Consumer complaint received 2023-06-06
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Trouble using the card
Sub-issue: Trouble using the card to spend money in a store or online

Complaint:
I have 5 x {$25.00} American Express Virtual Prepaid Cards ( total of {$120.00} ). These cards are advertised and sold as general use prepaid cards, accepted everywhere Amex cards normally are. Furthermore, the terms and conditions on the card state that these cards " may be used virtually anywhere in the U.S. that accept American Express Cards, unless otherwise indicated on the back of the Card ''. In addition, I believe the new reforms enacted at the time the cfpb was created require the processor ( Amex ) to make sure general use gift cards are accepted anywhere within their network. 
For the last month, beginning XXXX XXXX XXXX, these cards are being rejected in every single retailer I have tried to make a purchase including XXXX and XXXX, the two largest retailers in the country and XXXX, the largest processor of its kind. 
The card includes a phone number ( several variations of it ) as the sole point of contact to make inquiries or solve issues with the card. I have called this number more than a dozen times. The representatives have a very limited script they use to respond to issues with that card and mostly respond with 'try again ', 'try again in 24 hours ' or 'try again with a different retailer ', or they repeat the balance without you asking for it and assure you your card is active and ready to use. 
Below I list some of the retailers and dates I've tried to make purchases. This list in non-exhaustive. The transactions have failed in every single instance. I have tried purchases as small as {$0.00} and as large as {$25.00} ( the value of the card ). 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I have contacted Amex Prepaid Cards by phone the following dates. This list is also non-exhaustive ( I have contacted many more times ). The telephone number ( s ) is listed on the website of the prepaid cards and provided both by AskAmex at XXXX and the reps at Amex Credit Cards. It is the only official way of contact. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I have also chatted online with the Amex team for credit cards ( I have two different Amex credit cards ) on XXXX XXXX and XXXX. In every occasion they have given me a phone number to call told me it's the only means of contact for Amex prepaid cards. 

Finally, I have contacted @ AskAmex at XXXX several times. They always respond by telling you to call the same number. 

Amex Prepaid is aware of the problem as the internet is full of complaints of the cards not working. A brief search on XXXX would include hundreds of complaints and for a while, before Amex muted the complaints, half of the comments on its XXXX feeds were of complaints about the gift cards not working. 

It's not a game. These are general use prepaid cards they should be accepted to make purchases. Amex canned response of 'try again until you find a retailer that accept the cards ' is unacceptable. It the cards are accepted only at specific retailers, Amex should publish a list of those retailers and brand the cards as store or single-merchant use gift cards.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation