Consumer complaint received 2023-12-28
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action — Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY (MI)

AMEX responded to CFPB complaint XXXX on or around XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. What's noteworthy is as follows. [ AMEX ] : " The payment of {$200.00} made on XXXX XXXX XXXX via the online portal, which differs from the information provided by you, stating you did not have access to your online account to make payments or view statements. '' [ Response ] : a ) A payment made at the end of XXXXXXXX XXXX neither precludes a consumer from being rendered unable to access the web portal prior to XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX due to the actions of AMEX, nor precludes a consumer from reasonable belief they were locked out, or otherwise rendered unable to make payments from the AMEX web portal ; b ) Upon transfer of the AMEX account to XXXX, AMEX XXXX XXXXXXXX sent an e-mail ( placement notice dated XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  ) the consumer with notification the account was transferred to XXXX and instructed the consumer to contact XXXX  for account servicing. The email provides three ( 3 ) ways to contact XXXX  : call them, visit website, write them ; c ) Below those instructions is a reminder the consumer may make a payment using the url XXXX XXXX  " You may also pay your balance online at XXXX using reference code   to access the website. " ; d ) XXXX initiated contact on XXXX XXXX XXXX and ceased all efforts to collect in XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  notice re-articulated the consumer 's allegations of AMEX unfair, deceptive, abusive, unlawful acts or practices. XXXX  stated the account had been recalled by AMEX with an effective date in XX/XX/XXXX, and that they ( XXXX  ) had ceased all efforts to collect on the alleged debt ( presumably due to the consumer 's articulated concerns ) ; e ) Despite the instructions in above in c ) the website requires the full sixteen digit card number and 4-digit security code for to be able to register and the banner clearly states " Enter your details to set up your new Card. '' ; f ) The card account was closed by AMEX in XXXX A reasonable person would destroy the card when notified of account closure, and thus would not have access to the relevant card information to use the XXXX web portal ; g ) a person that has been unable to access the XXXX, and that has been told XXXX  handles the account, would reasonably believe they were unable to access their account through the XXXX web-portal. Now, a representation, omission, act or practice is deceptive when : i ) The representation, omission, act, or practice misleads or is likely to mislead the consumer ; ii ) The consumers interpretation of the representation, omission, act, or practice is reasonable under the circumstances ; and iii ) the misleading representation, omission, act, or practice is material. AMEX engaged in deceptive acts or practices because AMEX sent materially misleading information and instructions to a consumer to manage their account. AMEX engaged in abusive acts or practices by taking unreasonable advantage of a consumer 's XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX which renders the consumer XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. AMEX supplied information that would be especially confusing for an individual recovering from XXXX. [ AMEX ] : " It is important to know, the emails dated XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX XXXX, referenced in your correspondence, were not provided with your complaint. '' [ Response ] : CFPB complaint XXXX  did include the emails date XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  and XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX. The emails with those dates are within the " amex_complaints_toXXXX '' which was attached to XXXX. The email ( XXXX  placement notice ) with date XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX is at page XXXX  and incompatibility between the instructions and info required to use XXXX is at page 29. Those two pages can be found repeated in the docs as parts of other submissions at pages 134 - 135 and at 143 - 144. The email ( XXXX  placement notice ) with date XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX can be found in " amex_complaintsXXXX, '' which was attched to XXXX, at page 160 - 161. The two ( 2 ) placement notices are also attached here as separate documents : { XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  }. [ Consumer Side Comment ] : This is not the only time AMEX has provided misleading information material to managing the consumer 's account. I sent an e-mail to AMEX XXXX XXXX with subject " American Express Violations of 12 U.S. Code 5531, 12 U.S. Code 5533, 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2 ( b ) '' on or around XXXX XXXX XXXX AMEX response provided the following information : " The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt. Because of the age of your debt, American Express will not sue you for it. In addition, the law limits how long a debt can be reported to a consumer reporting agency. Because of the age of your debt, we can not report it to a consumer reporting agency. Payment or non-payment of this debt will not affect your credit score. '' AMEX has continued thereafter to furnish information to the CRAs with derogatory payment history and payment status that has harmed or is likely to cause the consumer harm ( attached here as XXXX XXXX XXXX  ).