Consumer complaint received 2022-07-26
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX our Business American Express ( Amex ) credit card was charged {$4300.00} by XXXX. No one at our company authorized this purchase, we did not receive the goods and XXXX confirmed that this was not a legitimate charge. 

I initiated a dispute with Amex when we received our monthly statement around XX/XX/XXXX. At that point, they credited our card and said they would investigate. 

They denied this first dispute in XXXX and I filled another dispute and took the additional action to contact XXXX about the fraudulent charge. 

XXXX was able to provide extensive information about the charge. XXXX wrote a letter to Amex accepting the chargeback. I submitted this letter to Amex along with the additional information that XXXX provided. 

The information I received from XXXX was that the billing address and name on our Amex card that was given to XXXX was correct. The email and phone number that XXXX had on file were not valid. The goods would have been delivered to our office but the day it was to be delivered someone called XXXX and asked them to hold the package at their facility. The merchandise was picked up at the XXXX facility. 

Amex again denied the dispute even with the additional information from XXXX and the letter from XXXX accepting the chargeback. When I spoke with a customer service representative again, I discovered that I was supposed to be filling a fraud claim not disputing the charge. 

Nowhere on their website or in the process of filing a dispute does Amex distinguish between filing a dispute and making a fraud claim. 

I discovered this difference between fraud and dispute after filing 3-4 disputes. Each time I filed a dispute the customer service representative would simply agree that I should receive credit and would tell me I should receive the credit within 2-3 weeks. 

I dont have all of the dispute numbers from the first several disputes I filed but here are a few : Dispute number from XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX Dispute number from XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX Dispute number from XX/XX/XXXX XXXX In XXXX or XXXX of XXXX, through talking to an Amex customer service rep I discovered that we had a business account manager that could advocate for us. I got this business account manager involved. He attempted to help me with this claim over the course of the next several months. 

In XXXX of XXXX, we escalated the issue with this Amex account manager and he had me reopen claim number XXXX. I reopened the case and received a new reference number of XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 

When I reopened the case, I followed the direction of our account manager and clearly stated to the customer service representative that we were 1. ) Contesting the decision 2. ) We did not receive the goods 3. ) No one at our company authorized the purchase. XXXX. ) XXXX confirmed that this was not a legitimate charge. 

This claim from XX/XX/XXXX, was also denied by Amex. Our Amex account manager told me he would continue to work on this. After trying to get in touch with him for several months I found out that Amex laid off all of that level of account manager and our only option was to go back to the general customer service help desk. 

I have never received any reason or details as to why this fraud claim was denied. I do not know what they are basing their decision on. 

I have tried to go through the proper channels at American Express without any results. I have a letter from the vendor accepting the chargeback and American Express has not given any reason why they would not perform the chargeback. I dont see any reason why American Express expects us to pay for this fraudulent charge when XXXX has accepted responsibility.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief