Consumer complaint received 2019-06-17
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with balance transfer

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I opened an account with American Express and requested a {$5000.00} balance transfer from my XXXX XXXX Visa/XXXX XXXX account. I received a statement in the mail dated XX/XX/XXXX stating that the balance transfer had been processed and applied to my account. It had the correct account number listed, so I did not realize when quickly viewing that statement that the payment had been sent to the wrong bank and location. A few days later I received a letter from the XXXX XXXX Payments Investigations department, asking me to verify what account the American Express payment should be credited to, as they could not find an account for me. At this time I called every number I could find my XXXX XXXX Visa customer service number ( they had not received the payment ) the number listed on the check from the issuer ( they could not help me ), and finally American Express. I was told that I was unable to speak with a supervisor. I called back that evening and was hung up on by one customer service rep before speaking with another who told me  he could arrange a call back. The following day ( at this point, I believe it was XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX ) I received a call-back from a supervisor who explained to me that I was one of several customers who had had their balance transfers wrongly processed by American Express, and that there was an ongoing investigation. He opened up an expedited inquiry into my particular case, as I was now showing a payment due date on the mistaken balance transfer amount for XX/XX/XXXX. He also took down the correct information regarding XXXX XXXX Visa/XXXX   XXXX and their correct address. He assured me that my 15 month trial APR would not be affected by this mistake of American Expresss, and that I would have 15 months of trial APR from the time my correct balance transfer was processed. 

Having heard back nothing from AMEX, I called again on XX/XX/XXXX. I spoke to supervisor XXXX XXXX XXXX, who opened another investigation on my behalf and assured me that I would not receive negative credit reporting or a late fee if this was unresolved by XX/XX/XXXX ( payment due date ). At this time I was still hoping to have a new balance transfer issued to XXXX XXXX Visa/XXXX XXXX, however Ms. XXXX XXXX, unlike the previous supervisor I had spoken to, would not assure me that my 15 month trial APR would be intact. Quite the opposite. Further, she suggested that if I was to have a new balance transfer issued, the payment cycles would continue apace. So whereas a balance transfer requested on XX/XX/XXXX did not have a payment due date until XX/XX/XXXX ( nearly two months ), if I requested a new ( correct ) balance transfer on XX/XX/XXXX, I would have a first payment due XX/XX/XXXX ( less than one month ). I found both of these possibilities to be unacceptable and stated as much, but was primarily focused on getting the erroneous balance transfer resolved. 

I called again on XX/XX/XXXX, having heard nothing regarding the investigations, with the payment due date approaching and the {$5000.00} balance still listed on my AMEX account with no payment having been issued to XXXX XXXX Visa/XXXX XXXX. I spoke to an extremely rude and aggressive representative in the balance transfer department who first refused to let me speak to a supervisor, despite the fact that I had had to speak to supervisors twice before. When I finally was able to speak to a supervisor, I asked that the representative I spoke to receive re-training on his customer service demeanor. I was informed by the supervisor that the erroneous {$5000.00} payment to XXXX had been recovered as of XX/XX/XXXX ( though no one had informed me ) and that the payment recovery was being processed as of that day, XX/XX/XXXX. I was told, however, that it could take 3-5 business days for the payment to post, and that my best option to avoid negative credit reporting and a late payment charge would be to pay the minimum payment ( {$50.00} ), and that the {$50.00} payment would be refunded when the recovered check was processed. I asserted that this was absolutely unacceptable! There is no reason that I should be paying, even temporarily, for American Expresss mistake. I was transferred to customer service to  inquire about moving the payment due date until after the recovered check would post. 

The customer service rep I spoke to was very kind, but ultimately was unable to help me. She could not move the payment date and make it active for this upcoming payment. She could not rush the posting of the recovered check. She tried to reassure me that American Express would not report negatively regarding my credit, but she did not state that I would receive no late payment fees. I was appreciative for her efforts, but they were unfruitful. At no point was I able to speak to someone with the power to actually resolve my issue - by which I mean cancel the {$5000.00} balance from my personal ledger, as it had never been received on my behalf by XXXX XXXX Visa/XXXX XXXX. 

I am processing this complaint on the due date of my expected payment payment for funds I never received!! XX/XX/XXXX. The recovered payment has still not posted to my account, and I am still showing a total balance due of {$5000.00}, minimum payment of {$50.00}. This is unacceptable.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation