Consumer complaint received 2025-07-17 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
b'Formal Complaint Against American Express for Deceptive Practices and Denial of Agreed Payment Plan (Plan It)\n\nTo Whom It May Concern,\n\nI am filing this complaint against American Express due to deceptive business practices and misleading customer service communication that resulted in financial harm and unresolved account management issues.\n\nOn XXXX XXXX XXXX, I contacted American Express via chat regarding my Platinum card account to request enrollment of three flight-related transactions totaling XXXX into their Plan It installment plan program. At that time, my balance was approximately XXXX and I was 10 days past due.\n\nThe Amex agent explicitly advised me that once I made a payment to bring my account current, I would then be eligible to enroll those charges into Plan It. I followed their instructions and made a payment of XXXX to bring the account current.\n\nAfter the payment posted, I attempted to follow through on the original intent. However, I was then denied access to Plan It for the three transactions because the planned amount now exceeded 95% of my reduced balance due to the very payment I was instructed to make.\n\nThis amounts to material misrepresentation of eligibility and terms by Amex agents.\n\n Misconduct Includes:\nMisleading guidance causing ineligibility for financial service.\n\nOmission of key restrictions (95% rule and Pay Over Time limit).\n\nRefusal to escalate or resolve issue after repeated transfers (over 6 different agents/departments).\n\nUnwillingness to correct error despite documented evidence of misrepresentation.\n\nUnjust denial of access to a feature that was clearly qualified prior to payment.\n\nAttached below is the full transcript of my conversation with American Express agents, which clearly documents the misguidance and my repeated attempts to resolve the issue appropriately.\n\nPlease review this matter and take appropriate regulatory action. I request to be informed of the outcome and resolution.\n\n\nXXXX XXXX XXXXnThere is an important matter regarding your account we need to chat with you about. Please respond to chat with us now.\nhi - i need help adding items to a payment plan\nA Customer Care Professional will be with you shortly.\nHi, welcome to American Express Chat. My name is XXXX. Am I chatting with ----- XXXX\nAm I chatting with -----?\nyes\nThank you. This chat may be recorded, monitored and analyzed for compliance and to improve our systems.\n\nWe just wanted to remind you about account status as it is past due and card is on hold.\n\nPast due amount is XXXXn\nWould you be able to pay this XXXX today online?\nyes, ill be paying that today\ni just need help adding items to a "\nPlan it" plan\nOkay for this account has to be current, once account is paid you will get option to add items\nokay\nill do that and then reach out later today, but quick question\nSure\nhow long after charges are illegible for a "plan it" option\nThat depends upon the charge amount\nokay - i want to add all my upcoming flights on a plan it. The furthest charge is XXXX XXXX\nOnce account becomes current you will get option to add charges/ietms\nokay\nitems*\nthanks\nToday\nHi ------, please select one of these options, or in a few words tell me what you need help with.\nXXXX XXXX\nquestion\nTo better understand your needs, please share a short sentence on how I can help you today.\nmy plan question\nYou can manage your finances with some of our services and programs to help you save, spend, and pay off your balance.\nLearn More\nWould you like to know more about one of these:\nPlan It\nPlan It lets you pay off big purchases over time with a fixed monthly fee and no interest charges. Eligibility required.\nLearn More\nif i pay off a plan it early do i still have to pay the total plan amount? or does it get adjusted\nA Customer Care Professional will be with you shortly.\nHi, -----. I\'m Chae. Let me help check your inquiry about Plan it\nYou do not need to pay the remaining plan fees if you pay off the plan early\XXXX XXXX\nso if i select the XXXX XXXXs and pay if off in like 6 - i dont have to pay the full XXXX fee, correct? I just want to clarify\nCorrect.\nis there a fee for early payoff also?\nNo, only the plan fee associated per month for the transaction\nokay - last question\nSure\ni still need to book one more flight can i add that - until when can i add past transactions on a "plan it" plan\ni think they are at on almost at 30 days since the transactions posted\nPurchases must appear on the current statement or unbilled (new cycle charges)\nXXXX XXXXnAlso, it must not Exceed 95% of the account XXXX XXXX XXXX on your last billing statement or Exceed your Pay Over Time limit\nXXXX XXXX\nokay\nthanks for your help\nYou\'re welcome, -----!\nSince we\'re able to check on your inquiry today, is there any other account and billing related questions or would that be all?\nactually\nI\'ll keep this thread open so you can chat back if more help is needed.\nSure\ni just got this "You are exceeding the total amount of your balance that you are allowed to plan." can you explain that\nXXXX I confirm the amount of transaction please?\nits 3 transactinos for XXXX\nGot it, this amount Exceeds the 95% of the account Total New Balance on your last billing statement so this cannot be planned\ni was counting on this being able to go on a plan it plan\nAs per plan it policies you cannot plan an amount that reaches the percentage limit.\nso if i had planeed this before my last payment where my balance was higher it would have been okay ? am i understanding that correctly ? that is absurd\nYes, as long as it will not be more than 95% of your balance, you can plan the transaction.\nthat is ridiculous -\nso because i paid i cant "plan it"\ni will need an override\nor some sort of payment plan\nas i mentioned i account for the card allowing me to "plan it"\nwhat good is this card if i cant even do that\nI am sorry but there is no override option for this case. We\'ll have to follow the plan it procedures as there are requirements that are needed.\nI will get you a specialist from our Special Team to check on payment plan options\nBefore I connect the chat, is there any other account and billing related questions or would that be all?\nno\nGot it. One moment please\nA Customer Care Professional will be with you shortly.\nok\nThank you for responding to American Express. My name is XXXX. Am I chatting with -----?\nyes\nPleasure to meet you online ----- .\nThanks for confirming your name.\n----, just to confirm you would like to checkout the financial relief program?\nno that is not what i needed - i attempted to make a "plan it" and was blocked and told i couldnt until i made a payment on my account. So i made the payment . Now I can\'t make a "plan it" because it exceeds 95% of my balance as IVE MADE A PAYMENT. you tricked me into being unable to make a plan and i need to talk to a supervisor now - i dont not need financial relief . What is this company\nthis is absurd\nOne moment please.\n------, I see the chat got transferred to us to check for a payment plan which is financial relief plan.\nI will have to connect you back to our customer service team to check and assist you with plan it options.\nwell that is yet another error on behalf of your comapny\ni need to speak to a supervisor\nnow\n------, to assist you with your concern regarding plan it, our customer service team will have to check that for you since it is their area of expertise.\n\nEven if you want to have a word with asupervisor, the customer service team supervisor will be available.\nXXXX XXXX\nShall I connect them?\nsure\nPlease stay connected.\nHello -----! My name is XXXX You have been reconnected and I will be the one assisting you moving forward.\nok\nAllow me 1-2 minutes to check where you left off.\nok\nThank you for staying online. Upon checking, I see that you are having issues with your Plan It on your Platinum card account.\nyes, i requested to make a "plan it" then was told i needed to make a payment. once the payment is made now i dont qualify for my full amount because you made me make a payment and now its over 95% of my balance\nI appreciate the details. May I ask which transaction would you like to enrol to Plan it?\nthat is unethical and questionable to say the least\nyes\nThis is definitely not the experience that American Express wants you to have, so I\'ll do my very best to help you on this matter.\nits 3 transactions - let me retrieve them for you\XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX\nGot it, thank you.\nI have checked, and the Plan It amounts for these three charges is XXXX You can select from 3, 6, and 12 months monthly payments.\nKindly check the link it here:XXXX\nPlease let me know if you are able to submit your monthly payment terms for these three transactions.\nHi just checking in, are you still with me?\nXXXX XXXX\nits not letting\nyes\nAppreciate you getting back to me.\nbut i cant complete\nMay I ask what the exact error message is from your screen?\ntaht it exceeds 95%\nIt shows it exceeds your limit of 95%, right?\n"ou are exceeding the total amount of your balance that you are allowed to plan.\nPlease select smaller or fewer transactions or enter a lower amount before proceeding."\nyes\nLet me double-check your balance here. One moment, please.\nI really appreciate your patience here, -----.\nI have checked the Plan It limits, and it looks like we cannot enroll transaction amounts that will exceed 95% of your pay over time limit which is currently at XXXX\n\nIf you want, you can enroll two charges from the three transactions you mentioned, and it will go through.\nim still here - sry i am working\nNot a problem at all, -----.\ni need all three\ndoes it have to be 95% of the same billing statement\nbecause while it is very unethical - i am understanding if i spend more then ill be able to put all 3 transactions on a "plan it"\nThe 95%, is for the account XXXX XXXX XXXX but it also will not proceed, if the amount exceeds your Pay Over Time Limit.\nso if i charge more, i will then be allowed to Plan the full amount?\nLet me clarify all the restrictions on enrolling to Plan It:\n\n-Exceed 95% of the account XXXX XXXX XXXX on their last billing statement (doesnt apply to unbilled charges)\n-(Lending Cards) Exceed 95% of their credit limit\n-(Pay Over Time) Exceed their Pay Over Time limit\nwhat is pay it?\nPay It is a feature where you can pay for a specific charge that is under XXXX.\nso what you are telling me that due to the instructions i was given a payment i am now not qualified for a plan it and there is no way around it?\nSince your Pay Over Time Limit is only XXXX this exceeds the total amount of the three transactions you wish to enroll.\npay over time you said is less than XXXX so how is that even useful\nthis doesnt make sense\nit is extremely\nunethical\ni need to talk to a supervisor\nPay It is different from Plan It. Pay it allows you to make a payment for a specific charges under XXXX, and Plan it, allows you to make monthly payments with fees for your transactions.\nbecause again, if i hadnt been told to make the payment I would have qualified\nI understand you\'d like to speak with my supervisor, however, I want to assure you, we at American Express employ a consistent and thorough review process, and all colleagues, regardless of title or authority, operate with the same guidelines and uphold the same consistency regarding the issue at hand.\nokay - then find a solution\n?\nI do apologize for the long wait. If you want, we can try to increase your Pay Over Time Limit here but there is no guarantee, but we can still try to make sure to enroll your three transactions. Would this work for you?\nI do not intend to rush you, however, we have not heard from you for some time. Are we still connected?\ni dont see how a "pay it" that has a cap of XXXX  will DO ANYTHING TO FIND A SOLUTION\nAppreciate you getting back to me.\ni am getting increasingly frustrated, this is incredibly dishonest\ni need 3 charges on a "Plan it" final -\nit would have been done if i wasn\'t forced to make a payment\nWe do appreciate the payment you made here, but the reason why the Plan It is not allowing for these three purchases to go through is due to your Pay Over Time Limit.\nwhat is a pay over time limit\nyou guys keep coming up with new terms and plans\nNONE of which were discussed or brought up when i initially inquired\nagain, it doesn\'t seem like you are able to find a solution - it may be best to talk to someone else\nI really understand this may be confusing sometimes, -----.\nA Pay Over Time limit is not a preset spending limit. This limits the amount of your charges that you can choose to carry a balance on with interest. You may be able to make charges above or below the Pay Over Time limit, depending on the different credit factors that we look at.\nXXXX XXXX\nPlease stay online while I connect you to our supervisor.\nits not confusing, its dishonest .\nA Customer Care Professional will be with you shortly.\nGood afternoon, ------ ! My name is XXXX  one of the supervisors. Please allow me a moment to read your previous chat.\nThank you for waiting. I greatly appreciate your patience on this. We have received your inquiry about Pay Over Time. Could you please elaborate a bit so that I can guide you?\nMy inquiry is not regarding "pay over time" please properly prepare yourself by reading the above conversatin\nApologies, -----. I sincerely apologize, the message is not appearing on my end. Could you please re-type your query, I will be happy to assist you.\nXXXX XXXX\nI am trying to put 3 transactions on a "Plan It" - when i initially inquired to do this i was instructed to make a payment first. So I did - Now when I try to "Plan It" the same 3 transactions it says i dont qualify because it exceeds 95% of my balance. Which is entirely the case because of the payment I was instructed to make.\nXXXX XXXXnI want the 3 transactions I initially inquired about on a 12 months "Plan It"\nXXXX XXXX\nIt is unethical and dishonest to now not allow me to do that\nThank you for sharing this with me. Please give me a quick moment to check this for you.\n\nJust to make sure we\'re on the same page, you do see the Plan It offer on your Platinum Card, correct?\nyes\nfor these 3 transactions:\nJun 20\nXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXnThank you for sharing this with me. It appears that the account is currentlt being handled by our credit team.\nin order to qualify for the plan it option. We would need to have your account transferred to the right team first.\n\nKindly stay on the line for me,-----\nA Customer Care Professional will be with you shortly.\nThank you for responding to American Express chat. My name is XXXX. Am I chatting with ------?\nno\nyes, this is -------\nwhy was I transfered yet again\nThank you for the verification.\nLet me check the reason for transfer.\nI see you were discussing plan it, correct?\nyes, i tried to make the plan when i had a higher balance - which would have qualified me for the 95% rule. But i was told to make a payment - so now my 3 transactions do not qualify for a "Plan It"\nXXXX XXXX\nthis is dishonest and incredibly frustration\nXXXX XXXX\nfrustrating*\nThank you for sharing the details.\nYes, I understand.\nFor the plan it concern that you have stated above, we have a dedicated customer service team, I have made a note on the file and team will be quick to help.\n\nYou are connected to credit team and we do not handle this so I will have to connect you back.\nWhy am I being transferred - without approval\nthis is the 5th transfer!\nI have already raised this as a feedback for incorrect transfer without approval.\nI want to note that I have this transcript on record - this is absurd\nI understand your frustration.\nI have noted the same clearly.\nXXXX XXXX\nShall I transfer now\'?\ni want a supervisor now\nYour concern is plan it which is handled by customer service team not credit team (my team).\n\nSo, my supervisor will not be able to help you on this.\n\nI am connecting you to customer service team and you can ask for supervisor there for your concern.\nthen why i transfered to credfit and financial relief WHEN THIS IS A SUPERVIOR ISSUE\ncustomer service supervisor now\nYou want to discuss financial relief program or plan it?\ngod damn it a\nare you insane\nCUSTOMER SERVICE SUPERVISOR\nTransferring the chat to customer service team.\nA Customer Care Professional will be with you shortly.\nHello -------, my name is XXXX, please allow me 2-3 minutes and I\'ll pick up from where we left off.\nNo -\nyou will transfer me to a supervisor immediately\ni have been transfered to the incorrect department for the 6th time\nyou cannot help me\nyour team members have aggrivated and made the issue significantly worse\nyou will not trasnfer or assist me other than correctly transferring to a supervisor and no one else\nNOW\nPlease know that this is not the experience we want you to have as one of our valued Card Members.\nPlease let me connect you over to my supervisor. I\'ll provide a summary, and they will be with you shortly, please stay connected.\n?\nPlease stay connected while I transfer.\nA Customer Care Professional will be with you shortly.\nAn agent has now joined\nHi ------. This is XXXX, one of the supervisors. Please allow me a moment here to go through your last conversation and access your account.\nThis is absolutely insane - I have been trasnfered to the incorrect people a total of 6 times. This is is now beyond exacerbated and significantly worse.\nThe issue is I reached out to make a "Plan It" i reached out inquired - was told I needed to make a payment. So I made the payment - waited for it to post. Now that my balance is lower my 3 transactions I wish to put on a "Plan It" do not qualify because it exceeds the 95% - but it would have qualified before I made that payment.\nWe will not be discussing any other option other than a "Plan It"\nI dont want mention of any unfeasible options as ridiculous as "Pay It\' and certainly not "financial relief" which someone did already transfer me to.\nI appreciate you sharing the information with me. Kindly give me 2-3 minutes to examine the details and I will get back to you.\XXXX XXXXnWhy I was trasnfered to financial relief or credit team is BEYOND me - everyone that I have talked to in the past hour I demand a formal complaint and I have this chat transcript on record.\nXXXX XXXXnI regret the experience you had. I will definitely look into that for you and provide feedback.\nMay I please know the date and amount of the transactions you want to add in Planit?\nyes\XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX\nOkay yes the total is XXXXnyes\non a Plan It for 12 months\nYour most recent statement balance is XXXX Therefore, you can only plan charges not more than 95% of this balance on your card.\n\nThis means you can only plan charges up to XXXX. Consequently, all three charges are not being processed.\nYou may want to select one XXXX charge and one XXXX XXXX charge for Planit.\nright - but had i not be forced to make the payment prematurely IT WOULD HAVE QUALIFIED\nXXXX XXXX\nit was deceiving to make me make a payment - so that then my "plan it" wouldnt qualify\nXXXX XXXX\nit was deliberately dishonest\nXXXX XXXX\nsam, I am working. this has taken an hour. I truly need this resolved now. Please\nI understand the request however I see the card has credit concerns and that\'s why we requested you to make payments.\nYou may want to select two charges for Plan for now.\XXXX XXXX\nI need all 3 transactions\nit was misleading and honestly unethical\nI can understand the request however it is not possible because then it will exceed 95% of the last statement balance.\nI made the payment he day it was requested and now I expect Amex to be honest and complete their end\nI will definitely capture it as a feedback so that we can review if there is an error.\nMay I please know the date of the payment you;re referring to?\XXXXnprior to that the balance would have been XXXX\nwhich then my Plan It would have been less tha 95%\nand approved\nso you see, it is delibertely misleading to tell me to make the payment then my request of plan it would have\nqualified\nXXXX XXXX\nPlease allow me a moment here to check the details.\nsure\ni will respond to you shortly, but please dont disconnect. i will be back\nI reviewed this for you but you were already late for the payment for last statement and that\'s why we requested you to make payment.\nXXXX XXXX\nit doesnt change that I was requesting the "plan it" and would have then qualified and now Amex is dishonestly rejecting the request\nI understand the request however I do not see any error here. As suggested, you cannot plan all 3 charges, you may want to select 2 charges and then try to initiate Plan it.\nXXXX XXXX\n.ot\nIs there anything else I can assist you with?\nYou don\'t see an error in misleading a client then rejecting their their request that would have qualified prior to following your companies instructions???\nI understand but as per Planit guidelines, you cannot exceed 95% of the last statement balance.\nbut prior to that payment, it would have qualified. Yes or No ?\nI am unable to check that, -----.\nyes, you are\nHowever, I do see that payment was already late and we charged you late fee as wlel.\n95% of the balance at the time is XXXX XXXX meaning all three transactions would have qualified\nprior to being scammed into ineligibility due to your companies instructions\nSo to clarify - by following your agents instructions I no longer qualify for a service I requested to fulfill. And now, after obliging with the instructions Amex agent provided, am an no longer able to add my 3 desired transactions on a "plan It\' nor are you an Amex supervisor willing to correct the error, is that right?\nI understand the request and to confirm, we requested payment as the card was already late for the payment and as per the Plan guidelines, you cannot move charges to Planit exceeding 95% of last statement balance.\neven though i have a transcript, written proof, stating that after the payment will be made I can add those transactions\ni would be happy to send the transcript to you or your legal department"'

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation