Consumer complaint received 2025-08-17 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: MA

Complaint narrative:
My application for the American Express Gold card was approved on XX/XX/XXXX. I received my membership agreement in the mail shortly after. This membership agreement, which I have attached, states that I will have no annual membership fee. On XX/XX/XXXX, I used the American Express chat to contact customer service in an attempt to ensure that I would have no annual membership fee. I did this intending to cancel the card if I was told that I had to pay an annual membership fee. I was aware at that time ( XX/XX/XXXX ) that I was well within the XXXX window for cancelling my card without repercussion ( being as that the application approval was only XXXX weeks prior, on XX/XX/XXXX ). I ultimately found this chat conversation to be unhelpful. I then called American Express customer service ( still XX/XX/XXXX ) in the hope that a spoken conversation would prove more helpful. 

On a recorded call, I spoke with a customer service representative who informed me that I had received a waiver for the first year of my membership - that I would not be charged the {$320.00} annual membership fee for my first year. After this first year, I would be charged the {$320.00} annual fee. Having confirmed this, I elected not to cancel the card. In XXXX of XXXX, I returned to my home in XXXX and found that American Express had mailed an edited membership agreement to me. On this edited copy, it stated information in opposition to what had been communicated to me by the AmEx representative on XX/XX/XXXX : this edited membership agreement stated that I will receive an annual membership fee of {$320.00} in my first year. I checked my payment history on the card and found that AmEx had, in fact, charged my account for {$320.00} only XXXX days after my XX/XX/XXXX phone call with the representative. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called American Express to open a dispute in an attempt to be reimbursed for this {$320.00} charge. My position for this dispute was that I received a membership agreement that stated no annual membership fee, and when I called to verify that information on XX/XX/XXXX, I received confirmation that I would not be charged a first-year membership fee. 

It seemed likely to me that an error had occurred on the AmEx end, in which they incorrectly offered me a waived first-year fee. I decided that it is fine, on the premise that I be reimbursed the {$320.00} charge ; again, my position being that AmEx misled me to reasonably believe I would not be charged and did so at a time when I could have cancelled the card had I received correct information. Now, on XX/XX/XXXX, it was too late to cancel the card without repercussion ( the XXXX window had passed ). AmEx delayed this dispute for a long time, forcing me to call in every XXXX weeks to " escalate '' the case. My XX/XX/XXXX case ( XXXX ) eventually became a new case ( XXXX ) for which I was told a decision would not be made for " XXXX business days ... or longer. '' On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted American Express customer service to see if a decision had been made ( at no point in this entire process did anyone from AmEx reach out to me to inform me of case updates ). I spoke with a representative who informed me that all cases had been closed and that AmEx had decided not to reimburse my {$320.00} first-year charge. The position taken by the reviewers ( with whom I was not allowed to speak ) was that my original application had the first-year membership fee, and, in their opinion, that was enough to justify the charge. I responded that the most recent information I received, including the membership agreement ( which, by definition, states the terms of the agreement ), made it clear that I would not be charged a first-year annual membership fee. Being the most recent information, I argued that I was misled into believing I would not be charged. 

Furthermore, I made it clear during this conversation that, had I received the correct information during my XX/XX/XXXX phone call and on my membership agreement, I would have cancelled the card within the XXXX window. Because I had been misled in this manner, I argued, I should be reimbursed the {$320.00} first-year annual membership fee. The representative stated that she had not personally listened to the XX/XX/XXXX recording, but someone else had and, having listened to it, decided it was not substantial enough for providing a reimbursement. I asked to speak with someone who could speak to the content of that XX/XX/XXXX phone call, but was not allowed to do so. I was told at this time that the case had been closed and there was no further method of proceeding to work with AmEx to dispute the decision. As such, I now file this report with CFPB. 

Finally, I would add that, for me, the reimbursement money is far less important than the principle that a major U.S. company ought not have the wiggle room ( nonetheless, the desire! ) to so blatantly take advantage of an individual U.S. consumer. It is for the latter reason that I take the time to detail this report.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation