Consumer complaint received 2021-11-03
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: TN
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 XX/XX/2021 I filed a dispute with American Express for a charge to XXXX XXXX XXXX online services in the amount of {$290.00} for an order that was placed on XX/XX/2021 but never received. I had already spent several fruitless phone calls trying to resolve this with the merchant. XXXX XXXX XXXX has multiple ( nearly XXXX ) online complaints that have originated in the past few months for product that has been ordered from their online retail site which has either never been received, or only an empty box was received. I was initially told by online Customer Care with XXXX that a refund would be processed within 10-14 days and provided this email confirmation to American Expresss. However the refund was never processed and multiple additional calls went nowhere with XXXX, who now has their customer service calls routed out of the country. I was continually put on hold and then disconnected. All of which smacks of a scam/fraud. Two weeks after the dispute was filed I received confirmation that the investigation was complete and a credit was being issued to my account, but the standard disclaimer that they merchant could appeal was listed. A few weeks later I noticed online, when paying my bill, that the dispute had been reopened and was awaiting merchant response. I called and spoke to a supervisor by the name of XXXX XXXX. I related the issues of the dispute and was told that the merchant had a finite period, at that time another week, to respond. This was after they had missed their window once. That time came and went and the time was extended, allowing them another 10 days. Once again I called and spoke to XXXX, who this time assured me that he would be there to make sure I received support if it meant filing with XXXX XXXX. He urged me to give a few more days, another week passed and I received notification that American Express was reversing the credit and recharging my card, no explanation. I once again called and requested to speak with XXXX, was told he was unavailable, but would call within 24 hours. This never occurred. I called again, this time speaking with a representative who was rude and condascending, telling me I just needed to give up and accept the decision. I insisted again on a call back from XXXX and this time was told 72 hours. Five days later I still had not received the return call. I called American Express Corporate Headquarters on XX/XX/2021 and was routed to 'Executive Assistant ' XXXX XXXX XXXX Once again I detailed all information and was told she was committed to getting a satisfactory resolution for me and would call back no later than the XXXX. This never occurred. I called and also followed up with an email to her. She emailed saying she would be in touch on the XXXX, this also never occurred. I once again left a voicemail and emailed, she responded on the XXXX that she would follow up on the XXXX. Once again, no follow through on the promise, once again I e-mailed. This time I recieved an email from XXXX XXXX stating that I could expect a call back from XXXX " no later than the XXXX '', today is XX/XX/XXXX and I still have NEVER received a call back from this individual who has promised return calls for now near a month. I have attempted to go online to reopen the dispute and can not. I have been given the runaround about filing with purchase protection. I feel that I am being played and that American Express is not providing me with the support and service that I am entitled to. I have a situaution of either fraud or theft and can not get support or protection or even a call back from my credit card company.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief