Consumer complaint received 2018-11-21
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: WV
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose prepaid card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase or transfer

Complaint:
I transferred funds to my Amex Serve card while traveling to XXXX XXXX, VA on or about XX/XX/XXXX. About XX/XX/XXXX, I stopped in XXXX on XXXX XXXX and made a small purchase of {$4.00} with my Serve card. I did not use my card again and do not remember seeing it again after that. The following Monday, I received messages from Amex stating  that I had possible fraudulent charges on my account. I checked my account and noticed that there were several charges made between XXXX and XXXX at multiple merchant locations in XXXX, Florida. I contacted Amex immediately to report that I could not find my card and I did not make any of those charges on my account ( on / ) and they told me that they blocked the card and would open the dispute. I got disconnected several times, so I had to call back many times to make sure the card was blocked and I was being sent a new one. On XXXX, I had not yet received my new card and had not received any communication regarding the fraudulent charges, so I called back only to find out that they had not even started the dispute and my new card had not yet been mailed. I opened the dispute, received the email request to complete the Declaration of Fraud, and sent it back immediately. I called multiple times up to and including XX/XX/XXXX to get the status of the dispute because I had not been issued a provisional credit as promised. The representatives are not knowledgeable and some are even rude when I call to get answers. When I ask to speak to a manager, they argue with me and tell me the manager will tell me the same thing or promise a call back within 4 hours, which never comes. I received an email last night telling me that I missed a charge on the form and needed to resend it. Before I could even send it again, they had CLOSED the dispute and I received an email stating that there was no error and my transactions were valid. I called again and spoke with two additional representatives who then told me that they could not reopen the dispute and I had to start all over again and there is NO way to expedite it even though they informed me of the fraud on XXXX. In the meantime, I am without my money. I do not feel safe using that card and will cancel my direct deposit although I found the card to be a great option to separate expenses. I am so disappointed that the customer service reps are hundreds of thousands of miles away and treat customers the way they do, with no options to really help customers or escalate pressing issues. I am disappointed in the Amex brand and I feel that my money has been stolen from me. I have been searching for a way to reach the corporate office to report these issues, but it is very difficult to even get anyone to listen. In the meantime, I have been robbed of the very protection my card promises to me and a thief has gone free with my hard-earned money.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief