Consumer complaint received 2015-05-09
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Closing/Cancelling account

Complaint:
On or about XX/XX/XXXX I received XXXX form letters from American Express requesting that I call the numbers on my cards because card issuer was conducting a " financial review '' of our accounts. The letters are dated XX/XX/XXXX. The letters identify no name, nor phone number, nor do they clearly designate the department from which they originated - they are " signed '' only, " American Express XXXX Services ''. When I called the number on my card and provided my account numbers, despite the fact that I read from the letter, the representatives could not initially determine why I was calling ( apparently the form letters are not coded to allow identification of the department requesting me to call ). When I was, in that or a subsequent call, finally routed to a representative able to establish that I was in fact responding to a call request, I was told that " the person '' with whom I needed to speak was " not available '' and that I should call back between certain hours and ask for XXXX No department was given, and the representative refused to explain the reason I was asked to call, identify the information that I needed to provide, etc.. The American Express representative, XXXX and I proceeded to play " phone tag '' for several days, during which I called and left messages for her as well as speaking to at least XXXX different American Express representatives in an attempt to ascertain what the aforementioned " financial review '' entailed, XXXX. what information and/or documents we should submit. Each of these times ( all during daytime business hours ), XXXX was unavailable, and the American Express representatives with whom I was able to speak refused to answer questions of any kind, private or otherwise. When I finally did reach XXXX, the 14-day period stipulated on the initial notices ( based on the letter date, not the date they were received in the mail ) had lapsed. Again, the letters themselves did not identify any information requested for an account review and said only that I needed to call the number on our cards ). 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, we received XXXX additional letters, these XXXX informing us that our accounts had been closed because I " did not provide the financial document ( XXXX ) and/or income tax return information requested ''. 

As instructed in the first letters ( XXXX for each account ), I called the number on my card within the 14-Day window provided, but rather than providing me with the instructions for document submission, American Express delayed until the 14-day period ended, then closed our accounts without ever instructing us what documents they required. The XXXX mention of " tax return '' was in the notice informing us that our accounts had been closed. It would appear that because of the policies in place at American Express, the work schedule and availability of someone named XXXX in some unidentified department has resulted in the closure of our accounts. All of my calls were made during business hours ( Pacific time ), and no representative would identify the documents needed nor even confirm the cause, nature, or existence of the " financial review '' mentioned in the XXXX letters I received. 

This would be unconscionable even if my own relationship with American Express did not begin in XX/XX/XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation