Consumer complaint received 2023-01-25
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX : Opening this new case as a continuation of : XXXX. CFPB Ref No : XXXX, Ref : XXXX XXXX. CFPB Ref No : XXXX, Ref : XXXX Today I received the same " Closed with explanation '' notice from Amex indicating they tried to contact my wife " on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX to obtain authorization but were unsuccessful ''. Strangely my wife 's phone show 's no missed calls and no voicemail. 

At no stage during this case has Amex ever denied fault nor taken issue with being called liars. It is then safe to assume that Amex is, lying yet again in this case. 

As a reminder then, you can call these numbers next time to contact my wife for authorisation : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Both these number have voicemail enabled. There's no need to be shy and just leave a voicemail so we can call you back : - ) ( Note : There is no point in redirecting us back to the Basic Cardmember Services contact as they are the Amex XXXX we are complaining about. On XX/XX/XXXX a Manager ( XXXX ) from that team confirmed they can not connect us directly to Amex " Customer Advocate Services Team '' and the only way to establish contact was via CFPB. ) < -- Prev correspondence history below. -- XXXX XX/XX/XXXX : Opening this new case as a continuation of XXXX The response I received from Amex response indicated : " Third Party Disclosure Laws and American Express privacy policy prohibit sharing certain types of information with unauthorized accountholders ''. They were not able to reach my wife 's mobile number and so the complaint was Closed. They redirected me back to Basic Cardmember services to address the issue. I just spoke with a Manager ( XXXX XXXX from that team who updated my wife 's account with a new mobile contact number. He advised that opening a new issue with CFPB was only way to establish contact with the " Customer Advocate Services Team '' that are are responsible for handling this complaint. The submission details here and below are then the same as for the prior complaint ( ending XXXX ). <From complaint submission from XX/XX/XXXX below> [ Apologies for the formatting should this submission be successful. This is my fifth attempt, including one by postal mail as well, but all have been unsuccessful and the CFPB telephone team has not been able to assist. ] Summary Amex failing for an extended period to process a promised Annual Fee refund. ( There is a minor complication in that the card in question belongs to my wife and the linked bank checking account is mine. ) Amex at no stage has denied responsibility for their error. I worked as a XXXX XXXX in USA for 10+ years and so should qualify as a valued customer. Both Amex Customer Support teams, online IM Chat and Telephone, were unprofessional, purely reactionary and on multiple occasions lied ( knowingly provided false information ) in order to evade taking responsibility. ( Note : I am now located in XXXX ( XXXX ) but this issue is with a card that was opened while US resident and all Customer Support interactions are with the Amex US team. ) TIMELINE Engagements with Amex Online IM Chat Support Team ( XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX ) On XX/XX/XXXX I was told the refund coming to the linked checking account. Everything after this was like XXXX XXXX! The IM Support team never had an update on their most recent failed approach and were never doing anything about it until I re-established contact. The Managers and Senior Managers here were unable/unwilling to take any ownership either. They were not even aware that the authorization call that Chat team had requested be made to the Amex Telephone team had occurred 3 months prior. This all came to a head after 9 months when a Senior Manager ( XXXX ) commented that Amex were sorry if I should feel this matter was not being dealt with satisfactorily. I was subsequently referred ( offloaded ) to the Amex Telephone Support team on the basis that they had more authority. I then moved over to Telephone Support exclusively after one more IM Team Senior Manager ( XXXX ) failed to take the action promised hed promised. <<Attachment>> Included also is a fragment from my wifes chat sessions with Amex IM online chat team to prove these interactions. Amex Customer Support steadfastly refused to provide this necessary case history to the Amex Telephone Support team. I believe that Amex Chat team are deleting these records in order to save themselves embarrassment in front of their colleagues. Engagements with Amex Telephone Support Team ( XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX XXXX and Manager XXXX XXXX XXXX who confirmed that Telephone team has no access to the IM Chat team chat logs and that it would take 8 weeks to have them sent over - yes, 8 weeks!! XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX ) who confirmed the request had been made but no chat scripts had been received. I was promised a Manager callback on the same day but did not receive ( missing call # 1 ). XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX ). Re-iterated a request for a Manager callback but did not receive ( missing call # 2 ) XX/XX/XXXX : Call 1 : Spoke with Associate (?? ). Escalated to Manager ( XXXX XXXX who apparently disconnected the call and made no attempt to call me back ( missing call # 3 ) and so... Call 2 : Spoke with Associate (?? ) who indicated to me that Manager ( XXXX XXXX would call me back in 15 minutes. Did not receive a call ( missing call # 4 ) XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Associate (?? ) and then Manager ( XXXX XXXX. Manager was helpful and surprised by the level of service I was witnessing. We discussed internal Amex QA processes and that this issue was heading towards the Ombudsman if things did not get better. We agreed that next step was [ 1 ] to retrieve the chat logs from the IM Chat team so that the case history could properly be addressed and [ 2 ] to get a Senior Manager to review and provide next steps for resolution. I was to call back in 2 weeks for this update. XX/XX/XXXX : Call 1 : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX XXXX, call dropped and I received no callback ( missing call # 5 ). Call 2 : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX ) and requested the update. The only note on my account they could see was XX/XX/XXXX, case resolved! I was then put on-hold by XXXX for total 40 mins ( first 25 mins and then 15 mins ) before I hung up. Call 3 : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX ) who helpfully added the notes from my call with XXXX to my account ( actions [ 1 ] & [ 2 ] above ). I requested a callback from a Manager. Call 4 : Manager ( XXXX XXXX called me back soon after : - ) On hearing the case history XXXX immediately, in fact rather summarily, directed me to escalate to the Amex Consumer Affairs Team ( Washington DC ). This was to be via a slow postal mail process and was quite different advice to what I had heard from Manager ( XXXX ). As a result I requested to get a confirming opinion from a Senior Manager and XXXX said he would make that request for me. ( Of course, I never received that SM call ( missing call # 6 ) ) XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX XXXX who confirmed that Manager ( XXXX XXXX had not left any notes on my account for a SM callback. I requested a Manager level callback to discuss this incompetence and how to move on. No callback received ( missing call # 7 ) XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX ) and requested a Manager callback. No callback received ( missing call # 8 ) XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX XXXX who indicated they could escalate directly to a Senior Manager! Of course no callback received ( missing call # 9 ). When I rose the matter of external escalations this Associate mentioned going to the police and my getting an attorney to sue Amex Corporation : - ) XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX ) and Manager ( XXXX ). Manager appeared attentive and so I, yet again, went through the entire case history. They helpfully provided the email address for escalation to the Chairmans Office. Manager informed me Id hear back from a Senior Manager in the next couple of days or at least get an email update. Of course nothing of the sort happened ( missing call # 10 ). XX/XX/XXXX : Spoke with Associate ( XXXX ) and Manager ( XXXX ) but it was same Amex merry-go-round. I re-confirmed the email address for the Amex escalation point of the Chairmans Office. ( Manager made an attempt to redirect any external complaints to XXXX ) Engagements with Amex Express Chairmans Office Support Team ( XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX ) At this ultimate escalation point within American Express I was met by an Executive Assistant who defines incompetence. They arbitrarily decided to ignore a call with me that theyd arranged, did not know how to set an Out-of-Office message and did not understand timezones ( they kept calling me at XXXX and XXXX even though I explicitly identified my profile shows me in XXXX ). This was the final insult. On XX/XX/XXXX I provided FINAL written email notice of 6 weeks to Amex Chairmans Office ( including CEO and group president of XXXX XXXX XXXX ) that my case required immediate executive attention or I would be taking up this matter externally. I have not received any response. ( Note : I returned to XXXX from abroad in XXXX and found a refund cheque from Amex dated XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. So obviously good news. All emails from the Executive Assistant showed no awareness that the refund had finally been successfully issued and they had no no comment on this after the fact. )

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief