Consumer complaint received 2019-05-25
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NJ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
Hello, I was approved for and received the American Express Business Gold Card, which offered me a bonus of 50,000 MR points for 3,000 in spend in the first 3 months, which I was able to meet and fulfill. I received the bonus points and redeemed them for airline miles through a transfer partner. During this time period, I accidentally paid one bill for {$30.00} for my personal American Express card, from an old bank account that was no longer valid. American Express kept trying to pull from this account repeatedly, so I chatted in and let them know to please switch it to my main account that I always pay from, as I made a mistake, or cancel the payment and let me resubmit and the rep told me they could do nothing from the website, despite being made aware of the error, and i would need to call in during a very limited set of hours. I work during the day, and frankly hate speaking on the phone, so I let the system try the max number of times, at which point it finally cancelled the payment without me having to call in, and I immediately paid it from the correct bank account. This however triggered the algorithms in Amex 's system to raise my APR to 29.99 %, which frankly made me quite angry, as I had consistently paid on time. In response, I closed my personal Amex card, and left my business card open. Because I was so upset at Amex 's service at this point, I downgraded the card from the Gold card to the Green card, which automatically made me eligible for a pro-rated refund of a portion of the annual fee as per the terms of service of the card. This apparently really triggered Amex 's system, and they reversed the MR points which had already been granted and redeemed, which pushed me beyond my limits, as to me this was a violation of trust, and an insult to me as a client, and represented what a truly terrible company Amex had grown into. I had the full intention of keeping the green card open, but this changed the terms, so that I would no longer earn points until the 50,000 MR points were paid back, which is not something I agreed to. I followed all of Amex 's rules in obtaining the 50,000 MR points, and thus this change in terms, attempting to minus my points, made me close the Business Green Card, which was my final Amex card. As per the terms and conditions because the card was still downgraded, Amex is legally required to give me the pro-rated refund of the difference between the Gold and the Green card, which should be about {$200.00}, but they have not done that. They have told me time after time, that they will research this, and that it is being investigated, but nothing has gotten done. My account has this had a {$270.00} balance for the past 4 months, which is affecting my credit report, and frankly being a nuisance. Amex needs to complete their investigation, credit back the pro-rated amount of the difference, and let me pay off the balance so that I never have to deal with them again. If this is not resolved via the CFPB, I will be taking Amex to arbitration via the instructions set forth in their terms and conditions page.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief