Consumer complaint received 2023-11-04
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: FL
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
XX/XX/2022 - I opened an Amex XXXX XXXX card with " no limit '' at the advice of the Amex rep, who stated this was the perfect card for a small business owner who was in the initial phases of the startup. I was clear that I did not yet have revenue, and that for the first year to two years, i would be using the card to fund my expenses and get me to my revenue streams. 

XXXX XXXX - I was shocked to find out that my Amex XXXX XXXX card with " no limit '' was shut down. I immediately began to attempt to understand, and according to them at this point, they had told me falsities about the credit line, and that an imaginary line of {$20000.00} usd had been crossed. While i found this insane, my only goal was to contain the issue and maintain my XXXX credit score. As a new business owner, this had the potential to destroy me and i made it clear we should discuss a better card for me, if that was their issue, and that I would be happy to pay right away, the amount above XXXX. This was when the XXXX began in XXXX. 

XX/XX/2022 - No longer able to have meaningful discussions with ANY rep from Amex, I was put thru the purposely setup " overcompartmentalization '' these companies put in place to ensure we, the consumer, are not able to EVER make any progress, and that they can continue to employ harder and harder bullying, and squeezing of us. 
I was never provided a reason why this occurred, they never accepted or even entertained the idea that they should be with any blame. In the end XXXX dont believe the reasoning i was provided is even true, i believe American Express Card Services knowingly creates whatever they wish for each individual case, and then as they wish, destroys those same people thru their decisions and the follow thru being 'No cooperation ever ' with the former client they are now at odds with. 

XXXXXXXX XXXX - Losing my mind with the setup listed above, I asked for and eventually was connected with some department that contains " executive '' in their title. I was assigned someone who made promises, befriended me, then carried thru with absolutely none of her promises, and threw a dagger into my financial heart in the immediate days following the XXXX XXXX XXXX that was XXXX. I live in the federally declared disaster zone so this is yet another major, i think, legal issue, this company created with their " promises of Hurricane Ian Hardship assistance '', and then NEVER EVER sharing any details to this supposed program, which to this day, I still do not know if it ever existed. The executive amex rep is named XXXX XXXX. 

XXXX XXXX : As i tried to rebuild my life in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, keep my daughter and I safe, and keep my new fledgling Business alive, i continued to maintain contact with the, now once again, overcompartmentalized setup and its various groups of very guilty employees. The executive team that had told me point blank not to worry, not to stress at all, not to even take any action, as they were reviewing everything and would provide a solution that worked for all, that team would no longer even take my call, or an internal escalation. I should mention that shortly after my Biz Platinum card was frozen, i was sent a threatening email from within Amex, stating that if I did not pay the entire balance on my Business card, they would suspend and then revoke the " privileges '' on my personal cards. They followed thru rather quickly with this threat, and froze the remaining Amex cards I had which included a XXXX XXXX and a XXXX XXXX Amex XXXX I was under the impression being an XXXX would protect me from this type of action but it certainly did not even stall Amex. I still want to know what the XXXX with all that. 

Back to later 2022 - I was paying from a depleted group of funds to all my long frozen cards, to keep my " perfect on time credit payment history '' in tact, but this was becoming very difficult as the Hurricane created an overwhelming pile of expenses that were urgent in nature. It was becoming clear XXXX XXXX would be a long one, and many things would need to be paid out of my pockets with the hope of reimbursement later on from Insurance, or FEMA or an SBA situation. The latter two are a joke but thats another story. 
I asked Amex repeatedly what they were offering those of us in Florida so that we could focus on the Catastrophe and i was told there was a program and I was in it, but no one at all could tell me what it was. Nothing at all changed with what they wanted each month, at what time, and for all the useless cards they had frozen. In XXXX, to save my sanity, i finally saw I had absolutely no protection, no ally, and if I wanted to attempt to save whatever was left of my credit ( score now XXXX from XXXX ), I had to enter an agreement with them, despite my hands and legs being tied up, and the insanity of the entire picture going into its XXXX month. 

XX/XX/2022 - I purposely did not pay what I had been all along, on the XXXX XXXX Amex. This was my only leg to stand on when it came to getting their attention. It worked, and between XXXX or more calls with the Phillipines and XXXX ( American Express ) , i accepted an agreement where I would pay around {$1200.00} per month on the four cards in one lump sum payment each month. Obviously this was done under diress and without any assistance from their side or the ability to secure an attorney as i could not afford to put money in that direction recovering from the disaster. I hoped this would stabalize the issue long enough for me to focus on my other pressing needs, stop their complete and utter harrassment of me thru phone calls, texts, threats on the calls, and threats thru the mail, mail that came every day, sometimes multple times. This company is out of control and clearly no one is policing them. 

They reported to the Credit bureaus for XXXX being late, and destroyed my credit score, as i mentioned above. I tried until i was blue in the face to get anyone to reverse that. They would not, they see themselves as an untouchable XXXX, and from what it appears they are. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX : I paid the agreement month after month, on-time, even when they tried almost right from the gate to sabotage me ( by taking the lump sum payment and moving it to four separate payments spaced all throughout the month ). I began to not even think about the XXXX this company caused me, except that, this monthly expense is up there, and with four frozen cards, its basically money set afire. This was confirmed for certain when it became clear they were not even reporting the agreement or the fact i was paying at all, let alone, on time each month - to any of the credit bureaus. THey had th best of both worlds, they destroyed my credit, and were also getting me to pay them each month. Every time i advised them, they must follow their end of the agreement and report my payments, removing the default status or the agreement we were operating under would be invalidated- they just gave lip and no action. 

Finally, at the behest of an attorney and one of the banks i work with, I headed their advise and stopped paying this extortion in XXXX. Immediately the harrassment has returned. I made clear initially and repeatedly since, to Amex, that they simply need to report the payments and we can discuss a return to the agreement. While they say they understand and will be taking action to meet this request, they have done nothing. This is where we stand now. 

I have little confidence that anyone will ever help me here, or that anyone actually holds American Express accountable. American Express employees exhibit a XXXX confidence that makes it clear they feel no threat for any of their disgusting actions. 

Best-

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation