Consumer complaint received 2020-07-07
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
i have been an American Express cardholder since XXXX and a platinum cardholder for over 15 years. I attempted to resolve the matter with AMEX on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. It took 5 phone calls and a few hours. The last agent I spoke with ( XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX at approximately XXXX ) would not provide me with a phone number or mailing address to file a complaint. I stated I would file a complaint with the CFPB or regulator in the absence of providing me a vehicle by which to file a consumer complaint. The agent offered to file the complaint on my behalf but I wanted the opportunity to file the complaint using my words. The main purpose for filing this complaint is AMEX not providing means by which to file a complaint. I subsequently performed a web search and did see how one could file a complaint but a consumer should not need to resort to such means ; the agent of the company should be informed about the company 's complaint policy and inform the cardholder what remedies he/she has. The matter that escalated this into a complaint related to a payment issue with their system. In very short summary ( as I believe their system harms consumers by not making distinctions between a billed or unbilled charge relative to moving payments to a pay over time sub account ) ; my payment was due XX/XX/XXXX I/a/o $ XXXX. I made a payment of $ XXXX and moved two transactions totaling $ XXXX to my pay over time balance which would have satisfied my monthly minimum payment amount. I've done this over the years many times. I received an email on XX/XX/XXXX stating that there was a balance due I/a/o $ XXXX. The first agent I spoke with could not explain why and referred me to another agent. That agent could not explain why and stated that the account reconcilement team would be calling me. After not receiving a follow-up call, I called again on XX/XX/XXXX. The agent attempted to transfer me to the " high balance department ''. The call dropped after about 30 minutes. I called again, explained the situation, was placed on hold for 46 minutes and the call dropped again. the fifth agent, I asked to be transferred to a supervisor in the high balance department. I spoke with the agent who in short said I should have realized what a billed vs unbilled transaction was ( there is not such designation or classification in the pay over time section of the site ; you simply select eligible charges and they get transferred to the pay over time sub account and, based on prior experiences, the transferred amount satisfies the equivalent amount due in the monthly minimum payment ). I find it incredible that as a consumer I have to deduce on my own what is billed vs unbilled and calculate on my own what will be applied towards my monthly minimum payment or not. the agent understood the logic behind how the system applies payments but failed to realize the disconnect between how the system works and the consumer experience. There was absolutely nothing that alerted me to what was billed or unbilled or what would be applied or not towards the monthly minimum. The agent in short stated should have fulfilled my monthly minimum payment amount which I usually do but from time to time I satisfy a portion by transferring charges to the pay over time account. Besides the complaint policy issue, I consider these to be unfair and deceptive practices borne by system issues that do not clearly alert the consumer to what is being applied to what.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation