Consumer complaint received 2023-10-20
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: IA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
This is in regard to the Amex platinum card that I happened to have issued back in XXXX through an introductory offer. After I applied, to inquire about my approval, I called the Amex customer service number and discussed the decision about my application. During the conversation, since I was already an account holder with Amex, the customer representative pointed out that I would be ineligible for this new introductory offer and instructed me to upgrade my existing blue XXXX XXXX to the platinum if I wanted to get a platinum card. Unknowingly, I agreed, and he upgraded my blue card to the platinum one.

Somedays later, I received two platinum cards one after another ; not knowing which one was which, I activated both. During the activation, the first card instructed me to register and set up a new online account, which I did. In hindsight, I later realized it was for an Amex platinum card through the introductory offer. It let me sign up and register, and I could access it through my mobile app for XXXX minutes or so. After that, it automatically locked me out and wouldn't let me log back in. I thought that maybe the Amex overall system might have detected that an account with the same SSN can not have two different online login accounts, which is why it might have automatically blocked me from accessing the online account and would have nullified/canceled my card. This belief took the prevalence as a customer representative instructed me similar way earlier. 

So, I don't inquire about it and normally keep using my Amex platinum card, which I got through my existing XXXX upgrade, and forget about the platinum card through the introductory offer. Even though I forget, I happen not to have discarded and disposed of that card, which has been sitting on my study table for months. 

Months later, around the end of XXXX, completely out of my mind, I was going through my email and saw an email stating I had a balance on the platinum card through an introductory offer, and I had a balance due for XXXX months. To verify this, I opened the XXXX rewards app, which keeps track of my bills in one place, and surprisingly saw that I happened to have three credit cards with Amex, whereas I was only hoping for 2. 

Knowing that, I decided to call them and brought these all to their customer representative on the phone and informed them that I had never made any purchase with that Amex platinum card through the introductory offer, and I do not recognize any of those charges. After learning that those charges were from XXXX, I reiterated Amex representative that I don't buy anything from XXXX, and I usually tell my roommate to buy things whenever I need them. I concluded the conversation by agreeing with her to start a fraud investigation. 

By now, I started to get a hint that maybe my roommate might have been making the purchases on that card, knowing that it was my " main '' ( upgraded ) platinum card. I asked him if he was doing so, and after checking his order details history, I understood that my roommate was indeed using the card. After learning about them, I called Amex again to notify them to cancel the investigation and keep those charges as I would pay them. In conversation, since this was all because of the confusion caused on their part, I asked them to take away my late fee and annual fee and cancel the card as I didn't even need two platinum cards in the first place. The representative agreed to cancel the late and annual fees, close my account/card, and send me the statement of those charges, which I must pay through email or as a paper copy. She told me I would receive it by XX/XX/2023, but I didn't receive anything in the mail. After that, I checked my email and learned I didn't get any paper statement sent either. I later called them asking to remove the annual fee and send me the statement again. All the customer representative had to say was I would be liable for the annual fee since I activated that card, and they would not waive that. 

I told them how this is as I always have to reach out to them for answers and how unfair it is to pay annual fees for the card. I never used the perks ; the membership period is way past, and I have to pay an annual fee for two cards for {$500.00}. But they seem to not accommodate me and illegitimately uphold that against me, affecting my credit history.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief