Consumer complaint received 2024-10-22
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY (NJ)

On XX/XX/year> I placed an order for a XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( sweater ) from a company -- XXXX -- I had no idea was overseas. Order # XXXX. The amount I was invoiced was {$31.00}, however, they charged my American Express card {$38.00}. I immediately emailed XXXX 's customer support and they wrote to me on XXXX saying they would credit me {$6.00}. They explained this was due to a system error. ( Note : XXXX has two websites XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX  It took about a month to receive my shrug. I was annoyed, but again, I had no idea this company was overseas. I received the item on XX/XX/XXXX. Immediately, I was not happy with this item. It was itchy. The fabric was cheap. I wrote to them the very next day, on XX/XX/XXXX. I explained in my email to them that I was not happy with the quality of the item and they wrote me back on the same day asking me to open the package, take a photo of the item and send it back to them. I sent them a photo the same day. Three days later, on XXXX, I received a ridiculous email back from this company saying " sorry you're not satisfied with our product, but under the circumstances, we can not provide a refund because we didn't send the wrong goods ''. This is the most absurd thing I'd ever heard. The issue was NOT whether I got the right product -- I clearly did. But as a consumer, if I'm not happy with a product, I should be allowed to return it for a refund. I went back and forth with them about this -- explaining I couldn't use the sweater because the fabric was cheap, itchy and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX -- and I then reached out to American Express to dispute my claim that same day, on XX/XX/XXXX. ( Note : I can provide all emails if you need them. ) Just this morning, on XXXX XXXX 15 days from the time I submitted my dispute, I heard back from American Express and they denied my dispute and rebilled my account for the cost of the shrug. American Express emailed me this morning saying they reached out to the merchant, who provided them with their cancellation and return policy. American Express also mentioned that this company ( XXXX ) issued me a credit of {$6.00} ( as if that was a corrective action on their part because of my dissatisfaction ) but what American Express was not realizing is that this {$6.00} credit had nothing to do with my dissatisfaction. This credit was because they originally and unjustly charged my American Express card an extra {$6.00} due to a " system error '', as they called it. 

I called American Express this morning, after receiving their email. I spoke with two different people -- XXXX and her supervisor, XXXX. ( I believe they were at a call center in XXXX. ) Both XXXX and XXXX insisted that the reason they wouldn't honor my dispute and credit my account for the {$31.00} is because I hadn't returned the item after telling the merchant I was dissatisfied with the quality of their product. I explained to both American Express agents that no person in their right mind would have returned an item, paying for additional shipping out of their own pocket, if the merchant told them that they would NOT issue a refund since they sent the correct item. Again, this whole thing is not about whether I receive the right item or not. I received the right item, but I was not happy with the quality, and for that, as a consumer, I should be refunded. Why would I spend additional money to ship this back to XXXX, or the XXXX, if they weren't going to give me my money back? No one would. 

I repeatedly made this point to American Express and they continued to tell me that my claim was being rejected. After 35 years with American Express, and feeling extreme disgust with the way they wrongly dismissed my case, I will be closing my account with them. I reiterated to both American Express agents that this isn't about the {$31.00}. It's about how dishonest this merchant ( Landscapet ) is being. If I was unhappy with the quality of their product, they should have offered me a return label to send my item back and refunded my account once they received the item. Again, I did not send it back to them because I have in writing from this company the fact that they could not justify a refund since " they sent me the right item ''. American Express, as the mediating party here, should have sided with me on that, but instead, they stupidly kept on holding over my head the fact that I never returned the item ... an item that had I returned, I would not have gotten a refund for. 

I'm very upset with this company for being so dishonest, but I'm even more upset with American Express for not defending their customer of 35 years in a transaction that was morally wrong and dishonest. I plan to pay off my balance and close my account, which I also told American Express. Sadly, they didn't even really care.