Consumer complaint received 2019-01-16
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY
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:
I am writing to you to explain an unfortunate experience with American Express ( AmEx ), the company with which I have a charge card for business purposes through my employer. The full description of the events appears in a PDF attachment to this online form. In summary, AmEx overcharged my account for several hundred dollars of late fees, refused to explain the reasoning and / or calculations behind the amount of fees charged, repeatedly gave me false information about my account, and in the end refused to credit any amount of the fees back, in spite of a representative admitting that they were incorrectly applied. 

I have spent many hours attempting to work through this issue with AmEx but am at a point where I think I need to bring in some external help. Ive summarized my request at the end of the email, but in summary, I am asking for AmEx to make me whole for the time and money Ive spent trying to resolve this debacle, by refunding me for {$410.00} in charges ( detailed further below ), plus some amount of damages for the 35+ hours Ive spent with AmEx representatives trying to get to a satisfactory resolution here. 

Many thanks for you help in advance. 

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - Sequence of Events : - XX/XX/XXXX : I booked a ticket to XXXX flight totaling {$5100.00} for an upcoming business trip scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. The charge was billed to my corporate AmEx card. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : My travel plans changed very close to the flight, and I requested a refund of the flight ( minus a {$100.00} change fee ). This amount was due to be paid off on my card on my statement closing date of XX/XX/XXXX. However, the refund took a while to be processed by the travel company and was ultimately received on XX/XX/XXXX, bringing my account into a 15-day grace period ending on XX/XX/XXXX. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : When a payment was ultimately made on my account on XX/XX/XXXX of {$810.00}, my account was brought past the 15-day grace period ending on XX/XX/XXXX, bringing my account into a >45-day past-due state. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : A late fee of {$39.00} was charged by AmEx to my account. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : When I realized what had happened, I called AmEx to explain the situation and spoke to a very helpful and understanding AmEx customer service representative, who told me that the late fee would be waived given the circumstances. My employer continued to pay my ongoing charges on a regular schedule ( less the {$39.00} late fee, which was supposed to have been waived ). 
- XX/XX/XXXX : A late fee of {$39.00} and a delinquency charge of {$280.00} were charged to my account. A payment of {$11000.00} that my employer was processing to AmEx ultimately cleared on the next day, on XX/XX/XXXX. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : The first late payment fee of {$39.00} was finally waived and processed on my account. 

Summary of Calls to AmEx : - Late XX/XX/XXXX : I was surprised and alarmed to receive the charges on XX/XX/XXXX. When I realized the issue, I called AmEx in order to seek out an explanation. I explained the situation and was transferred multiple times. One of the representatives I spoke to ( Representative # 1 ) said that she did not have access to the information behind the new charges on my account and couldnt ( or wasnt allowed to ) explain them. I ended up being transferred to her manager ( Manager # 1 ), who stated that the charges couldnt be reversed, even though I had already received a waiver of the first late payment charge. Rather than listening to my reasoning and answering my questions, she lectured me about paying my charges on time and implied that the situation was my fault, in a tone that felt very condescending and unwarranted. When I expressed my concern that I was being charged an outsized delinquency fee due to a lingering {$39.00} unpaid late fee ( which had still not been reimbursed by AmEx ), she stated in no uncertain terms that American Express never charges late fees on late fees. I ended up needing to end the call in order to get back to work, although my questions had been unanswered. This series of conversations was very frustrating and also a bit unnerving ; it felt as if the customer service representatives either had the wrong information or had been instructed not to provide further information on certain account details ( for example, a representative who told me that she wasnt allowed to share certain details around my account which subsequent representatives were able to ( see below ) ). I spent nearly 2 hours on the phone throughout these first conversations. 
- Late XX/XX/XXXX ( continued ) : The same evening ( or perhaps the next evening ), I called AmEx again from home, again seeking a suitable explanation of the charges. I had already printed all of my recent monthly statements and was looking for someone to walk me through them so I could understand what had happened ( as well as audit / identify a mistake if necessary ). The first representative I spoke to ( Representative # 2 ) pushed back on the idea of explaining any of my charges, again stating ( as Representatives # 1 had ) that they did not have the authority or the systems access to see the charges. I was eventually transferred to someone who reluctantly took the time to walk through the charges month by month ( Representative # 3 ). It was difficult to get him to answer simple questions ( in many cases yes / no questions ) about simple aspects of my account, for instance, the date on which a given payment was due, the date on which a late payment charge is applied, and what the {$280.00} charge was for and how it was calculated. 
o Representative # 3 stated that all charges are due on the next occurring payment date ( for example, my payment due dates are on the XXXX  of each month ; therefor, for a charge on the XX/XX/XXXX, the payment associated with that charge would be due two days later, on the XXXX  ). 
o Although I was surprised by this, I continued to work with Representative # 3 to walk through my charges and payments, working to understand the due dates and balances due, although this was incredibly difficult. 
o Sometimes he would go for long periods without responding, and at one point the line dropped, and I suspect ( although I can not be sure ) that he simply hung up on me. 
o I immediately connected to americanexpress.com via chat in order to be connected to the same representative to continue the conversation, but I was told it was against policy to connect a customer with a specific representative. At the end of the day, I had spent 45 minutes on the phone with this individual before the call ended abruptly. 
- Late XX/XX/XXXX ( I believe XX/XX/XXXX ) : Later that week when I had another opportunity, I called again in search of a representative who could explain the charges to me. I ultimately was able to speak to someone named XXXX, who was able to walk me through the payments and due dates. 
o In contrast to what Representative # 3 stated, XXXX informed me that payments for charges up to the XXXX of any given month are due on the XXXX of the following month. 
o If payments are not received after a 15-day grace period following the payment date, then a {$39.00} late fee is charged. 
o XXXX was willing and able to walk through my entire set of statements. 
o We determined that the delay in the receipt of the airfare refund had resulted in a past-due balance of {$180.00} which passed the grace period on XX/XX/XXXX, resulting in the late fee of {$39.00} being charged on XX/XX/XXXX ( this is the charge that AmEx had already agreed to waive, but which had not yet been waived ). 
o We determined that, in addition to the initial late fee charged ( which was supposed to have been waived ), a balance of {$120.00} had carried over past the grace period ending on XX/XX/XXXX ( this I accept responsibility for ), resulting in a second {$39.00} late payment charge on XX/XX/XXXX. 
o XXXX explained that, past the 15-day grace period, there is a second period ( up to the XXXX of the following month ), after which a delinquency charge is applied, equal to 2.99 % of the past-due amount. We identified that 2.99 % of the past-due amount would have been 2.99 % x {$120.00} = {$3.00}. This would be charged on top of the {$39.00} late fee. However, the charge that appeared on XX/XX/XXXX was not {$3.00}, but {$280.00}. XXXX and I were both perplexed by this. In XXXX words, I do see that the number is off, concluding that it was an error that would need to be reviewed and corrected by the accounting team. 
o When I expressed concern about the time it would take to resolve this ( and the possibility of incurring further fees if not fixed in a timely manner ), XXXX reassured me that no further late fees would be incurred until XX/XX/XXXX, giving me time to resolve this. 
o I thanked XXXX and expressed my frustration with the previous AmEx representatives. 
o XXXX assured me that this would be resolved, and explained that he was going to follow up with his manager, who would reach out to me within 24-48 hours with a resolution. He stated, I can assure you that this will be resolved in the next 24-48 hours, and promised that his manager would be reaching out within that time frame to ensure the charge was reversed. 
o XXXX further assured me that he would personally call on Monday after that weekend, to see how the matter had been resolved ( he was off for the next two days ). 
- The next two days : In spite of XXXX reassurance, I did not receive any call back from American Express within the 48 hour period. 
o Furthermore, XXXX did not call back on Monday to follow up. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : On Tuesday, I called AmEx to follow up and requested to speak with XXXX. I was told that XXXX was unavailable, so I asked to speak with a manager. I was connected to a manager, XXXX, and explained the situation and that I was waiting for a call from a manager and / or XXXX to resolve the incorrect charge. 
o XXXX took some time to review the case. He then apologized for the delay and said that he had left a message / note for XXXX to call me back. XXXX said he would personally follow up with XXXX to make sure XXXX got back in touch with me with a solution. 
o As I had received good service from XXXX previously, I was happy to have XXXX call me back after being reminded by XXXX. 
o I further expressed concern to XXXX that the incorrect delinquency fees could potentially be reported to the credit bureaus before they were resolved, impacting my credit for a mistake on AmExs part. XXXX assured me that as the corporate account is held in my employers name, AmEx will never report any finance charges or delinquencies to the credit bureaus anyway, so there would be no negative impact. 
- Feeling better about the situation at that point, ended up being transferred to another AmEx representative in rewards ( Representative # 4 ), who persuaded me to sign up for a corporate rewards program that would give me AmEx points for spending on my corporate card, in exchange for a {$90.00} annual fee : o Representative # 4 told me that the rewards program is for customers whose accounts are in good standing, and that my account was in good standing at that moment, so I qualified for the program. 
o I took this as a good sign that XXXX  investigation was well underway and that the accounting department had made progress toward reversing. 
o Feeling that the situation was still on the way toward being resolved, I signed up for the corporate rewards program and had a {$90.00} fee charged to my account to start the program. 
- Over the next week : Unfortunately, over the next week, I still did not hear back from XXXX. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : I called AmEx to ask for XXXX, and was again told that he was unavailable. I explained the history to the representative, who then connected me with their manager, who turned out to be XXXX. 
o I explained to XXXX my frustration at XXXX managers failure to follow up the first time, XXXX  lack of follow-through in checking on the status of the situation, and finally XXXX   own failure to follow up as he said he would on our last call. 
o XXXX apologized profusely. 
o I asked what the status was with the accounting teams investigation into and correction of the error that XXXX had identified. XXXX revealed that he had no updates and didnt believe the team had actually been given the case to review. 
o As a simple solution to the matter, I requested that XXXX reverse the {$280.00} delinquency charge. XXXX apologized and said that the accounting team would still have to review the validity of the charge first ( even though, apparently they had not even begun the review in spite of my first conversation with XXXX having occurred weeks before ). 
o XXXX said that the charges were calculated by AmExs computers and were most likely accurate. 
o I countered that, in spite of having spoken to close to 10 different AmEx representatives, not a single person had been able to explain the delinquency charge to me and how it was calculated ( except for XXXX ).  Furthermore, I argued that AmExs computers and algorithms are only there to implement delinquency policies that must be set by ( and therefore understood by ) AmExs staff and customers. 
o XXXX apologized again and said that he would escalate the matter to a much more senior manager within AmEx. 
o I requested that this person listen to all of my prior calls on the matter in order to get up to speed, and hear how unprofessionally the matter had been handled by AmEx to date. 
o XXXX assured me that the senior manager would listen to the calls in detail, and that it may take a few days, but that she would get back to me with a response as soon as possible. 
o I warned XXXX that I would call back, and told him that it would be pretty awkward for him if I ended up calling and speaking to him again, without any contact from AmEx. 
o XXXX assured me that this would not happen. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : Having heard nothing again, for the third time, I called American Express back again. I requested to speak to XXXX and was told that he was unavailable. I was transferred to another manager, this one named XXXX. 
o XXXX was the most knowledgeable representative I spoke with. She walked me through the way the late charges are applied to accounts : XXXX corroborated XXXX explanation of the statement due dates ( they are due on the XXXX of the month following the date they are incurred ( as opposed to what Representative # 3 had stated ). 
Thereafter, XXXX explained that a {$39.00} charge is applied when a balance is carried past the 15-day grace period, followed by a further 2.99 % charge when the balance is carried past the XXXX of that month. 
Contrary to XXXX, however, XXXX explained that the 2.99 % charge is applied not to the amount of the balance that has carried over ( in my case, {$120.00} ), but instead to the whole outstanding balance on the card at that time. In my case, this amounted to {$9500.00}. In other words, although only {$120.00} was past-due, and {$9400.00} had been charged inside of the last month and was still current, I was charged a fee of 2.99 % of the entire outstanding amount. 
Furthermore, this {$9500.00} balance ( on which the 2.99 % fee was charged ) included the {$39.00} late fee that AmEx agreed to waive ( but which hadnt yet been processed ). 
o In other words, I was being charged a late fee on a late fee, contrary to what Manager # 1 had told me at the start of this process. 
o Further, the delinquency charge was levied on a late fee that that was not my responsibility and that has subsequently been waived ; however, the {$280.00} delinquency charge was never reduced. 
Frustratingly, my company had processed a payment of {$11000.00} the week prior, and the payment cleared the day after the delinquency fee was charged, XX/XX/XXXX. Had the payment cleared just one day prior, the delinquency fee would never have been charged. 
o I explained the situation to XXXX and laid out my frustrations with the inconsistent information that AmEx representatives had provided time after time, and the disturbing lack of understanding that many representatives had exhibited. As I explained to XXXX, the representatives inability to explain simple policies, and in many cases their entirely false representations, have made me question everything that AmEx representatives have told me since ( including XXXX ). 
XXXX apologized for the other representatives behavior and assured me that a full investigation into their statements and behavior, and feedback, would be provided to them following our call. 
She also agreed to try to reverse the {$280.00} delinquency charge, given the circumstances. She then put me on hold and took some time to look into the matter. 
After approximately 10-15 minutes, she returned and told me that it would be impossible for AmEx to reverse the charge, as it was against my employers policy with AmEx. I asked why my employer would care whether AmEx covered the fees, and XXXX effectively punted the question to my employer. 
I reminded XXXX that I had been a loyal AmEx customer for close to ten years, that my account had been in good standing since that time with no issues, and that, if I had a choice, I would simply use a personal credit card and pay out of pocket for these business-related expenses and seek reimbursement after-the-fact from my employer, to avoid such issues with AmEx in the future. I further reminded her that I had acted under the guidance of multiple AmEx representatives, who had not only told me false payment dates, but who had also told me that the delinquency charge was incorrectly applied and should be reversed. 
At the end of the day, though, XXXX said that she was unable to waive the charge without my employers consent. 
I pointed out that the {$280.00} delinquency change was made on a balance that included the {$39.00} late fee, and that Manager # 1 had told me that AmEx never charges late fees on late fees. XXXX response was simply, AmEx almost never charges late fees on late fees. 
By the time the call ended, I had been on the phone for one hour and 48 minutes with AmEx in this instance. 
o XX/XX/XXXX : I contacted a colleague at my employer who handles AmEx expenses, and she informed me that when AmEx waives any late fees, they are still charged back to my employer. I found this highly surprising, as XXXX and other representatives had represented that AmEx was covering these fees when they are waived. I am still without a satisfactory resolution to the delinquency charges. 
AmExs Contradictions / False Representations : Inconsistent representations provided by AmEx representatives include but are not limited to the following : - Payment dates : Representative # 3 contradicted XXXX and XXXX about when payments are due after each charge is billed ( the responses differed by a full 30 days ). 
- Delinquency charge policy : XXXX and XXXX contradicted one another on the balance to which the 2.99 % finance charge is applied when levying a delinquency charge ( a difference of {$9400.00} ). 
- Whether late charges are charged on late fees : While Manager # 1 assured me that late fees are never charged on late fees, XXXX gave me a slightly different answer, saying that they almost never are applied. 
- AmEx waiver of fees : XXXX led me to believe that AmEx was willing to waive the delinquency charge ( incurring the cost itself ), if only my employer would have allowed them to do so. However, my employer explained to me that a waiver from AmEx would simply result in the fees being billed to my employer. In so doing, she made it seem as though AmEx was trying to help me but my employer was blocking the fee reversal ( which was not true ). 
- Account in good standing : Representative # 4 told me in no uncertain terms that my account was in good standing, and allowed and encouraged me to sign up for a {$90.00} charge for the corporate rewards program. This contradicted XXXX, who told me that my account was not in good standing and in fact had not been current since the delay in the refund had occurred. I guess that Representative # 4 was simply trying to make a commission and was willing to bend the truth in order to make the sale. 
- Follow-ups that didnt happen - Waiver to be received in 4-6 days that didnt happen - At the end of the day, I am feeling highly exploited,  neglected, and even deceived by the AmEx customer service I have received throughout this process. I have wasted hours of my time trying to get this satisfactorily resolved, to no avail. At the end of the day, I paid the late fees and delinquency charges out of pocket, simply to avoid being charged further fees on top of fees, and I am now highly concerned that I or my employer might accidentally misstep rules and policies that we dont know and that AmEx representatives are unable or unwilling to explain. 
- I would like to respectfully enlist the help of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to investigate this matter further, as I am beginning to suspect that AmEx may be seeking to make a larger portion of its own revenues from inconsistently and transparently applied late and delinquency charges, without the knowledge or understanding of its customers, and without proper disclosure ( or understanding ) from its  own representatives. I would find this highly unethical and even questionable in terms of its legality. 
- I would like to seek from AmEx a satisfactory response to this matter, after a thorough investigation into this matter internally ( including reviewing all calls between myself and AmEx representatives on this matter ). I would expect such response to address the various points and inconsistencies Ive mentioned above, as well as the false representations made by several of the representatives I spoke with.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief