Consumer complaint received 2023-10-23
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CT
Product: Prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Unexpected or other fees

Complaint:
Sometime in XXXX I received an american express gift card with a {$100.00} value. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I attempted to charge the card for the {$100.00} and the charge was declined. I logged on to the american express balance website and saw that the available balance was {$99.00}. I did not understand what the XXXX discrepancy was since the card had been sealed and unused until now but dismissed this. 

I attempted to charge the card for {$99.00}. It was declined. 

I then successfully charged the card for {$50.00}. I then rechecked the american express balance and saw that the credit card had been debited for {$57.00}. In addition, there was the XXXX debit as a separate transaction on this day that I do not understand at all. 
A screenshot of the AMEX transactions from their balance inquiry site is included in the attached document. 

I called the merchant- XXXX XXXX who confirmed that their transaction amount was for {$50.00} and no fees were added. A screenshot of the transaction from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is included in the attached document. 

I reviewed the disclosure that was included with the card and saw no transaction fee. I googled this and found no additional information. Pictures of the disclosure included is included in the attached document. 


I called the american express customer service number shown on the card XXXX and found that none of the menu options addressed this and there was no option to be connected to a representative. 

I called a customer service number from the american express website for credit cards. XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ET. I was able to reach a representative since I did have an open amex card. The rep name was XXXX. I explained the situation and how upset with this experience I was, and she attempted to help by calling the gift card department internally. I was on hold for some time and she came back to ask for the account number so I believe she was in conversation with them. She returned and said that she could not help and that I need to call the gift card customer service. I explained that I already did and that I could not reach help. 

I then explained that at this point my intent was to file a complaint against amex and that I could not get any information or help from american express customer service. She said that she could not help. 

I then requested that my amex credit card be cancelled. I was forwarded to another rep who offered me {$40.00} to leave the card open after agreeing to a bunch of terms that I felt included not filing a complaint against them. I declined and told him to cancel the card. 

The undisclosed fees apparently assessed on this gift card is unacceptable. The fact that amex customer service for gift cards does not include a way to inquire as to what the fees are is unacceptable. The time I spent to unsuccessfully get information from American express is unacceptable and far beyond the fees in question. I would like to see the CFPB fine American express for this XXXX XXXX. I believe the way to clean this up is to make it unprofitable for them to continue as is after paying fines. 

Pictures of the gift card in question is included in the attached document.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief