Consumer complaint received 2021-05-24
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Unexpected or other fees

Complaint:
I have an American Express SERVE prepaid card. On XX/XX/XXXX. I noticed that my card was being used at an ATM while I still had it in my possession. I called customer service to report fraud. I immediately changed my pin # through the online banking app while filing my fraud dispute over the phone. I Do not know who someone could have access to my pin #. During filing my dispute I also discovered that someone also used my card on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX there were XXXX ATM transactions that I did not authorize. Someone withdrew {$100.00}. after that they withdrew {$300.00}. Then {$300.00} again. On XX/XX/XXXX there were XXXX ATM transactions also of the exact amounts {$100.00}, {$300.00} and {$300.00} again. Whomever had my card continued to try to withdraw more money, but the daily card limit was reached, so I was charged an ATM decline fee of {$0.00} on both XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. I filed my dispute on XX/XX/XXXX the fraud was in the amount of {$1400.00}. the ATM decline fees were not included in these charges. I provided my declaration of fraud paperwork as instructed to. I believed this would be a simple investigation because American Express is a prestigious company with tons of experience. I uploaded my declaration of fraud paperwork on XX/XX/XXXX around XXXX. By the morning XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from American Express Serve stating that my dispute was declined. This raised major suspicion because I wondered how could this company investigate this dispute so fast, when I just submitted my paperwork the night before. on XX/XX/XXXX I called American Express SERVE and requested information on the reason my dispute was denied. I was told that I can not speak to anybody from that department and I would have to write a handwritten letter to their P.O Box to reviewed any documents that American Express SERVE relied upon in making their determination to decline my dispute. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent my letter to American Express SERVE via XXXX mailing, my letter was tracked and arrived. Today is XX/XX/XXXX and I never received the documents that customer service told me that I could receive from writing my handwritten letter. Also on XX/XX/XXXX when I called to request information on the reason my dispute was denied, I was told I can file the dispute again, so I did in hope that there was an error in their investigation process. Over the weekend this issue bothered me so much that I started to research the company to see if anyone else went through this same debacle that I am experiencing. I discovered upon googling " American Express SERVE dispute declined '' there were hundreds of people exclaiming that their disputes were declined and thy felt that something wasn't right with this company 's fraud department. I seen someone report the exact thing that happened in my case. I hadn't had any funds in my account, but as soon as I received my {$1400.00} stimulus direct deposit, my account was targeted and somebody stole my money. I became overwhelmed in digging deeper into this issue. this led my to come across the email address for the CEO  of American Express. I immediately emailed him and gave him all information surrounding my issues with American Express SERVE and their process of investigating my fraud dispute. He exclaimed that somebody would look into my issue from American Express team and get back to me. I Received a call from an American Express customer service member, we went over the charges totaling to {$1400.00} in which I am disputing. I was asked to provide information that could assist them in their own investigation. I exclaimed to them that for starters, I never attempted to withdraw {$300.00} from my account since its been open, I usually only use XXXX ATM machines which are free of fees with a XXXX card. These ATM are located in XX/XX/XXXX stores. They have a max limit of {$200.00} withdrawals. Also I exclaimed that I have never used my card anywhere near the location of where this ATM fraud transactions occurred. I do not live in XXXX, NY which is an XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX away from the address I have on file in the XXXX, NY with this American Express SERVE account. I told the American Express associate that the last time I used my prepaid card prior to the fraud charges which occurred on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX was on XX/XX/XXXX for {$1.00} for the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. After I provided all the information I had, I was told that somebody would reach out to me by XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX an American Express Executive Assistant contacted me via email and exclaimed they haven't even received a response from the American Express SERVE team, so I should be patient. I received another emailed on XX/XX/XXXX from the same American Express Executive Assistant exclaiming that thy still haven't heard from the American Express SERVE teaming to be patient, and I should receive a follow up email no later than XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent the Declaration of Fraud form to the American Express Serve fraud department. Then, on XX/XX/XXXX is when I became extremely suspicious of this entire situation. My second dispute was also declined. I wondered are all disputes automatically declined? How does the American Express SERVE team not respond to the American Express Executive Assistant for days, but soon as I sent my declaration of fraud form I get a response saying my dispute is declined. This made me very frustrated, I spoke this the American Express Executive Assistant over the phone and I was told that the XXXX  team exclaimed that my dispute was declined because the ATM transactions totaling of {$1400.00} were around the address that I have listed on file with them. I asked the American Express Executive Assistant does she clearly see that I live in the XXXX, and that this occurred in XXXX, NY. The American Express XXXX XXXX said they do see that the ATM disputed charges were in a different borough than the location of my address on file. i then asked the American Express Executive Assistant how could you accepted an answer from American Express SERVE that you know is inaccurate. The American Express Executive Assistant told me that it is nothing they can do, and that they only stepped in to mediate the situation. I then asked the American Express Executive Assistant can she email the information that she provided over the phone in which the XXXX fraud department gave in reference to the reason my dispute was declined, because I want to file a lawsuit against the company. I only requested for this to be sent to me via email because American Express SERVE fraud department still haven't sent me the documents that they said I have the right to review which led to my declined dispute. The American Express Executive Assistant never responded with the information via email. I've reached out to them again and nobody has emailed me the details of my dispute being decline. I simply just want to file my lawsuit at this point, but this company has not sent me any documents that they stated I would get when I wrote my handwritten letter. I Need this information for my lawyer to move forward, and nobody is coming forth with anything.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation