Consumer complaint received 2017-04-24
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: MN
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: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
My wife and I took a weekend vacation for our anniversary to  XXXX   XXXX . Upon arriving on Friday  XXXX / XXXX / XXXX  we came upon a small store,  XXXX   XXXX , selling anti-aging products. They asked if they could give us a sample and try the product on us. After a while in the store, they continued pressuring us and essentially not allowing us to leave without purchasing product, as we were interested in the product, we decided to make a spur of the moment purchase for a bunch of product packaged together for {$3900.00}. They offered to ship it directly to our home in MN so we did n't have to carry it around with us. We were given the shipping slip and asked to sign quickly and were given a quick overview of what it was, a high pressure pushy situation. I verified address and signed. Under the impression that I could cancel so long as the order had n't shipped. Off we went. The next morning we decided the purchase was unnecessary and called the number on the business card we were given by the store " own er '' (   XXXX   XXXX   ) to   cancel the order. He told us that we needed to contact " customer service '' to cancel it and they would n't be open until Monday. We called and left a message with the customer service number. We also emailed the email address on the business card labeled customer service. We stopped by the store on Sunday  XXXX / XXXX / XXXX  prior to leaving and again talked with the owner  XXXX   XXXX , and confirmed that the order was going to be cancelled for a refund and he said, " no worries, it will be handled by customer service on Monday ''. To find out after contacting the corporate number we googled for  XXXX   XXXX , they have no control over the store level operations and that each owner is their own customer service. We found out that after we stopped by the  XXXX   XXXX  store on Sunday, someone took the product to   XXXX   and processed a shipment at  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  . They purposely deceived us, and told us that customer service is n't open until Monday to quickly get our package shipped so we can not return it for a refund. Now we have realized the receipt that was folded in half when we signed it says no refunds. We have challenged the charge wi th Amercian Express and  they have sided with the merchant. So, we have a bill for {$3900.00} and no product.  XXXX   XXXX  is a scam of a company. A little google search led me to so many website 's claiming that it is a scam. We have provided a lot of documentation t o American Express and strongly feel that we are owed back the disputed charge. Where is the consumer protection from American Express? We were totally scammed and I do n't know where to turn now. I have filed a complaint with the Nevada Attorney General and received a letter stating that they will be investigating. I am unsure to the status of that investigation. We have reached out to the merchant 10+ times as well as American Express and seem to be getting no where. We are the victims of consumer deception and have been scammed. American Express has only denied our claims, they have not given us any reasoning to why.  We have been a customer since  XXXX  and feel no loyalty from a company that we have been loy al to. American Expresses cus tomer service agents have been short and rude with us when we call to discuss.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation