Consumer complaint received 2023-02-21
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: VA
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: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
1. I discovered the fraud issue XX/XX/XXXX. I spoke with a member of the fraud team named XXXX at XXXX. He said it looked like fraud since it was from one vendor XXXX. Total fraud amount was : {$47000.00}. Case number opened was : XXXX. XXXX was to provide a new card & block XXXX from having access to my card. Neither of those items happened. 

2. An stock e-mail was sent from Amex on XX/XX/XXXX that the case XXXX was released not as fraud. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX to discuss the status. Spoke with XXXX on the fraud team. I reopened the case. She realized a block was not put on XXXX & a new card had not been ordered. She completed the block & ordered a new card. Again, neither the block nor the new card happened. 

3. Received a stock e-mail from Amex on XX/XX/XXXX stating that Case # XXXX was under review. Also, that Case # XXXX was not considered fraud. I called to inquire about both cases & my new card that had not been received. 

4. Called XX/XX/XXXX to ensure the block was placed on XXXX since XXXX was charging my account on the XXXX of every month. I was assured it was blocked. I asked about the new card & the fraud specialist said it would be delivered within the week. 

5. XX/XX/XXXX the new card was received. 


6. XX/XX/XXXX : Filed a police report with the XXXX XXXX XXXX team. 

7. Called on XX/XX/XXXX to ensure an additional charge from XXXX was not to be received. I was assured the fraud charge would not be allowed to go through. I reviewed all charges with XXXX after being transferred to many different people. She said the fraud charges were under review. It appeared on the system that Case # XXXX was closed. I was told the case was for the entire period of XXXX. The new case number is XXXX. This information was incorrect because I the new case number was supposed to be for the entire period of XXXX. 

8. I received an e-mail from Amex on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX stating that Case # XXXX was in my favor. I received credits of {$14000.00} on my account. 

9. Spoke with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. We reviewed the open items & determined that 15 transactions were paid for a total of {$14000.00}. There were 3 that were rejected for {$1800.00}. The case was still open for charges from XXXX. Total Amount under review : {$33000.00}. 

10. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a form letter from Amex stating that case # XXXX was rejected. 

11. On XX/XX/XXXX I called at XXXX & spoke with XXXX to discuss the case. She asked me if I had given my card number to XXXX. I explained to her again, that I did not give my card number to XXXX. She said she was adding the information to my file & they would review with the back end team. 

12. On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I received a call from XXXX from the back-office team letting me know the additional charges were considered fraud & I would see the refund on my XXXX statement. She asked me to provide screen shots of the hacking attempts to her e-mail. I sent all documentation to XXXX & XXXX at XXXX. I did not receive the credits to my account. 

13. On XX/XX/XXXX, I checked the statement to prepare to pay my XXXX payment. I pay early, so my deadline is XX/XX/XXXX. The charges were not refunded & put back on my card. The suspension of the amount was removed as well. I called & spoke with a member of the fraud team who could not help me. I was told a supervisor would call me. 
14. At XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, a supervisor named XXXX XXXX called me to ensure they were working on the refund for my account. He said I would see the update to the account reflected on my statement. I asked, when?. He said it would take them time. I let him know it needed to be prior to paying my bill on the XXXX. He agreed all would be taken care of by that date. 

15. I spoke with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX to review the status of the case. He let me know the back-office team did put a note on the account that says the charges are fraud & they are working on the refund. He promised to call me back with an answer this afternoon. 

16. On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a formal complaint with the CFPB & FTC for Amexs poor treatment of my account. Complaint # XXXX. 

17. I received a call from XXXX from the back-office team on XX/XX/XXXX. She apologized that this has taken so long, gave me her direct number & said the following amount would be refunded to my card within the week : {$33000.00}. She expected the refund to appear on my card the week of XX/XX/XXXX. 

18. I have not seen the refund on my card, so I called XXXX. I have not received a call back. 

19. At XXXX on Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received a form letter from Amex XXXX that Case # XXXX awarded {$7900.00} as a credit to my account. I still have {$25000.00} to be credited back to my card. 

20. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a credit of {$7900.00} to my card. I am still missing {$25000.00}. 

21. OnXXXX, I left another message for XXXX regarding the outstanding amount still left to be refunded. I am waiting on a return call. 

22. On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with a customer service representative that kept me on hold for 49 minutes to speak to a supervisor. Supervisor : XXXX. I let her know that I did not provide the card number to XXXX. She said that she has escalated the process to the back office team. She let me know that she is sending all the information to the back office team. The call lasted 1 hour & 13 min.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief