Consumer complaint received 2025-05-05 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: NC

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, I along with two adult friends, traveled to XXXX to obtain supplies as we worked to recover from Hurricane Helene. We are from XXXX and things we needed were in short supply. In the XXXX area, I attempted to book a room for the night, first through XXXX. The hotel was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The description online gave this place four stars and the picture looked nice. ( All booking attempts were made via my smart phone. We had no way to book via phone, text, or the internet in XXXX as there was no power and limited internet access. ) When we arrived at the hotel there was what appeared to be a XXXX XXXX near one end of the building and a woman who seemed to be XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX at the other end of the building. The entrance looked like it had been run into with a truck. There were men working on the damaged area. We quickly decided we did not want to stay there. I went into the lobby to cancel and could not find anyone at the desk, or anywhere on the first floor. Attempts to reach the hotel by phone went unanswered. XXXX did not provide a way to be reached other that booking a room through the internet. 
Next, I tried to find another hotel through XXXX. That place was XXXX XXXX XXXX. Again, this is being attempted online. On my first try either I somehow changed the date for the needed room to two weeks in the future or the " app '' defaulted to that. Before I knew it, I had booked a room I did not need. I rebooked for that night. My hope here was to get this part of the mess straightened out at the hotel. When we arrived, the glass door to the lobby was locked. After knocking repeatedly, a woman came to the door and told me go away. She said they were full. I showed her my confirmation number on my phone through the door. She waved me off and disappeared. My two friends witnessed all of this. 
On returning to XXXX, I tried repeatedly to contact both hotels and both reservation services. No one was helpful. 
My last resort was to file a complaint with the credit card used : American Express. They said they would look into the matter. They wanted the " other guy '' s story ''. This ended in American Express denying my claims. We did not stay at these hotels and this is easily verifiable. We tried to contact the venues. We tried to contact XXXX and XXXX to file complaints. No one listened or really cared. 
As I write this, over seven months have passed. I have had numerous conversations with American Express. I have been harassed endlessly by them via phone, email and the mail. They called yet again just a few minutes ago. Those calls are certainly over a hundred by now. Pay or else. This is extortion. I did not stay at these hotels. The description of the first hotel was a blatant lie and no one was present to cancel the booking or even check us in! The second hotel would not even let us in the building! 
To be clear : I will not be harassed or extorted. I will not pay for services NOT rendered. Most recently, a little over a month ago, I filed a complaint with the North Carolina Attorney General 's office. After nearly XXXX weeks, American Express responded that they had removed the charges to two of the room bookings. However, in my response to the NC AG 's office I pointed out that there were over {$500.00} in charges still on my card ; I had only used that card for those room charges. Nothing before or since. During the period of waiting for American Express to reply to the NC AG 's letter they canceled my card. After my reply to their response, the NC AG 's office closed my case with no resolution. 
I have documented all of this experience. Sworn affidavits from my two companions can be obtained. 
This must end.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief