Consumer complaint received 2015-08-27
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: VA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Billing disputes

Complaint:
In advance of my trip to California in XX/XX/XXXX, I reserved a rental car with XXXX and was quoted an all-inclusive price via email of {$1000.00} for unlimited mileage with pick up at the XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) on XXXX XXXX, 2015, and drop off at the XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX. I entered my American Express card information in making this reservation. In picking up the car at XXXX on XXXX XXXX, I specifically declined AND DID NOT REQUEST any and all additional insurances, including collision liability and " loss damage waiver. '' I never take any such extra insurance from car rental companies, because I am insured with XXXX, so such extra insurance is unnecessary. I said as much to the XXXX counter agent. And I did not request any other extra or optional services for the rental car. 

I was not presented with a copy of the rental agreement at the counter, but having given my instructions to the XXXX agent, XXXX, I was told to sign in the box of a small automated 'credit card signer box ' which was attached to the counter. As I recall, I only signed XXXX time, and what was displayed electronically was not the entire rental agreement. I took it on faith that no additional charges had been surreptitiously added in that I had not requested. I did not request Satellite Radio for {$39.00} which is one " Optional Services '' charge later discovered on my final bill when I turned the car in in XXXX XXXX, and I did not request [ and in fact specifically declined ] " Loss Damage Waiver '', which was erroneously or fraudulently added into my agreement at {$17.00} a day or a total of {$450.00}. It was XXXX 's agent who apparently marked the X for 'Agreed ' for those erroneous items on his computer screen ; I never even saw those items because he had not shown me a copy of what he was typing in on his keyboard. I did not sign on the page of the rental agreement that contains those items, later provided to me by American Express ; therefore I never agreed to either of those charges. I believe my purported signature on that page is forged. I never even saw that page when I was at the XXXX counter. XXXX then did place an illegible 'carbon copy ' of the rental agreement in an XXXX folder, handed it to me, and told me to go out the door to the car. I had no way of knowing at that time that XXXX had inserted erroneous, un-requested charges into the agreement. I did not learn of that fact until XXXX days later when I turned the car in at XXXX XXXX, and was then given a legible printout at check-in that showed these XXXX ( XXXX ) erroneous charges, which total {$490.00} plus taxes. 
I believe I have been the subject of a " bait and switch '' fraud scheme perpetrated by XXXX and its counter agent, XXXX. I refuse to pay these erroneous, fraudulent overcharges. 
I did call XXXX and got the same answer from XXXX of its people : " If it 's on the contract, it 's a valid charge and we will not take it off or adjust your credit card bill. '' I then filed a Dispute with American Express regarding these erroneous charges. XXXX merely replied to American Express with a more or less legible copy of the Rental Agreement XXXX, which shows the erroneous items and the forged signature. 

If this is common practice by XXXX to insert erroneous items into agreements that customers have not requested, as was done here, then CFPB or the XXXX should be receiving many complaints and dispute resolution requests. Please take this matter up with XXXX, and on my behalf, demand that it remove the erroneous charges and recalculate the taxes due for my car rental. The amount arrived at should be {$1000.00}, which amount I have already remitted to American Express for its payment to XXXX. That is the amount the was quoted, that is the amount I agreed to pay, and that is all I intend to pay to XXXX for this rental. Any greater amount would be fraudulent and erroneous.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation