Consumer complaint received 2019-06-05
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: VA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Ss : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX , VA. XXXX Hi, I am struggling to resolve some type of technical problem that occurred with my American Express Blue account. 

1. In roughly XXXX I had to negotiate with AX to get my payments adjusted. Unfortunately, even though I got a new job in another city, I had to settle on my house during the crash. AX was very helpful, and we settled on a monthly amount until it would be paid off. At that time, I set it up to be automatically withdrawn with my current XXXX XXXX XXXX account. 

2. Everything was running smoothly for several years. It simply withdrew the scheduled amount every month. Unfortunately, things changed! 

3. On XX/XX/XXXX I decided I would pay down more of the debt so I could get rid of it. I contacted AX Blue and  asked that they give me access to the account online. I didn't have access because it was under an AX Blue card that had been closed. So, AX set it up so I could access the account without the card number online. 

I accessed the account, updated my address, and transferred $ XXXX towards the balance so I could get rid of it more quickly. IMPORTANT : I did not change the bank account, nor did I instruct the system to stop auto withdrawals of minimum amount due. 

4. Unknown to me, the auto withdrawals stopped at the same time! It was only around {$75.00} a month or so, so I didn't even notice the problem. Unfortunately, AX failed to contact me in any way. On file they have : home address, email, contact number. 

5. Zoom ahead to XX/XX/XXXX ( approximately ). I have a credit alert account and it prompted me that there was a derogatory report. I looked at it and it was the AX card saying it was written off debt. I immediately contact AX and explained the situation. 

I immediately paid the past due amount of approx {$750.00} as a show of good faith, I have no intention of not honoring my debts The first person I spoke with said that they did send me letters. I said " To where ...? '' He gave me my address in XXXX. That is strange, because when this all happened, they had my new address in their system since XXXX of XXXX. Oh, by the way, also they have had my same email and phone number ever since I opened the account. This has not changed since XXXX! No attempts were made to call or email me either. My snail mail was forwarded from XXXX after I moved, but that was years ago so the forward request surely expired, that is, if they even sent a letter. This is not my problem if their system doesnt work. They also didnt offer to show any proof of the letter. 

After talking with several different departments, I ended up with Customer Service. The woman was kind and said she would look into the problem and get back to me within 10 weeks. I called back a week later to check and AX said it was still in progress. 

I was very clear that there was some type of error in their systems because I would have never canceled the auto payment. Why would I pay $ XXXX to pay some of the debt down back in XXXX of XXXX, then decide I am done paying anymore? Especially given the monthly amount was small $ 75ish. I dont know a lot of people who want to skip out on their debt and throw a $ XXXX at it, then stop? 

6. Several weeks go by, I get another credit notice from my reporting agency. I call AX back and they can't even find any documentation on the credit dispute. To make it worse, I spoke with the same departments multiple times. Finally, I ended up with the credit dispute group, then back to Customer Service where they had no data on what the reasons are for not resolving this. AGAIN, I am, and always have been happy and willing to pay. 

Suffice it to say, something happened in the AX system to not keep auto withdrawal moving. The only reason it could have stopped are the following : A. I changed my address in the system the same day I paid the $ XXXX and it assumed that I didn't want to pay anymore? OK, strange? I certainly didnt have any prompts telling me that my auto pay would now be cancelled, or anything for that matter. 

B. The $ XXXX payment somehow tricked the system into not auto-withdrawing anything? Also, strange? 

Here is what I own : I should have looked at my bank statement every month for the {$75.00} payment! I am not sure why, because it has worked for over 9 years without a glitch. 

That said, something is seriously wrong with their system to suddenly stop withdrawing money? Why, who, when, where, how? No person at AX can explain that. 

7. To make it worse, they accumulated late payment fees on the account. There are no records of denied payment attempts on my XXXX XXXX account! 

Please help! I was almost through my bad XXXX real estate debacle and was in the 700 's on my credit report. Please know, the debacle was due to a move and paying on two properties at the same time. Now this? it can't be right to allow them to ruin my credit over their internal system issues? 

As of now, I continue to pay a small, minimum payment amount on the account, which is supposedly written off. They report a new amount every month on my credit report! Making it even worse. 

What can I do? I have exhausted efforts trying to resolve this amicably. 

Thanks so much for your help! 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation