Consumer complaint received 2019-05-31
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Complaint:
I sold my personal vehicle to someone out of state for the negotiated price of {$64000.00}. The ad was posted on XXXX with a {$1500.00} deposit required if a buyer clicked " Buy Now. '' The buyer made the purchase and sent the deposit via XXXX ( NOTE : the buyer left a note on his transaction to me stating that this is the initial deposit ) on XX/XX/2019. After several discussions and inspections regarding the vehicle, the buyer decided to move forward by asking to send another payment of {$5000.00} via XXXX to avoid bringing more than $ XXXX cash ( NOTE : the buyer left another note on his 2nd transaction to me on XXXX stating the terms and final calculations of his 1st & 2nd deposits leaving only $ XXXX to be paid in cash ) on XX/XX/2019 and flew in to pay the remainder in cash ( {$58000.00} ) on XX/XX/2019. Car was sold, title was transferred, and the car was taken the same day. 

XX/XX/XXXX the buyer makes his first bogus chargeback with American Express of the 1st deposit ( {$1500.00} ), and on XX/XX/XXXX his second chargeback with American Express ( {$5000.00} ) stating that I apparently offered the buyer a {$6500.00} refund after the purchase. This is untrue and absurd. American Express reports this information to XXXX and then XXXX withdraws {$6500.00} from my account. I immediately respond to XXXX 's dispute with the following : " The buyer is making a false and untruthful claim. There was no discussion regarding any refund on this deposit. The XXXX posting required a non-refundable deposit after the buyer 's offer was accepted. Most importantly, the buyer completely stated in his 2nd XXXX transaction ( Transaction ID : XXXX ) to me that the initial deposit was calculated in the overall total of the purchase price. I have attached a screen shot of the transaction below where the buyer fully calculates the {$1500.00} deposit into his calculations when making his 2nd deposit. In addition, I have attached a complete PDF of our conversation via text, and on page 19 ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX ) you'll also read the total amount of cash which was discussed to bring with him was {$58000.00} ( after both XXXX transactions ), which confirms his calculations in the XXXX ( Transaction ID : XXXX ) as well. Please let me know if you need additional details or have any questions. '' XXXX confirms that based on my documentation and the buyer 's notes, that this dispute is indeed bogus and should be resolved in my favor immediately. Given all the proof, documentation, and overall timeline this was without a doubt an act of fraud on the buyer 's motives while American Express supported his actions. During the back and forth discussions between XXXX & American Express, Amex completely disregards my proof, the buyers notes, and the overall common sense in this transaction in order for the dispute to end in the buyer 's favor. 

I was robbed of {$6500.00}, and expected XXXX & American Express to resolve this matter in the most ethical, legal, and unbiased way possible. This was not the case. XXXX 's response to all this was " You win some, you lose some ... '' and Amex did not hesitate to defend their customer regardless of whether they were in the wrong or right. As a merchant, I would never allow Amex payments to be processed ever moving forward. But, as a customer who is willing to cheat others and perform malicious premeditated acts of fraud, then rest assured Amex will always have your back.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation