Consumer complaint received 2023-07-24
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Problem with customer service
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY (CA)

Complaint:
I held an American Express Business Platinum Card with two disputes on the account. The first was that I was engaged in bait & switch pricing with XXXX XXXX after purchasing a gate upgrade at the airport. I was quoted a price for the upgrade, my credit card was taken to a back room and the payment was processed over the phone- - the amount that was charged was greater than the amount verbally quoted to me and my husband. This behavior from XXXX XXXX was documented in a XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX article and they are currently under investigation. When I brought this fraud to my creditor, they initially denied my claim even though XXXX provided no evidence that I had authorized the charge in the higher amount and was under investigation for this exact form of bait & switch pricing. Similarly, I purchased a laptop from XXXX Computers that was not working within my XXXX product protection window, and alerted American Express that I wished to file a product protection claim because my return window with XXXX Computers had lapsed. American Express improperly and incorrectly characterized in their internal dispute notes that I was stating I should have had the right to return the defective laptop ; this was not the case. I was stating that I wished to exercise my right to product protection under out Agreement. 

After I told American Express that these XXXX disputes were mishandled, I was told the disputes were being re-opened in XXXX of XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with a representative in a call center for American Express who told me not to " make a payment '' on the account while the dispute was being looked into, and was -- for the first of countless times -- told that someone from American Express 's management office would be in touch with me to discuss my concerns ; this never happened. I called in regularly and was told repeatedly that someone would be reaching out to me. This never happened. During XX/XX/XXXX 's call with American Express, I even assured the representative who told me to await contact from American Express that his assurances about a callback constituted a verbal contract in California, and that he is one of many representatives to have promised such a callback. This individual apologized to me profusely, and assured me I would receive a callback which never arrived. 

Later and after my matter was ignored further, I emailed the American Express XXXX XXXX and my matter was assigned to a XXXX XXXX XXXX. She alleged to listen to my concerns, and told me she would review my phone calls with American Express. She herself consistently promised me contact with dates that came and went. It culminated on XX/XX/XXXX when, after already pushing her self-imposed deadline several times, she wrote to me to say she would call me no later than XX/XX/XXXX. Unsurprisingly, and in keeping with this pattern of misconduct, extortion, and intentional miscommunication, XXXX XXXX was no in touch with me by XX/XX/XXXX. In fact, I wrote to her on XX/XX/XXXX and inquired about why the heinous delay had taken place. She wrote back XXXX days later on XX/XX/XXXX and told me that a letter had been sent to me. 

I received the letter the next week and, bizarrely, it includes the following sentence : " After an extensive call review of your account, we are unable to substantiate your claims of misinformation or missed callbacks. '' I feel that this letter constitutes misdemeanor document fraud, since XXXX XXXX herself had engaged in both misinformation and also missed callbacks before sending the enclosed letter, which she knew.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief