Consumer complaint received 2016-09-01
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Prepaid card
Sub-product: Payroll card
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
To date I have filed XXXX ( separate ) transaction disputes with American Express Travel Related Services Company XXXX Inc. the issuer of my prepaid Amex XXXX card. I have been forced to reopen the original dispute twice because Amex is participating in what seems like fraudulent behavior. 

Here are the events with dates and times ( as I provided to Amex ) in greater detail : 1. On XXXX XXXX, 2016, I placed XXXX separate online orders with XXXX in the amount of {$160.00} and {$41.00} 2. The funds for the transactions were placed on hold in my account immediately 3. The transactions were approved and finalized on my account of XXXX/XXXX/16 4. XXXX XXXX charged my account in XXXX separate transaction that equal {$210.00} ( the total of {$160.00} + XXXX ) which is fine 5. The charges were {$69.00}, {$49.00}, {$41.00}, and {$49.00} 6. The previous week on or around XXXX/XXXX/16, I made a return in store to XXXX XXXX for a refund of {$69.00} ( to credit my account in 1-3 business days ) 7. On XXXX/XXXX/16 I received an email from Amex at XXXX XXXX that stated my balance was {$4.00} 8. At XXXX XXXX that same morning ( one hour later ), I received another email from Amex stating that my card balance was negative 9. I checked my account one hour later to figure out what the discrepancy was. 
10. That same day that I checked my account, XXXX/XXXX/16, I noticed my balance was {$21.00}, had a credit of {$69.00} applied AND a duplicate deduction of {$49.00}. 
11. I immediately knew something was wrong because the late order placed with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX online ) was on XXXX/XXXX/16. 
12. I checked my transactions for the month and noticed that I was being charged twice, one on XXXX/XXXX/16 and once on XXXX/XXXX/16 for the same amount, same retail store, with different transaction IDs 13. If the {$49.00} was never deducted from my account my balance should have been at least {$73.00} 14. I called Amex to start the dispute process. 
15. Amex confirmed the duplicate charge. They did not want to immediately open a dispute and told me to call XXXX XXXX XXXX. On XXXX/XXXX/16, I called XXXX XXXX and they denied charging me a second time for {$49.00} on any date. 
17. Once XXXX denied any wrong doing I called Amex back and started the dispute process on XXXX/XXXX/16. It was stated that it can take up t o45 days to resolve and if they ca n't resolve in 10 days a provisional credit would be applied. I never received a credit of {$49.00} 18. I received an email from Amex confirming the opening of a dispute case. 
19. On XXXX/XXXX/16, I received another email from Amex requesting documentation to help them resolve the dispute. 
20. On XXXX/XXXX/2016, I sent the dispute documentation via Amex 's encrypted email site. 
21. I received confirmation of submission immediately. 
22. I sent the following forms : ( 1 ) their dispute form completely filled out, ( 2 ) a copy of the positive Amex balance email, ( 3 ) a copy of the negative Amex balance email, ( 4 ) a printout of the {$49.00} XXXX charge finalized on XXXX/XXXX/16 and ( 5 ) a printout of the {$49.00} XXXX charge finalized on XXXX/XXXX/16. 
23. On XXXX/XXXX/16 I received an email from Amex stating, " We have determined the transaction to be valid because your account does not reflect duplicate charges from the Merchant ''. 
24. They closed the dispute because the transaction magically disappeared. 
25. But it only disappeared for hours and then magically returned. On XXXX/XXXX/16 or the day after I requested to reopen the dispute after the transaction reappeared on my account. The representative confirmed the existence and reopened the dispute. 
26. Amex never even bothered to send an email confirming the reopening of the dispute. 
27. However they did close it again. 
28. I have had to open the dispute a total of 3 times because the charge " disappears '' but always returns. I think they are removing the charge in order to close the disputes. I have yet to receive a credit of {$49.00} and I have documentation to send to you to cover all my statements.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation