Consumer complaint received 2018-10-26
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms

Complaint:
I am a holder of an American Express Platinum personal credit card. I started my own small business on XX/XX/2018 and needing a business credit card to separate all business related expenses I called American Express Business credit line on XX/XX/2018 to inquire about their Platinum business credit card. When I spoke to the representative, I specifically informed her I was interested in applying for the credit card if they would waive the business annual credit card fee of {$450.00} since I had just paid the {$550.00} annual fee on the personal Platinum product on XX/XX/2018. She informed she would not be able to tell me at the time if it was possible until after I completed the application but that this was very likely. She informed me I would have to apply for the business credit card first and once I received the card, I would have to call back to speak to the personal accounts department that manage the personal business Platinum accounts so they could work something out with me. I reiterated I was not interested in paying two yearly fees since I had just paid the personal Platinum card yearly fee and she confirmed it had been paid in XXXX and said it was very likely they would be able to do something about the fee. 

She processed the application and I was approved the same day after speaking with an additional department to verify my income. I informed the next individual I spoke with I would be closing my personal Amex Platinum credit card and I was applying for the card for business related expenses but was only applying because I would be able work out something with Amex regarding the business credit card yearly fee. This individual also told me to go ahead and wait to cancel the card until I received the new business card and he informed me he would be able to expedite the card. 

I received the business Platinum credit card the next day on XX/XX/2018. I called the business Platinum line, activated my card and informed them of the information I had received on XX/XX/2018 and they transferred me to the personal Platinum credit line where the representative informed me they could not do this because this was after the 30 days since the credit card yearly fee had been paid. I informed the representative this was not the information I had been given by the representative that processed my application the day before on XX/XX/2018 and he said there was nothing he could do about it. I informed him this seemed to be a bait and switch offer and I was led to apply for their business product with misleading information which led me to believe if I confirmed I would cancel the personal credit card I would be receiving a credit on their business credit card yearly fee to avoid the initial {$450.00} fee. I disconnected the call and called the business Platinum line and spoke to another representative who informed me they would not be able to issue a refund for the {$550.00} fee on the personal card but that they could prorate it since it was two months later and she transferred me the personal card department. Again, I was told this would not be possible and they refused to escalate the issue to a manager. I questioned why the information I was receiving from their business side was different and the representative did not want to escalate until Saturday because according to her there were not managers/supervisors available to review the call until Saturday. I requested to speak with a manager on Friday and they informed me no managers would be available until Saturday. I disconnected the call and called the business department again and the third time they informed me I had been issued a credit for {$450.00} and that she could see it on my account, which was the prorated amount of the personal credit card yearly fee. She transferred me again to the personal credit card department since she was unable to see anything else on my account and when I was transferred the representative informed me this information was incorrect and they had not issued a credit. The representative again refused to escalate my request to speak to a manager and informed me he would have to have a manager call me back. He refused to use the information on the system as a mode of contact and asked me to confirm my contact information which had been verified the day before when my application was process. I asked him to use the information on file and he refused. I called the business line again and informed the new representative of the misleading information and she agreed to escalate my call to a manager but the call disconnected.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation