Consumer complaint received 2022-11-11
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
I requested that the credit card company, American Express, block a merchant from charging my account. The credit card company agreed and assured me that the merchant 's charge would not go through. The charge went through on XX/XX/2022 for {$990.00}. When I called and asked why this happened, they informed me that the representative didn't actually put the block through, and they assured me that they would block the merchant for the next month. Again, they did not block the merchant and the charge was successful on XX/XX/XXXX for {$990.00}. The same happened for XX/XX/XXXX, {$990.00}, so I canceled the card and got a new one. I also requested that no merchant be able to bill me at all with recurring charges. They assured me that that would do that. Still, I am getting recurring charges. When I asked about why the recurring charges are still happening, they said the block wasn't there and so someone put the block on for XXXX XXXX. Even still, I am still getting recurring charges through the account. Whenever I talk to a rep, they assure me with the utmost confidence that they are doing what they said they would do, but later I see the charges I did not authorize come through the account and I learn from the next rep that the previous rep did not do what they said would do. The reps lie, hang up the phone, and they disconnect the chat whenever they want. I've issued complaints to the credit card company regarding the poor service and I have gotten no response. The reps have likely lied about sending the complaints in. I am having to cancel my card due to these ongoing problems. I have been a customer for over 14 years, and the service has drastically gone downhill. I have disputed each of the charges with the credit card company even though I should not have to dispute them because the credit card company did not have my permission to pay the merchant in the first place. At this time, the disputed amounts for the months that the credit card company did not have my permission to pay the merchant are XXXX x {$990.00} = XXXX. The XX/XX/XXXX dispute was permanently closed and I asked them to reopen it. They said they would but again they did not. For one of the disputes, the rep wrote the reason for the dispute as something totally different than what I told her. They really are absolutely careless with the handling of the disputes, and I've spent countless hours on the phone and chat with the reps while they disconnect whenever convenient for them. When the XX/XX/XXXX bill closed, the online closing note says to see the message that we sent to you but they never sent any message to me. So I don't see what the decision was for that closed dispute. The rep said they found it in the merchant 's favor. However, for another dispute for the same reason and the same merchant, they are willing to rule the decision in my favor if they don't hear back from the merchant in the next few days. These results are inconsistent for the same problem and merchant. It's been an absolute nightmare trying to fight the disputes. I should not have had to dispute the charges because American Express did not have my permission to pay the merchant in the first place.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief