Consumer complaint received 2019-02-18
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA
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: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX2018 I booked an online trip to XXXX with 5 star hotels to take place in XX/XX/XXXX2018.  The booking was made with an online travel agent known as XXXX. I made an online payment of a deposit of {$5000.00} to the " online agent '' to be paid to the hotels specified for specified dates. I used my American Express Platinum Card for this transaction. The terms were " 100 % refundable if cancelled more than 90 days in advance of the trip ''. I was advised that all bookings were confirmed in XXXX by this " agent '' and deposits made. 

In XX/XX/XXXX 2018 I received a call from another travel agent who said some of the hotels were not available for the dates agreed. I was confused by this as the bookings had supposedly been confirmed in XX/XX/XXXX2018. I immediately contacted all the other hotels and upon checking with the hotels, I discovered nothing had been booked in my name or by/on behalf of this agent for me. I researched online and found many fraud warnings and reports that this " agent '' was an online fraudulent operation, with rip-off reports files, consumer complaints, stories of theft and fraud. I immediately sent a request to cancel this trip to this " agent '' and demand a full refund since this was over 90 days before the " trip '' ( 180 days in fact ). The agent kept reassuring me that they would refund me " ONCE THEY RECEIVED THE REFUND FROM THE XXXX XXXX XXXX HOTELS ''. They produced phony receipts and fraudulent booking confirmations that the hotels have assured me were fake. I have confirmation from XXXX XXXX XXXX hotels that there were no payments or bookings made in my name by or on behalf of this " agent ''. ATTACHED- EMAILS FROM THE HOTELS. 

Once I realized that this was a fraudulent operation with no legitimacy, I reported the fraud to American Express. I found out that this merchant seems to be operating online by selling " tours '' using the name of a legitimate franchise to advertise, but not being a legitimate franchisee. This operation has no legitimate business address except online, and their payment information and operating name is in fact different from the franchise name they use online to trap the unsuspecting public or consumer. Instead of American Express investigating the fraud, they advised me that once I had given my credit card number out to a merchant, it was not a fraud, but was a " dispute '' and the merchant was the one who had the benefit of the doubt. The merchant produced phony bookings that did not refer to me ( my  name was nowhere on the documentation ), and the merchant produced a new set of terms not connected to their website, trying to exclude my weeks of travel from the cancellable clause online ( all documentation was sent to American Express ) yet American Express still did not reverse the charge. I sent American Express written confirmation from the hotel groups that these bookings were not legitimate and never made by this alleged agent, and no payments were ever received by these hotel groups from this merchant. American Express is obliged to protect the consumer/customer for goods and services not received. American Express initially reversed this charge in my favor, yet have rebilled me. I reopened the dispute and sent them the full information again, yet they rebilled me again without any regard for the evidence produced. I reported this as fraud again and they once again sent it to the disputed department. Each time, they credited the account and then reversed the charge and rebilled me. This has been going on from XX/XX/XXXX 2018 until XX/XX/XXXX 2019, when I again received a letter advising me that we would be rebilled the {$5000.00}. There is no other choice for us than to file this complaint. We are Platinum Card holders and pay a hefty annual fee to American Express, yet they have been very remiss in the way that this has been handled. 
The terms I signed were cancellable if, using my American Express Platinum Card., using my American Express Platinum Card .

Terms signed were fully cancellable if over 90 days notice. 
Merchant did not provide the services at all. 
Merchant has unlawfully kept the payment instead of refunding us, despite promising that they would do so. 

Attached : EMAILS FROM HOTELS SHOWING NO RESERVATIONS FRAUD REPORTS TRAVELERS FRAUD REPORTS CORRESPONDENCE WITH MERCHANT SHOWING THE ABOVE FACTS.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation