Consumer complaint received 2026-04-13 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: FL

Complaint narrative:
I am an American Express customer since XXXX over 25 years. On XX/XX/XXXX, a {$20000.00} charge was processed on my Amex XXXX Gold card ( account ending XXXX ) by a merchant whose own Stripe profile described their business as selling apparel, with a highest ticket item of {$35.00}. American Express processed this {$20000.00} charge to a clothing retailer with no fraud alert, no hold, and no verification. Amex case reference : XXXX. How American Express failed to protect me I chose to pay via American Express specifically because of the fraud protection it provides. This is documented in my own contemporaneous written account of events. The merchant XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX had registered their Stripe payment account as an apparel company. Their own merchant documentation submitted to Amex during the dispute states : " We sell apparel. Currently, our lowest ticket item is {$35.00}, then approx. $ XXXX {$10.00} shipping. '' American Express approved a {$20000.00} single transaction to this merchant for aviation services with no intervention. This is a fundamental processing failure. Why the merchant 's claims are fraudulent The merchant will likely claim I cancelled a confirmed flight and forfeited my payment under his cancellation policy. This is false for four independent reasons : First, no flight was ever delivered. The merchant 's own contract states that if XXXX XXXX cancels, the deposit is fully refunded. No aircraft ever appeared. No flight departed. The merchant not I failed to perform. Second, the aircraft the merchant named in his contract ( tail number XXXX ) was confirmed by an independent aviation industry expert to be registered under FAR Part 91 legally prohibited from commercial charter operations under federal aviation law. This is confirmed in a formal written statement from XXXX XXXX, Business Development Manager at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, an independent aviation professional with no interest in this dispute. XXXX XXXX also confirmed that the aircraft was located in the XXXX XXXX at the time the merchant claimed it was waiting in XXXX XXXX. I verified it using public location websites. Third, the merchant changed the aircraft without my written consent, violating his own contract terms which require all changes to be agreed in writing by both parties. I never signed or agreed to any substitute aircraft. Fourth, the {$20000.00} was processed through a Stripe account the merchant himself told me he had just opened, registered as an apparel company. I never signed a {$48000.00} charter agreement the XXXX certificate the merchant submitted to Amex shows only his own signature. I signed only a {$3500.00} deposit agreement. The {$20000.00} charge exists outside any valid signed contract entirely. The merchant 's XX/XX/XXXX legal threat letter sent before Amex had even adjudicated the dispute falsely claimed Amex had already sided with him. The dispute was not filed until XX/XX/XXXX. This false statement is evidence of the merchant 's bad faith throughout. How American Express failed to investigate Amex closed the case initially, reopened it after I called, then closed it again within two days without ever contacting me, without reviewing the evidence I submitted, and without allowing me to respond to the merchant 's fraudulent documentation. The merchant submitted a charter agreement to Amex purportedly bearing my signature however the XXXX completion certificate included in that same submission shows only one signer : the merchant himself. My signature does not appear in the XXXX audit trail. Additionally, the signature page of that contract shows my name appearing under the heading " XXXX XXXX '' a third party company I have no affiliation with whatsoever. Amex accepted this document without scrutiny. I submitted a comprehensive appeal in XX/XX/XXXX including a formal statement from an independent aviation industry expert confirming the merchant had no legal authority to operate a commercial charter, and flight tracking data proving the aircraft was not in the claimed departure location on the departure date. Amex did not respond to this evidence. How American Express broke its promise to me On XX/XX/XXXX, American Express XXXX XXXX XXXX personally replied to my appeal : " I will have someone in my office look into this and get back to you. '' American Express never followed up. I have been a continuous paying customer on multiple Amex accounts from that date to today financing a fraudulent charge at Amex interest rates for over two years.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation