the same as my husband 's flight that got canceled. They only gave me half of my refund from my original flight and forced me to buy a new flight even though it was their agent 's false that canceled the wrong person. She told me that her supervisor would give me a callback, and I have never received any call back from this company since then. 

Summary Original flight me with wrong name + my husband = {$2300.00} Cancel on flight refund = {$1100.00} Book a new flight with my new name = {$2600.00} ( After the refund, I will send {$1400.00} ) My husband 's new flight ( after agent false ) = {$2800.00} ( no refund from the original flight to deduct ) This means I spent {$5400.00} with the credit card to get my name changed. I spent {$2800.00} on the credit card travel agent mistake that they made and never received a refund or called back. 

This credit card company charged me {$3000.00} extra from my original payment ( {$2300.00} ) to get the name change.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief