Consumer complaint received 2026-04-23 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: WA

Complaint narrative:
To whom it XXXX concern, Hi, my name is, and I live in Washington XXXX. My complaint is regarding the mismanagement of the dispute resolution department at American Express National Bank. Starting XX/XX/XXXX, and ending XX/XX/XXXX, I made a series of XXXX purchases with a merchant in XXXX, Texas. XXXX dba XXXX All communication was remote, by phone, email, and text messaging. I changed my mind on two purchases and requested a refund, but the merchant ignored me. I then disputed those two charges with the dispute resolution department of American Express National Bank. After the merchant submitted documentation that did not match my account of the actual occurred events, I expanded the disputes to include all remaining charges. Five in total, with a total sum of {$2300.00}. My phone records and emails directly conflicted with what the merchant claimed as the truth. With documents I attached to this complaint, I will demonstrate details misrepresented by the merchant. Details that include dates and content of emails along with differing purchase descriptions and their pricing. Starting XX/XX/XXXX, and continuing over the next six months, my disputes were repeatedly opened and closed, numerous times. Each cycle included temporary credits with accumulated interest adjustments, only to be followed by a reversal of the charges. Within a multitude of letters I received, regarding credits and reversals, the numbers began to not match the activity shown on my billing statements. These inconsistencies made it exceedingly difficult to determine what was actually occurring during the dispute process. American Express also did not advise me that I could fax documents to them. They repeatedly directed me to their website where I should upload evidence and manage my disputes. Their dispute platform was difficult to use and created barriers for me, to provide my evidence, needed to support my case. This caused major delays by having to redo my documents to fit their strict file size limitations and having no clear instructions, I once mistakenly cancelled a dispute and had to start it over again, wasting more time. Time and time again, I brought to the attention of American Express, both verbally over the phone and physically with my faxed documents, the discrepancies between the merchants documents and my evidence. After several months of going back and forth with the disputes, and while on a call with customer care, it came to my attention that disputes were handled on an individual basis and usually assigned to different people. This explained a whole lot. After this discovery, I requested that my disputes be investigated as one dispute, and by one person. If my request was honored or not, I have no idea. Seeing no resolution in the near future, and being denied contact with upper management, I escalated the situation by filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. And what did American Express do? They repeatedly responded at the last possible moment with their response mark as sent by mail. So, with mail delivery times being delayed, because of covid, I would not receive the mailed response in time for me to reply, before the BBB would automatically close the case. Several times, I argued this with them, which led to having to reopen the complaint. This sounds familiar. This pattern only created a hardship and extended the whole situation, which ultimately prevented any kind of resolution. After nearly a year since the beginning of this ordeal, and through the BBB complaint, I was able to receive some resolve, in a letter, from American Express where one sentence stated they could not verify the accuracy of the merchants documents. What? This can not be for real. This confirmed my notion, that American Express failed to conduct a reasonable and thorough investigation before making their decision. Yet, in another letter, American Express stated they had mishandled a dispute, and my account had been credited. Everything aside, this dispute was not even one of the original two. With the situation now being completely out of control, I had had enough of the nonsense. I severed all ties with American Express. No more payments. No more communications. No more anything! Though, from these actions, it only led to the account being closed and charged off. Eventually I was served a lawsuit, after which, I responded and chose to arbitrate by picking a judge. To this day, I have heard nothing more about it. Now I ask, what is really going on here? I swear they are out to drive me crazy. In all honesty, this prolonged activity has created a significant emotional impact to my lifestyle. Their behavior was gross and negligent, very unbecoming of a corporate giant with their stature. The way I was unnecessarily treated left me overwhelmed with exhaustion. I felt unheard and humiliated. I felt guilty and ashamed throughout the process. American Express did not appear to observe or show any concern towards my wellbeing, nor was there a safe environment provided for me during this time. The mental anguish bestowed upon me contributed to sever anxiety and XXXX, for which I am currently receiving treatment with prescribed medication to help manage the emotional effects. Thanks for your time.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief