Consumer complaint received 2017-12-30
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Gift card
Issue: Problem getting a card or closing an account
Sub-issue: Trouble getting a working replacement card

Complaint:
I ordered 24 American Express gift cards on XX/XX/XXXX for  {$700.00} ( order # XXXX ). I never received them. I called American Express gift card services on XX/XX/XXXX to check the status of my order and was told by XXXX, the customer service rep, that the cards were showing delivered to my front door at approximately XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I informed XXXX that we had not received the gift cards and asked what my options were. XXXX put me on hold to check the status of the cards. When he got back on the line, XXXX informed me that all of the 24 gift cards had been used and that he was going to open a fraud investigation to look into a resolution. He told me to " not worry '' and that I would have a resolution within 7-10 business days. I asked him if I should submit a credit card dispute to which XXXX said no and suggested we wait until we hear back from the investigation team. We waited. 
I then called American Express gift card services on XX/XX/XXXX to check status and was told that this was still being investigated and that I would " for sure '' hear from someone the following week. I did not receive any updates. I then called gift card services on XX/XX/XXXX to check status and was told that the investigation was still showing open and was being worked on. I was also told that there no updated notes and that there was no one in the investigation dept that we can request status from. I asked to then speak with a supervisor who told me the same thing and said that my only option was to wait. At that time I submitted a credit card dispute to American Express for the {$700.00} charge since I was not getting any resolution or option for replacement cards from the gift card dept. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from XXXX credit card services stating that the {$700.00} charge was being credited to me while the dispute investigation took place. 
There were no updates from either dept until XX/XX/XXXX when I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from the credit card dept stating that they were able to confirm with " the merchant '' ( which was their American Express gift card dept ) that the cards were delivered so that the charge of {$700.00} was valid and being placed back onto my account. I was appalled that the two departments were not talking and that the credit card team was not aware that the gift cards had been stolen and that it was under investigation. I then got on the phone on XX/XX/XXXX and called the gift card dept asking for all the merchant information of the 24 cards that were used so that I was able to call the merchants individually and submit fraud disputes with them. I want to be able to show American Express that these charges that were completed were not by me and that these cards were in fact stolen from my front porch. I was able to pin down the merchants, the charge amounts and the times of the transactions which is able to show that these were not charges that neither my husband or myself completed ... proving as my claim has said that these cards were stolen from my front porch. I have been able to open fraud investigations with two of the merchants where the thieves shopped the most & on the same day the gift cards were delivered ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX as well as XXXX XXXX in XXXX. They will both be disputing the charges with American Express directly and also will be able to identify who signed for the transaction. At this point, I am disappointed that there has been no resolution and it has been over a month since we ordered the gift cards. I have been more than patient, called to follow up several times and even completed by own investigation to show that these items were clearly stolen. I would hope that this does not happen to another consumer and that XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief