Consumer complaint received 2017-11-01
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card
Sub-issue: Can't use card to make purchases

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Washington, XXXX XXXX Phone : ( XXXX ) XXXX Fax : ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Regarding : American Express and Violations of Fair Credit and Reporting Act Dear XXXX XXXX : I am writing to file a complaint against American Express XXXX. As both a business owner and a head of household, I have maintained dozens of credit cards during the last 30 years, and I have never had to complain about the service I was getting from a credit card company. Unfortunately, the credit card and charge card companies have suddenly changed their operational policies, attacking customers and flouting the Fair Credit and Reporting Act. A review of my accounts will show that I have always paid my credit card bills in full and on time each month, and in the rare instances where credit card payments have been a few days late, this occurred because of problems with the mail, when I was traveling, or under circumstances beyond my control. I am writing at this time to file a complaint against American Express, having failed to get any response from American Express after sending multiple letters to XXXX XXXX at the corporate office. Despite the fact that I have been a very good, loyal customer for more than twenty years, American Express has engaged in hostile tactics against my account, freezing my account without notice over a {$1.00} charge from XXXX that the fraud department thought might be a fraudulent charge on my account. I am sure you can appreciate that this is far more than an inconvenience. 

I am incredibly disappointed with the recent American Express customer disservice I have experienced this past month. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I received an email from XXXX XXXX XXXX, a merchant in XXXX, XXXX, complaining that they had attempted to bill my credit card for services they were providing and American Express had refused to authorize the purchase. Having just arrived home from the hospital after the death of a family member earlier that morning and having spent more than 10 weeks trying to work with the United States XXXX XXXX - which had lost the package for two months - I am sure you can appreciate how upsetting it was when American Expresses refused to authorize this transaction, particularly when I have always paid my American Express bill in-full and on-time. 

Despite being very busy dealing with life and death patient emergencies on Friday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I had to interrupt patient care to call American Express in order to find out what was happening with my business credit card. When I spoke with the customer service supervisor in the fraud department, XXXX told me that American Express had initiated a fraud alert on my account. I did not initiate the fraud alert. To make matters worse, I received absolutely no contact from American Express, whether by telephone, text message, email, or conventional mail, notifying me that there were concerns about fraud on my account. Please listen to the recording of this phone call very carefully. At first, the employee from the fraud department seemed uncertain about which transaction had triggered the alert. XXXX then identified a transaction in the amount of one dollar from XXXX, but he was not able to provide me any further context. Initially, I told him that I did not recognize the transaction off the top of my head and that I would need to do further research. He went through a number of other transactions with me, and not having my credit card statements or receipts, I initially did not recognize some of the transactions but after speaking with my office staff, we were able to confirm that all of the other transactions XXXX described me were legitimate transactions. This became a very time-consuming effort in the middle of busy patient care, and XXXX insisted on going through far more transactions than most fraud representatives would have gone through, particularly when I was identifying all of them as legitimate transactions ( except uncertainty about XXXX ). I explained to XXXX that I had recently experienced fraud on my XXXX  XXXX account as a result of the XXXX security breach, and I specifically and repeatedly asked XXXX to please not take any action against my American Express account and that I would look into the validity of the XXXX charge and get back to American Express as soon as possible. At that point, your employee reiterated that he would not suspend or close the account and that the American Express fraud department would keep an eye on the single XXXX transaction and that American Express would immediately approve and release the funds to XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

About two hours later, I had my office manager call back because I received an email from XXXX that reminded me that the charge from the XXXX was legitimate. When we called American Express the second time on Friday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, we were told that the security alerts would be taken off the account, that the account was active an unrestricted, and that all of the transactions were being accepted and paid, specifically the charges from XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

On the morning of XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I was incredibly embarrassed when I received another email from the merchant in XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, telling me that American Express had once again refused the transaction. Amazing! My office assistant called American Express and spoke with XXXX and was told that the account had been closed due to fraud. Stunning! Your representatives from Friday did exactly the opposite of what they promised me they would do. When we called back on Friday the second representative gave no indication that the account had been closed, and again American Express has made no effort to contact me or to notify me of a problem with the account or that the account was being closed or restricted. I had just spent last week in transferring many of my XXXX XXXX recurring automatic payments to American Express, and now American Express has caused me and my employees a lot of extra work and has cost my business significant and quantifiable financial losses. I was in the process of transferring most of my regular business back to American Express after the fiasco with Equifax and XXXX XXXX, and now I am dealing with the same type of incompetence at American Express. I can not believe that American Express is holding up my account hostage over a one dollar charge, particularly when the charge was completely legitimate. 

On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, we asked to speak with a customer service supervisor, and I finally spoke with XXXX, employee identification number XXXX. XXXX repeatedly addressed me as XXXX XXXX, and most professionals who have attended 25 years of schooling find being addressed by their first name or Mr. extremely insulting. Again, I would encourage you to listen to the tape. I was certainly very upset with the way American Express has treated me. Your employees did exactly the opposite of what we agreed they would do and more importantly what they should have done - and there was no grounds for them to close my account. XXXX claims that my account was closed because I had previously reported fraud and someone taking over my accounts and posing as me. I do not recall this ever happening. While there have been instances of infrequent, minor fraud, I suspect not much different from most accounts doing the volume of business that we are doing. 

As I mentioned earlier, I was in the process of moving a lot of my business back to American Express, about $ XXXX {$50000.00} per month of credit card transactions. This experience has been very just stretching. At XXXX XXXX, I was earning 2 % cash back, and I was not paying an annual fee. At American Express, I am paying a {$490.00} annual fee, and my rewards points are limited to very expensive merchants and these merchants are charging a huge premium on rewards points, or the alternative is The XXXX XXXX which has horrible customer service and low quality products. 

My employees and I have now wasted several hours because of American Express employees mistakes, and this has cost me and my business {$4000.00} in lost revenue, along with loss of use and loss of opportunity. American Express has paralyzed my business for no good reason, taking away my access to credit. I believe this is a violation of the Fair Credit and Reporting Act. Not only did American Express close my account, but American Express failed to notify me in a timely fashion, and American Express failed to send out replacement credit cards. Four days had passed before I discovered - on my own - that there was a problem. Meanwhile, four days also lapsed without replacement cards being sent. This is totally unacceptable service on a platinum credit card for which I am paying {$500.00} a year. I wonder how your Black Card customers are treated! Consequently, I am requesting a full refund of my {$490.00} annual fee along with the credit of XXXX reward points to offset my cost and lost income. Please make sure I have my replacement cards this afternoon. Please have American Express contact XXXX XXXX XXXX to accept responsibility for the failure to authorize payment. 



I have written multiple letters to American Express Chief Executive Officer XXXX XXXX and to the corporate office, and I have either had no response or my concerns have been passed off to a low level, poorly-trained customer service representative with no authority to correct any of the problems we have face. 


Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 
Chief XXXX XXXX Diplomate of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX Phone : ( XXXX ) XXXX Fax : ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX. Box XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief