Consumer complaint received 2018-01-19
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY
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:
This is what happened to my daughter who used a card that is an extension of mine : I had my wedding XXXX months ago ( on XX/XX/XXXX ) and for the matter I was looking for a dress for my mother. My search led me to a dress store in XXXX, New York called XXXX. 
From the moment I entered the store o XX/XX/XXXX ; both the store manager and the selling associate were on top of me and rushing me to make a {$5.00} decision within minutes and pick a dress for my mother. 
Between all the rushing and push-overs, I was able to narrow down the choices into two dresses. One of the dresses were {$4.00} and the other was {$4.00} plus taxes. Even though, I repeatedly told them that I can not make any purchase before fully discussing this with my mother whom lives in another country with another time zone and since she will be the one who is going to wear the dress. 
At the very least I had to confirm the size. But they kept pushing me to make a purchase and that they will do anything to accommodate my mother by helping with the sizesetc. 
In the end, they scared me by saying that everything sells very fast and if I pay them {$4.00} deposit, I can secure both dresses and depending on our pick, they will either refund the extra amount ( if we ended up picking the {$4.00} dress ) or ask for another amount. I am not a seller or a professional but I am pretty sure the point of putting a deposit is to secure certain services or goods for a certain period of time. Thus, I made them the payment, thinking this would save me time to reach out to my mother and ask for her opinion within the same day or two. 
No one has mentioned me that this deposit was not refundable. They were already speaking in a language that is not my native and on top of it they were running around me creating chaos and pressure to make a decision as if I had limited time. There are some signs in the store saying all purchases are final but what I did was not a purchase and I didnt see any of it to ask about.. 
Even the fact that, I have not paid fully for any dress shows that it was not a completed purchase. Thus, they were the one who created the rushing environment and forced me to pay a deposit leaving me with and impression that it is a reversible transaction. ( On another side note, when I called my mother to ask for her opinion in the store, the seller lady was very inappropriate with my mother and made racist jokes by calling her XXXX. I tried to ignore her inappropriate actions and focused on the task at hand.. ) Later the night, I spoke to my mother and decided not to buy either of them and the very next day ( in less than 24 hours ), I returned to the store and asked for my money back. Thats was when they showed me their purchase policy ( even though this was not a complete purchase ) and that they can not pay me back. With the stress of arranging a wedding in another country than your own and their rude attitude, I rushed out of the store in tears and very frustrated that I wasconned for my fathers money. When I did some research and checked some of the reviews for the store, I realized that I was not the only victim of such an action. 
At that moment, I trusted American Express to protect me and my father who has been a loyal customer for years without skipping any payment. You guys gave me a comfort that it is not that easy to scam people who paid with AmeX and I thought I would bring it up to my father and to your attention so that we get a resolution. 
Later I found out that, the refund is rejected by you and that I have to go back to the store where I was mistreated, insulted and talk to the owner for some sort of negotiation.. 
I took my fianc and went to the store three times, where for the first two times he wasnt even there ( even though we called in advance ) and when we finally went for the third time he was there and told us that he is with a customer and to wait 10-15 minutes. He didnt offer us a seat or any drinks which is customary to every single entering customer. He kept running for one customer after another and made us wait for 1.5 hours standing in the middle of the store. When finally my fianc went to speak with him and asked him his 10 minutes, he told us to call next time ( which we did! ) and make an appointment. There again, for the third time, I was mistreated, tricked and conned into keeping my money and I wasnt even able to talk or negotiate the issue. We have raised these incidents and concerns to your attention multiple times but I still feel that you have not taken the proper action for this case. I trust American Express to do his due diligence and realize how one of their loyal customer is scammed in the middle of XXXX. 
You can tell from our history that we are not a type of people who tries to exploit certain services of American Express. We are merely seeking for justice and protection by our own bank against some scamming store with a history of similar incident. ( Please check XXXX reviews for similar cases ). 
I trust your judgement and ability to tell where there is a scam and mistreatment and I invite you to do the right thing by helping us. 
Regards, XXXX XXXX XXXX So that 's the story and from that date I call American Express and talk with a lot of different departments persons and everybody told me that I have to pay because the store policy 's. 

I want to know if all customers before paying in a store, have a copy of the policies or conditions of the store or as in this case, my daughter made a payment of approximately 50 % of the amount of the ticket where it says on the top a deposit number and in the lower one that do not refund money, which is deceptive. 

I have exhausted all instances with American Express, which has defended the store and has not protected the cardholder, arguing that the policies of the store are clear. 
Neither my daughter nor I have received clearly the store policy 's or any merchandise or services from XXXX XXXX to date and American Express has not protected me as a cardholder despite having the card since XXXX with an excellent record. 

I do not want to think that because I am a XXXX American client I am also suffering from some type of discrimination and I totally reject the way they have handled the case, encouraging the abuse of unscrupulous stores like XXXX XXXX and forcing the cardholder to use the credit card in good faith and willingness to pay for something not received only by signing a voucher by means of deception.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation