Consumer complaint received 2020-05-21
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: OK
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Unexpected increase in interest rate

Complaint:
We have been making extra payments to our American Express account prior to the due dates, and some of those payments were prior to the statement end date, thus triggering a late payment charge of {$39.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. 

My highly detail-oriented wife called American Express shortly thereafter to dispute the charge. The CSR agreed to remove the fee, and before the call ended my wife verified the penalty Annual Percentage Rate would not be imposed, the CSR agreed that it would not, but in fact they did raise it from 14 to 29 percent. 

She had to call back today, XX/XX/XXXX to resolve this AGAIN. In appreciation to my fellow worker, XXXX, employee # XXXX was helpful in getting the rate ( hopefully ) corrected. In our XXXX statement they charged us 29.24 % APR. The XXXX statement closes today, XX/XX/XXXX, so we may or may not be charged 29.24 % again, it will depend on how fast their system updates are processed. Obviously, we want the difference in the APR refunded for XXXX and possibly XXXX. However, my much larger concern and why I have spent two hours writing this, is how many other consumers has this happened to? By law, we can't be penalized for pre-payment on a bank or home loan, so how come a credit card company can? If in fact, it is legal, which would not surprise me. I think they need to disclose it in bold letters in the terms of agreement and make it a check box item, prior to enabling the submit button. It is like my wife said to XXXX on the phone call. No other credit card company we've ever done business with operates like this. I have been a American Express customer since XXXX and I'm looking forward to hearing, what, in all likelihood, their template letter response letter will say. 

In closing I would like to add my personal sentiments about " too big to fails '' in general. 

My stomach turns when I watch their commercials ... Please contact us if you are experiencing problems in paying your bill during this COVID-19 crisis. Thank XXXX, I have not had to that yet. I am pretty sure they will use it as an opportunity to help themselves out, not the other way around. 

I recall in late XXXX on his way out of office, George HW Bush attempted to help us " regular folk '' out, proposing credit card companies lower their rates. How do you think that went over? What a RINO, right? 

We can not know, thanks Justices! How much money the financial companies ( who manufacturer nothing except financial instruments ) send to Congress so they will sit their old duffs on their hands, raise their necks up like a turkeys, look around in a circle, and pronounce, incredulously, I don't see nothing wrong here Ma. My guess is it's a lot less than the credit card companies power vac in from we the XXXX & XXXX XXXX XXXX interest payments. What a billionaire 's bargain, baby! I truly thank XXXX that your agency still exists, I know many in Congress want to kill it off, including the president and the secretary of treasury. Double-speak is definitely alive and well in XXXXXXXX XXXX America circa XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief