Consumer complaint received 2023-01-08
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY (TX)

I signed into American Express website, 0 % Promotion APR offer was advertised. I accepted the offer. Email was sent regarding this offer. This is what was included in the email : We hope you've been enjoying the Promotional Annual Percentage Rate ( APR ) you enrolled in for purchases, which is 0 %. We're sending you this reminder to let you know that the promotional rate will expire at the end of your XX/XX/XXXX billing period. 

Terms and conditions for this offer were not provided in this email. Payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX. While I was submitting payment around XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, their website was having issues and signed me out multiple times due to network issues. Payment was then submitted few minutes later after midnight, around XXXX AM on XX/XX/XXXX Central standard time. Their website recorded it at XXXXXXXX XXXX based on another time zone. I was charged not only late fee, but also interest charge for this statement. I contacted American Express customer service on XX/XX/XXXX after discovering such charges, explained to them that I submitted payment on time. The customer service agent advised that the interest charge and late fee would be waived. 

After waiting for over 48 hours, I discovered neither the late fee charge or the interest charge was waived. I contacted American Express customer service again on XX/XX/XXXX. I explained to them I was told these charges would be waived, the agent advised the system is not letting them waive these charges. After being hassles for atleast 4 hours, the agent waived the interest charge, and I was signed out of American Express website automatically. This is a malpractice American Express is performing - automatic signouts of clients, while they are connected to a customer service agent using Live chat. 

I contacted American Express customer service again. I was told only the interest charge could be waived but not the late fee. Interest charge was {$0.00}, and Late fee was {$29.00}. I explained to the agent I submitted payment on time the website was having network issues and the payment was submitted few minutes after midnight. The agent advised American Express system indicated payment was submitted few hours after midnight. I then explained to the agent I was offered 0 % APR promotion offer, and questioned the agent why I was charged interest rate and late fee after accepting such offer. Agent advised late fee can still be charged, however interest rate will can be waived. I expressed my concern to the agent that such promotions normally do not have a payment due date and interest rate charges. The agent disagreed. I advised agent to speak to a manager. After few hours of wait, I was able to speak to a manager. I explained to American Express manager that 0 % APR promotion offers normally do not have interest charges or late fees. This is how my XXXX credit card operates. I have owned other credit cards before, such as XXXX XXXX, and same terms apply. I also explained to the manager, that I was emailed information regarding this offer on XX/XX/XXXX. The email did not contain terms and conditions for this offer. How is the consumer supposed to be aware of such terms when other credit card vendors have different terms and conditions? After debating with manager for some time I was able to get the charge waived. American express failed to provide terms and conditions for the 0 % APR promotional offer which lead to such charges. Also the payment was submitted on time, however their system recorded the transaction to a later time. In additional, their website has on multiple occassions signed me out automatically even when connected to Live customer service chat. This is what happened as well when I was submitting payment which caused the payment to be recorded after midnight ( XXXXXXXX XXXX ) so the system records it as late payment. I was also told regarding this 0 % APR promotion that the offer is valid from XXXX. I accepted this offer on XX/XX/XXXX. Their system recorded it as if I accepted the offer on XX/XX/XXXX. American express did not send me any such offer during this time. The company is exercising extremely poor customer service and false promotional tactics in order to collect additional fees even when consumer makes payment on time. As of XX/XX/XXXX, the late fee is supposed to be waived in 24-48 hours according to American Express customer service . Hopefully this is true, because it was promised before as well on XX/XX/XXXX but the fee was not waived.