Consumer complaint received 2016-02-09
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Credit card
Issue: Billing disputes

Complaint:
I sought consulting services from XXXX XXXX XXXX. The consulting services were supposed to be provided for one year, commencing on XXXX XXXX, XXXX. The amount for the 12 months of consulting was {$22000.00} and was paid via American Express credit card. The company provided adequate services in the first month of their consulting service but I grew more and more frustrated with the lack of their advice towards the second month. I have e-mail documentation showing my growing concerns as to our progress. XXXX XXXX, XXXX was the last date of our contact, which is approximately two and a half ( 2.5 ) months after the services started. This is also documented in e-mail contacts with the company. 

At this point in time, I decided to exercise my right to terminate the contract as stipulated in Section XXXX of the signed agreement. It notes : " After at least 3 months of consulting, either party may cancel this consulting Agreement. The cost of {$22000.00} will be prorated based upon the length of consulting services provided, rounded up to the nearest whole month. For example, if consulting services are retained for 6 months and 1 week, the Client 's responsible portion will be 7 months and 5 months will be reimbursed. Repayment will be within thirty days. '' In this situation, the prorated time used would be 3 months, rounded up from 2.5 months and the refund would be for 9 months. {$22000.00} divided into 12 months equals {$1800.00} monthly. Therefore, a refund of 9 months would be : XXXX {$1800.00} = {$17000.00}. 

This amount was relayed to the consulting company as the anticipated amount to be refunded. They turned around and denied the amount and came back with an amount much lower, without explaining how they arrived at that figure. At this point in time, we were at an impasse and I relied on the American Express dispute process to resolve the conflict. After the XXXX disputes, the consulting company agreed to refund {$11000.00} and did so AFTER the date they were supposed only, and only after repeated calls to them from American Express. When I explained to the American Express representative that the proposed refund amount was less than what was stipulated in the contract, she advised me to accept the refund and to open a new dispute for the remaining amount. The consulting company claimed that travel, meals, and lodging expenses had to be deducted from the refund amount. This is in defiance of the agreed-upon contract which clearly states the " cost of {$22000.00} will be prorated '' and does NOT refer to any reimbursement of expenses. 

Because there is still a large difference remaining between the amount refunded and the amount that was supposed to be refunded, {$5800.00}, I lodged another dispute with American Express. In the dispute paperwork, I provided copies of : 1 ) the signed contract, 2 ) an e-mail from the owner of the consulting company acknowledging that the " Client Agreement changes are fine '', referring to the proration clause, and 3 ) several e-mails where I expressed growing concern for the lack of consulting being provided. This dispute was resolved in the merchant 's favor in XXXX XXXX and when I spoke to an American Express representative, she stated that " the people working the dispute department are n't laywers, so we can re-open this case and I 'll write a note to point out what they [ Dispute Department ] should be looking at ''. American Express also told me that it was " impossible '' for me to talk to the person who handled the dispute in order to understand their reasoning and to present my side of the situation. 

After repeated disputes with American Express and the inability to speak to the person ruling on my case, I 'm seeking your help to resolve this matter and put it to rest once and for all.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation