Consumer complaint received 2025-08-24 00:00:00
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
State: DC

Complaint narrative:
I am disputing charges from XXXX on my American Express card for merchandise I never received. I canceled my sofa order before delivery, and XXXX own documentation confirms this : Customer cancelled the order before it [ was ] delivered. 

Despite this, American Express reinstated the full {$3500.00} charging me for furniture that was never delivered. XXXX submission to Amex references {$1200.00} in cancellation fees, but I dispute the fairness and validity of any fees since no sofa was ever delivered or accepted.The merchant also included a misleading invoice in their submission. It listed a shipping and completion date and time of midnight on XX/XX/XXXX, and a map of an address in XXXX XXXX XXXX. However, it only claimed the order was shipped and completed, never delivered. There is no signed delivery documentation. I can prove that I did not live at that address at the time, did not even have a key, and that the building does not accept furniture deliveries without the resident present. I was living in XXXX, XXXX at the time. 

Amex appears to have misinterpreted this invoice, treating shipped/completed as proof of delivery while ignoring XXXX own statement on page XXXX of their submission : Explanation of Refund Refusal : Customer cancelled the order before it [ was ] delivered but was already in the carriers possession. Per policy the customer should be charged a 25 % processing fee plus shipping and return fees. As a courtesy we reduced the fee to 15 % {$490.00} and del fee of {$250.00} for a total of {$740.00} owed by the customer. The customer also charged us back {$550.00} already with AX so the customer owes a total of {$1200.00}. Please reverse {$1200.00} which is what the customer owes XXXX. 

When I asked to reopen the dispute for the full amount via chat on XX/XX/XXXX, the representative only entered {$150.00}. Then, when I asked him ( XXXX, I believe ) to correct his mistake on the dispute amount, the entire dispute was mistakenly canceled internally. I did not cancel it but Amex claims that I did. This false claim was used against me when I tried again to reinstate the claim the next day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) when I got notice that it had been canceled. A supervisor named XXXX on chat refused to review the facts or the merchants documentation ( which clearly states I canceled before delivery ) and only repeated that she would not reopen the case and that I would lose again anyway. 

Later that day ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I finally spoke with a disputes representative by phone who agreed to review the merchant 's documentation with me. He confirmed that the facts supported my case and that I was due a refund, but said that because the record falsely showed that I canceled the dispute, he could not reopen it at that time. He told me he added elaborate notes to my case stating that I was owed a refund and that I wanted to file a complaint about how my case had been mishandled and how poorly I -- as a XXXX customer -- had been treated by Amex representatives XXXX 

I am seeking full relief : American Express should reverse the entire charge, as I never received any merchandise. The dispute was mishandled multiple times by Amex representatives, and instead of correcting their errors, Amex doubled down and is trying to stick me, a XXXX cardholder, with a {$3500.00} bill for merchandise never delivered which the merchant themselves ( XXXX XXXX ) documented in their appeal. 

I am requesting CFPB intervention to require Amex to review the full documentation properly and reverse all charges for merchandise never delivered.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation