Consumer complaint received 2016-03-21
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CO
Product: Credit card
Issue: Closing/Cancelling account

Complaint:
1. On XXXX XXXX 2016, I made a phone call to American Express trying to ask a question about my XXXX credit card, the automated system kept asking me questions, and while I was trying to get connected to a live person, the system asked me a question about if I need to speak to a representative, when I said " yes '' it replied " I can complete the cancellation process over the phone, the following disclaimer will be read to you, if you hang up before it 's complete, it means that you 've accepted these terms and conditions of the card cancellation. '' 2. I made another phone call within a minute and I spoke with a representative, I asked to reinstate my account since I did n't mean to cancel it. He stated that once an account is cancelled, it is impossible to reinstate it. I insisted that the cancellation has occurred via the automated system when I did n't intend to do so. He claimed that the only way to cancel any card with AMEX is via a live person. After I insisted on the fact that I 've not spoken to any live person, he said that a supervisor will call me in an hour. 

3. I received a call from a supervisor that same day, she insisted again, that the cancellation was done by me asking a live customer representative. I denied that and insisted that the automated system has cancelled my account in error. She offered me to open another account with American Express, since XXXX credit card is going to terminate soon anyway. I asked to reinstate the account, or otherwise I do n't need any other cards with American Express. She said that the account can not be reinstated, and they 'll be happy to open a new account. I declined opening new account and expressed my plan of paying the balance on my card that has been cancelled. 

4. I reached out to XXXX to explain the situation, they stated that they have no control over American Express accounts, therefore I can just wait for the new XXXX card to start and just get a new account with XXXX. I expressed my loss of an excellent history with that card because of the business break up between XXXX and American Express. Therefore, I cancelled my membership with XXXX all together. 

5. I paid my final statement balance, and received a conformation email on XXXX/XXXX/2016 stating that the payment has been received and it still says that my account has a credit of {$10000.00}, although it was supposed to be cancelled. 

6. I checked my credit score on XXXX/XXXX/2016 and I found that my credit score has dropped more than XXXX points because of my credit history time. Which seems to be due to the cancellation of the credit card which I have been always paying on time and it 's one of the oldest accounts I maintained financially. 

7. On XXXX/XXXX/2016 I received a letter by mail from American Express stating that my account will be transferred to the new XXXX card with XXXX. It did n't mention anything about the account being cancelled. 

8. I made a call to American Express today XXXX/XXXX/2016 to see if my account has been reinstated. At first the representative asked me to call after thirty minutes. I called again after 30 minutes and the representative said that my account has been cancelled, and I have refused to reinstate it on XXXX XXXX 2016. I corrected the facts with him twice that I did n't decline any reinstatement, since all what I have been offered is a NEW ACCOUNT with American Express, which still wo n't repair the damage of losing a good credit history. I informed him that I am going to file a complaint with CFPB today to fix the damage that I 've suffered on my credit reporting score, despite my perfect credit history.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation