Consumer complaint received 2018-01-13
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA
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:
On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I contacted American Express to dispute a charge in the amount of {$9200.00}. Such charge was related to a purchase that I made on XXXX XXXX, XXXX using my American Express Card ( for which I am a 21-year card member with a perfect payment history ). The subject {$9200.00} charge served as an up-front deposit for the purchase of a product to be designed and installed for me by a vendor, and pursuant to the terms and conditions of a written sale agreement. My willingness to make the {$9200.00} up-front deposit payment to a vendor that I had no prior relationship with was based solely on the assurances that I received from an American Express customer service representative prior to making the payment ( such assurances were provided to me verbally on XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX, XXXX, and American Express has acknowledged that they possess a recording of such conversation ). Despite providing ample evidence to American Express of the vendors failure to honor the terms of the sale agreement, American Express has failed to honor the specific assurances of dispute protection that were given to me by American Express customer service prior to my agreement to enter into the now disputed transaction. Again, it was such assurances from American Express on which I relied on when deciding to make the sizeable up-front deposit to a vendor with whom I had no prior relationship. 

Between XXXX XXXX and XXXX, XXXX, I attempted to resolve the disputed charge through American Express dispute resolution process, including providing more than 40 pages of written evidence to American Express outlining the vendors failure to honor the terms of the sale agreement ( and despite my numerous offers in writing granting the vendor the opportunity to rectify the situation ). Despite providing such evidence to American Express, as well as American Express acknowledgement of my phone conversation with the American Express customer service representative ( prior to making the disputed charge ), American Express concluded on XXXX XXXX, XXXX that ( 1 ) they will not remove the charge from my account balance, ( 2 ) that such amount would be due and payable on my XXXX, XXXX invoice, and ( 3 ) that my only course of action was to pursue recovery from the vendor. Despite my vehement disagreement with American Express decision, I have since paid the {$9200.00} amount to American Express in order to maintain my perfect payment history. 

American Express has indicated that they will not release the audio recording of my conversation with the American Express customer service representative ( occurring on XXXX XXXX or XXXX, XXXX ), and that I would need to obtain a subpoena in order to obtain such recording. Furthermore, during the dispute process, American Express refused to allow me to discuss my dispute with a representative in their dispute resolution group, indicating that individuals in such group do not speak directly with customers ( and requiring that information only be submitted in writing ). These are just two examples of how American Express refused to cooperate in resolving my dispute, which I firmly believe is due to their assumption that collecting the {$9200.00} amount from me would be far easier than collecting such amount from the vendor. 

In summary, I believe that the information that I provided to American Express clearly reflected the vendors failure to honor the terms of the sale agreement governing my purchase of the product, and that I made multiple attempts to allow the vendor to complete the transaction, which the vendor refused to take advantage of ( and in effect, abandoned the transaction ). As a result, the vendor is not entitled to the {$9200.00} amount previously paid to them using my American Express Card, and the charge should therefore be reversed. In addition, I believe that American Express failed to honor the assurance of dispute protection conveyed to me by American Express prior to my decision to enter into the transaction with the vendor, and on which I heavily relied. Without such assurance, I would have never made such a sizeable up-front payment to a vendor that I had no prior experience with. It is because of American Express failure to cooperate during the dispute process, and to stand behind their assurance of dispute protection, that I have decided to elevate this situation to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ). 

Beyond the outcome of my dispute, I would respectfully request that the CFPB look into the process by which American Express responds to its customers in connection with disputed charges, in order to ensure that future customers are not treated as unfairly as I was. I would also respectfully request any assistance that the CFPB can provide me in obtaining the audio recording from American Express of my XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX, XXXX conversation with their customer service representative ( during which the assurances of dispute protection were verbally conveyed to me ). I make this request as it places an extremely unfair financial burden on the consumer to be required to file litigation against American Express in order to obtain a subpoena for such evidence. 

Thank you very much for your assistance, and I look forward to your response.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation