Consumer complaint received 2026-04-14 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
What Happened : I am an XXXX XXXX XXXX stationed in Texas. I am writing to file a formal complaint against American Express for misrepresentation, bad faith handling of SCRA claims, and potential adverse credit reporting during an active dispute. Background : I currently hold multiple American Express accounts and have been receiving fee waivers on my personal Platinum card under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Prior to opening a business card, I contacted American Express by phone and specifically asked a representative whether the annual fee waiver would apply to the business card as well. The representative indicated it would. Based entirely on that representation I opened the business card. I would not have opened the account otherwise. The Fee and Current Dispute : The business card carries an {$890.00} annual fee. Following account opening American Express conducted an SCRA review and denied the fee waiver citing an internal double dipping policy. This policy does not exist anywhere within the federal SCRA statute and was never disclosed to me before or during account opening. The {$890.00} fee is now due in two days. The Investigation Timeline : My original SCRA request was submitted XXXX XXXX XXXX. American Express did not issue their denial until XX/XX/year>. Their own cancellation policy only allowed me to close the account and receive a full refund within 30 days of the investigation opening. That window closed before I ever received their determination. This made it structurally and mathematically impossible for me to make an informed decision within the timeframe American Express themselves established. I was denied the ability to mitigate my own damages by American Expresss own investigation timeline. Todays Calls : I contacted American Express today to dispute this charge. I was told a supervisor would call back within a couple of hours and no later than 24-48 hours. As of this filing no callback has been received. I was told by a supervisor that no one can manually intervene in the system to waive the fee or extend the due date. I was pressured to simply pay the fee and trust that they would investigate the misrepresentation afterward. I was also told I can not obtain transcripts or recordings of the call in which I was misled despite those records pertaining directly to my own account. The Four Denial Letters : American Express sent four identical boilerplate denial letters on XX/XX/year> covering multiple accounts including a previously closed and paid account. The reference numbers and accounts are as follows : XXXX Denied : opened during XXXX XXXX XXXX Denied : account closed and paid in full ( yet simultaneously states account is currently receiving MLA relief contradictory ) XXXX Denied : opened during XXXX XXXX XXXX Denied : opened during XXXX XXXX ( this is the primary business card in dispute ) Receiving four simultaneous denial letters covering multiple accounts including closed accounts created significant confusion. It was not clear which account was actually being denied for the fee waiver versus which accounts were simply being processed through a routine review. This confusion made it extremely difficult to understand the scope of the denial and take timely action. A reasonable person receiving four identical letters about multiple accounts simultaneously could not be expected to immediately identify that one specific account carried consequential {$890.00} fee implications. This lack of clarity further undermined my ability to respond within any applicable window and represents yet another failure of clear communication by American Express toward an XXXX XXXX XXXX. Critical Legal Issue Regarding Denial Reasoning : My business account was denied specifically because it was opened during my XXXX XXXX period. This reasoning is arguably backwards. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act exists precisely to protect servicemembers during XXXX XXXX. Denying SCRA protections on the basis that an account was opened during XXXX XXXX undermines the fundamental purpose of the statute and warrants regulatory scrutiny. Misrepresentation and Reliance : I want to be transparent I am not certain the representative used the word guaranteed. However the representatives statements clearly led me to reasonably believe the fee waiver would apply to the business card. I relied on that reasonable belief in opening the account. I would not have opened the account otherwise. Under promissory estoppel and negligent misrepresentation standards reasonable reliance on misleading information is sufficient to establish harm. Following the initial call I contacted American Express 2-4 additional times to follow up on my request. During every single one of those calls I was told my request was in process. At no point during any of these follow up calls did any representative indicate that my business card was ineligible for the fee waiver. I was given every reason to believe the matter was simply being processed and would be resolved in my favor. Furthermore during these follow up calls I was repeatedly and explicitly assured that no late fees would be incurred and that my credit would not be negatively affected while my request was under review. Now that the fee waiver has been denied the {$890.00} annual fee has been listed as an actual expense on my account. Because I opened this card based on the understanding that the fee would be waived I did not budget for this expense. This fee will now cause my account to go delinquent which will directly and negatively impact my credit. This is precisely the harm I was repeatedly assured would not occur. American Expresss own supervisor today acknowledged the misrepresentation issue is separate from the SCRA eligibility determination and opened a new 14 day investigation which itself extends past my due date, again making it impossible to avoid the very harm their representatives promised would not happen. Credit Reporting Concern : If American Express reports this account as delinquent while their own investigation is actively open that would constitute a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. I am formally putting American Express on notice that any adverse credit reporting during the pendency of this dispute will result in possible additional complaints and possible legal action.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief