Consumer complaint received 2017-07-20
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: IN
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Gift card
Issue: Unexpected or other fees

Complaint:
I received 4 gift cards from XXXX when I referred a friend who switched to XXXX with 4 phones. Each card was worth {$50.00}. I do not remember the exact date when I received the cards but it was a few months ago. I noticed on the cards that they all are " valid thru XXXX. '' Also on the cards was American Express. I had {$200.00} sitting in my 'bank ' ( file cabinet ) and saw no urgency to use them immediately since they were good until the above date. On XXXX XXXX I decided to use one card when my brother and I went out for breakfast. The bill was for {$23.00}. I did n't think much about it until I got home and noticed a line on the receipt that showed my balance as {$8.00}. What! {$18.00} short of what it should have been. I called American Express ( AE ) and next thing I knew I was on the phone with XXXX. I explained that AE had switched me to her and she was very gracious in offering the {$18.00} as a refund in the form of lowering my phone bill for the month by {$18.00}. She also changed my plan to one with more data for less money per month. Now THAT is customer service! I thought that was the end of the gift card fiasco. But Nooo. Exactly one week later, XXXX XXXX, out to breakfast again with a friend, I gave the cashier the card explaining it was worth {$8.00} and I would pay cash for the balance. She replied that it was only worth {$5.00}. Another {$3.00} was taken from my card. Now I was furious. I called AE this time, understanding that XXXX had nothing to do with this 'theft '. The person on the phone, who I could hardly understand because they spoke a different native language than I do, told me that after 6 months they start taking {$3.00} a month from my card, as stated that on the back of the card. So I checked it out. But also on their card it specifically states that " FUNDS DO NOT EXPIRE. '' My dictionary is an old one, from my college days, but I think the definition of 'expire ' remains the same ... '' to die out ''. AE is killing MY money! I requested to speak to a supervisor and got nothing but a run around. They actually sent me back to XXXX. I tried calling AE one last time and the same thing happened. Now I have talked to many 'supervisors ' on the telephone but AE is the first company I have ever had conversation with that refused to switch me to a 'higher up '. I then checked the 'balance ' of the other 3 gift cards and AE had 'stolen ' a total of {$84.00} from me. In another 3 weeks or so they probably will do that again. That is what drove me to my attorney and he sent this link to me. I have several cards. A couple debit cards, and several credit cards. I do not have a large credit card debt but I use the cards to transfer balances and currently will be paying 0 % interest for the next 18 months. The only reason I mention this is that, while I have many cards, I can not remember ever reading anything on the back of any of my cards. I have never needed to and it has never come back to bite me in the XXXX like AE has done to me. This is a despicable way to do business.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation