Consumer complaint received 2019-10-29
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: ID
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: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
Re : Fraudulent use of our American Express card by the merchant : XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and AMEX refusal to correct it. 
AMEX card charged : {$820.00} The company XXXX XXXX XXXX has double-charged our company for a single stay in their XXXX XXXX, CA location ( XXXX ) XXXX. The manager is XXXX XXXX of that location. We have complained about this to the American Express credit card company regarding this, but they have ignored us and are forcing us to pay for both amounts, refusing to look at the fact that we have NOT authorized the second charge, thus making it fraudulent. To this day the American Express and the Merchant refuse to give us any proof of purchase for the second charge ( double charge ) but have forced us to pay. 

History : On XX/XX/XXXX, our company has made a purchase for a seven-night stay ( from XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) at the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA location hotel for one of its employees. We subsequently have gotten a confirmation email and were happy with the purchase. 

To our bewilderment, the next day, the American Express messaged us that the large purchase has been made for another identical amount of {$820.00}. We were thus charged twice for the same stay at the hotel. 

XXXX has immediately contacted XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX only to learn that they do not process such requests, and we needed to call their HQ in XXXX, NC to get this straighten out. Since it was late on Friday, the HQ was closed, and XXXX was forced to call them on Monday only to learn that the purchases were NOT refundable. The merchant refused to acknowledge the fact that it was their technical error that has caused a double charge evidenced by only one purchase receipt ( email ) sent out by their system to XXXX, for only ONE guest staying in the same hotel on the same seven-night stay ( therefore one person could not have stayed at two rooms simultaneously ). 

Out of desperation, XXXX has reached and talked to the XXXX XXXX property Manager, who oddly and perhaps in retrospect very telling, has refused to accept the company 's mistake. We have also reached out to the American Express, but they refuse to credit it on the card. 

The Manager called us and left a voice mail ( we have that file for review if needed ) 14 days before the actual date of stay acknowledging that there was a double charge and she wanted to make sure that there were not two rooms reserved under the same name. We have called back and confirmed the double charge by their system. The reservation was made with a cancellation policy on the day of arrival ( XX/XX/XXXX before XXXX XXXX  ). Since we have talked to her and canceled double charge by XXXX XXXX on the XXXX of XXXX, the second charge should have been credited. But was not. 

PLEASE read the CANCELLATION POLICY on a receipt ( proof of purchase ) - attached Thank you for reading it.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief