Consumer complaint received 2025-11-10 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: CA

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/year> There is an important matter regarding your account we need to chat with you about. Please respond to chat with us now. 
Today XXXX XXXX, please select XXXX of these options, or in a few words tell me what you need help with. 
Hey. Why did you stoop my auto-pay without telling me? Just so you could sneak in late fees? C'mon AmEx make it right Stay on top of your payments by using XXXX to have all or part of your bill paid automatically. If you have multiple Cards, just make sure to select the one you want. 
Manage AutoPay Hey. Why did you sto p my auto-pay without telling me? Just so you could sneak in late fees? C'mon AmEx make it right A Customer XXXX XXXX will be with you shortly. 
Hello, XXXX! My name is XXXX. I got your concern regarding XXXX. Let me check that for you. 
Can you please verify the last XXXX digits of the card that we need to check? 
XXXX Thank you. 
Please stay connected as I check. 
I appreciate your time. 
It appears that the XXXX was cancelled based on the returned rules as there was a returned payment for {$10000.00} on XX/XX/XXXX made from XXXX Bank and XXXX and you've been manually paying since. Also, this bank where XXXX was enrolled to was cancelled as payment method on your account as well. 
Hence, the new bank must be enrolled in the XXXX feature. 
XX/XX/XXXX {$550.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$29.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$56.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$390.00} This is what I'm owed. 
Can you share me where are you seeing that balance? 
I look into my transactions and search for " interest '' and also for " late '' Got it. Yes, that's correct. Late fee was applied as the XXXX statement for {$10000.00} wasn't paid by the due date. Interest was applied for that as well as the balance wasn't paid in full by the due date. 
How long have I been a member with American Express? 
You've been with us for 14 years. 
14 years That's a lot of loyalty That's correct. How can I assist you further with that? 
Very easily : Refund the {$1500.00}. 
You cancelled my autopay without my knowledge. 
Oh, we didn't cancel it without your knowledge. This was regarding the {$10000.00} payment made on XX/XX/XXXX that was returned. An email was sent as well On XX/XX/XXXX stating " This XXXX affect any additional scheduled payments you XXXX have as well as enrollment in payment programs such as XXXX ''. 

Let me process a waiver for those charges. 
Please stay connected as I process the waivers. 
okay Thanks. 
I appreciate your time. 
I've processed a waiver and my request got approved except from the {$550.00} interest. Please allow XXXX to XXXX hours for the other waiver to be fully removed on your end. 

To avoid this in the future, we suggest you setup Autopay. You can enroll using this direct link. www.americanexpress.com/autopay I will stay on the get the remaining {$550.00} waived as well. 
I'm afraid that since my waiver request got declined for that amount, that interest remains on file. 
Who exactly declined it? I would like to talk directly to them. 
It was denied upon review. If it's just me, I'd waive all the interest charges. It's just that all of my requests were approved except for {$550.00} interest. 
Basically, XXXX out o XXXX were approved. 
Who declined it? 
It was an internal review. 
There's no direct team. 
Who reviewed it There's no direct team. Once we process a waiver, it's being reviewed internally and we are only receiving the result afterward. 
I don't think that makes any sense. Did AI review it? 
It wasn't. For waiver request, it's being submitted here on our system and being reviewed. Then the result is being sent after the review. For the waivers, only the {$550.00} wasn't approved. 
I have XXXX hours. I request that you submit a new request. Please request a waiver for {$550.00}. 
I won't hesitate to remove or waive all the interest if it's just me. It's just that the request got declined and the {$550.00} will remain on file. 
Please make a new request, on my behalf. 
It would be the same outcome as the decision has already been given. 
Please truthfully submit a new waiver. 
Sure. 
The request has been submitted and it shows declined. The same outcome will appear as once the decision has been made, it is already recorded on the system. 
Thanks for your help so far. XXXX I request to talk to someone who is able to adjust the system? As a reminder, I was not explicitly told my autopay was cancelled. 
I know this is not the outcome you hoped for, but please know that all colleagues operate with the same guidelines and uphold the same consistency when it comes to the review process. 
I reread the email from XX/XX/XXXX. I was not explicitly told the autopay was cancelled. AmEx is in the wrong here. I am still owed {$550.00} XXXX really want to waive that interest for you as I want to help you reason why I didn't hesitate to process a waiver right away. It just that it got declined and that decision is already final. Though the {$550.00} will remain, I can help you set up the XXXX for your new bank. 
Who can I talk to about the late fee of {$550.00} on XXXX XXXX. 
Keep in mind, that was less than XXXX full days ago. And that includes the entire weekend. 
{$550.00} is the interest based on the balance that got revolved, not on the number of days the balance wasn't paid in full by the due date. 

Please be advised that if the account will be paid less than the full balance by the payment due date, interest will be applied to the amount on the Account until the balance is paid in full. 

I have another XXXX hours. Who else can I talk to? 
I'm afraid that all of my colleague will just advise the same. 
I'm still here, and I'll be here. 
Sure Since the waiver for {$550.00} wasn't approved, do you need further assistance with your account apart from that? 
I have a right to speak with a supervisor or XXXX. 
I need to speak with a supervisor or XXXX about this waiver decision. 
I am ready to file a formal complaint with the CFPB : XXXX XXXX, let me check for an available supervisor. 
Please keep this chat box open as I transfer you. 

Thank you for chatting with me! 
Thank you. 
A Customer Care XXXX will be with you shortly. 
An agent has now joined XXXX XXXX, I am XXXX, XXXX of the managers and I will be assisting you from here on. 
Please allow me couple of minutes to go through the conversation above to assist you better. 
Thank you You are welcome! 
Thank you for your patience. I have gone through the conversation above. 
To summarize : XXXX ) The XX/XX/XXXX notification was ambiguous - " XXXX affect '' is not the same as " my autopay has been cancelled '' XXXX ) You already waived XXXX of XXXX charges- proving there's merit to my case XXXX AM I see that the late fee and few other finance charges are already credited back as a goodwill gesture. No more credits can be applied to the account. 
XXXX ) I have 14 years of loyalty with AmEx - my retention should be valued To directly answer your message, see point XXXX ) XXXX ) You already waived XXXX of XXXX charges- proving there's merit to my case We appreciate your loyalty that is the reason, those finance charges and fee was credited back. 
Do you not understand my autopay was cancelled without American Express explicitly telling me so? What is XXXX XXXX of autopay if we as customers of AmEx can not trust it? 
It means we can not trust American Express itself. 
As I await your response, I am continue to file a formal complaint with CFPB The Auto pay was cancelled in XXXX as a payment was returned. Notification was sent to you informing the same. 
If it says, it XXXX, then this should have been checked on your end. 
Please quote EXACTLY where I was informed my XXXX was cancelled. 
XXXX AM If you can not do that, you owe me. 
XXXX AM We have credited the finance charges back to the account as a goodwill gesture. 
Any more credits can not be applied. 
Funny, you are unable to oblige. 
Please quote EXACTLY where I was informed my XXXX was cancelled. 

If you can not do that, you owe me. ( I am going to share this entire conversation with CFPB. ) XXXX AM Allow me a minute please. 
CFPB is asking : " Did you request information from the company? '' I'm formally requesting you to quote EXACTLY where I was informed my AutoPay was cancelled. 
On XXXX XXXX there was an email sent to you informing that the payment is returned. 
It is mentioned under the heading - Keep in Mind It states - This XXXX affect any additional scheduled payments you XXXX have as well as enrollment in payment programs such as XXXX XXXX. 
Precisely! American Express never communicated that my XXXX was cancelled. 
XXXX AM Below that there is another headline - Here 's what you can do next which states the next step you should have taken. 
If we stated that it XXXX have impacted, it needs to be verified by the user. 
I am afraid any more credits can not be applied. 
Apart from this, is there anything else I can help you with? 
Unfortunately, this is, as yet, still unacceptable. What you quoted makes my point. I was never told my XXXX was cancelled. 
XXXX AM Before that, shall i reactivate the auto pay for you? 
I * Please don't change the subject. 
I am not changing it, I am extending help to help you fix it for future. 
CFPB is still asking : " Did you request information from the company? '' Have I requested information from you? 
Humbly, I am still at my point that any more credits can not be applied. 
Yes, and I have shared it with you. 
Please refer to the email sent to you on XXXX XX/XX/year>. 
CFPB is asking : What information did you request? 

What information have I requested? 
Is this accurate? 

" Please quote EXACTLY where I was informed my XXXX was cancelled. '' ( They could not. ) Their next question is : " Did the company provide this information? '' I have mentioned the exact section of the email where it mentions the impact of return payment and what needs to be done next. 
There was another email sent on XXXX XXXX asking you to enroll in auto pay. 
I am going to say the information was not provided. 

... 

The AmEx rep said : My name is XXXX and the confirmation ID is XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief