Consumer complaint received 2016-07-12
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: OH
Product: Credit card
Issue: Billing disputes

Complaint:
Complaint is against American Express. I am the XXXX person ( I am aware of ) defrauded by a vendor they had received prior complaints about being a fraudulent company. The company reported to AmEX is XXXX, selling fractional ownership ( timeshares ) under various company names in XXXX. See complaint XXXX and XXXX filed XXXX an AmEx dispute was filed then as well by XXXX XXXX . XXXX other individuals filed complaints with AmEx in XXXX as well. AmEx did not warn us and paid the perpetrator within 48 hours. I filed a complaint with you on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - # XXXX. See attached Exhibit # XXXX AmEx failed to investigate further documentation of the prior complaints which established pattern of conduct by this vendor- although XXXX individuals who did not know one another until finding we have this fraud case in common. Each of us reports the same set of circumstances by these crooks. I have submitted paperwork to AmEx ( all attached ) that shows we had requested documents of ownership from the perpetrators and were stalled until they had been paid by AmEx. Nothing we or the others purchased was ever provided to us but AmEx takes the vendor 's claim that we signed the charge receipt and a contract that said our payment was non refundable, even the vendor says we were at a timeshare presentation but none of us recieved our timeshare. The purchased fractional ownership is a non-existent resort ( fraud on the part of the vendor ). AmEx undoubtedly took a high percentage of the transaction in exchange for paying so promptly - which should be an indication of fraudulent activity. The XXXX PA has an additional complaint of a co-conspirator ( XXXX XXXX ) on their website as a result of my complaint - this part of my AmEx dispute was resolved because that vendor failed to respond to the complaint - thus lending more credibility to me over the fraud-perpetrating vendor. I have filed with XXXX as well. Additional persons defrauded include XXXX XXXX whose complaints are above, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX - I believe XXXX has posted his story to your site. All of us would be willing to provide documentation of AmEx 's lack of protection, lack of sufficient investigation of this vendor ( Exhibit XXXX is a response reiterating their previous contact with the vendor and directing me to negotiate directly with these criminals in XXXX ) and failure to alert others to this fraud, even to this day. Attached is my dispute document outlining the actual fraud along with a letter from XXXX XXXX, who had been in business with the people at Vacation Getaways. His letter documents his willingness to discuss additional complaints against them. He has cancelled doing business with them because of their fraud. I would appreciate someone at your agency taking this series of actions ( of lack thereof ) by AmEx seriously as they are in essence, helping to perpetrate fraud. The others listed above were defrauded of XXXX of dollars. Other credit card companies have done the right thing according to my research and contact with others who posted in the blog at XXXX I also contacted XXXX to request they make blogs about fraud visible in their mobile app, as when I was trying to research this company before buying, I could not find this blog - it was n't until I returned to the US and had full PC capabilities, that I found just how many victims has been taken. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation