Consumer complaint received 2018-04-15
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX : I applied for the Gold Delta SkyMiles American Express Credit Card and was immediately accepted.

XX/XX/XXXX : I activated the card and made my first purchase.

XX/XX/XXXX : My first statement closed XX/XX/XXXX : I enrolled for 'AutoPay ' for the 'Total New Balance ' to be processed '15 days after the statement closing date '. I expected this to capture my first statement since it was still within 15 days of the closing date.

XX/XX/XXXX : I was charged a late fee by American Express XX/XX/XXXX : I contacted American Express about the late fee, and became aware of the fact that the 'AutoPay ' was not applied to my current statement. American Express did refund the late fee.

The 'AutoPay ' enrollment has a clear 'dark pattern ' in order to accumulate more late fees by purposely skipping the first payment that falls within the criteria.

Full chat transcript XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Hi XXXX, how can I help you today? 
Virtual Assistant - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX has joined the conversation Your messages typed before landing this chat are not visible. So may I please know, how may I assist you today?

XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I was charged a late fee, but I have auto pay setup. Why didn't the auto payment go through? 
You - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX I will certainly check that for you. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Am I chatting with XXXX? 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Yes You - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Thank you. Please allow me a few moments while I access your account. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Would that be possible to confirm the last 5 of the card you are referring to? 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX redacted You - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX A moment, please. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX I see, you enrolled into Auto Pay on XX/XX/XXXX and it is effective next bill cycle due date. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX So it will be effective your next statement which will be closed on XXXX. XXXX. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Since you were not aware of it, how can American Express make it upto you? 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Ok, yeah that definitely seems like an unexpected pattern. I'd appreciate passing along that feedback to the appropriate product team, and for the late fee to be refunded. 
You - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Thank you for your valuable feedback. These chats are monitored and we continuously consider the opportunities where we can improve on. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX  and as a one time exception, I have credited your account for {$27.00} late fee. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Ok, I do plan on contacting the CFPB about this. It seems like an intentional design decision to drive more late fees. Thanks for the credit. 
You - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX A moment, please. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Let me connect you with my Supervisor. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX has left the conversation XXXX has joined the conversation Hi! My name is XXXX. I am XXXX 's Supervisor. Please allow me a moment to go through the conversation. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Thank you so much for your patience. 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX I can see that you wanted to make a complaint about the Autopay XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Well, I am so sorry to inform you that when you set up Autopay, its mentioned on the confirmation page that it will be effective from the upcoming month statement XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX We have not heard from you for some time. Do you wish to continue to chat? 
XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX No thanks You - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief