Consumer complaint received 2025-06-05 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
I am submitting this formal complaint against American Express ( Amex ) due to the mishandling of multiple fraudulent charges made to my account by a merchant named XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, in XXXX, XXXX, totaling over {$14000.00} XXXX. These charges were processed by a merchant that later submitted four separate transactions despite the fact that I was told my card had been declined that evening and I paid in cash.

Despite my formal dispute submission, Amex has closed these cases and repeatedly rebilled my account without fully addressing key pieces of evidence or investigating core issues, including : A charge processed as an " IC + PIN '' transaction ( seen in receipt 4 attached ), even though I have never set up or used a PIN for my Amex card.

Forged receipts containing signatures that do not match my actual signature, including receipts with what appear to be " practice signatures. '' One receipt with my authentic signature ( {$990.00} ), which is markedly different from the other signatures such as on the larger disputed charge ( {$5400.00} ), further supporting my claim of forgery on the latter.

Excessive charges that included more than 20 bottles of champagne for a single night which is completely inconsistent with my typical spending habits and likely indicative of merchant fraud or coercion.

I provided evidence including my legitimate signature, documentation of ATM withdrawals used for the cash payment, evidence that I do not have a PIN or access to that over my AMEX portal and screenshots of declined transactions from other banks that were flagged as fraud on the same night.

Amexs final response stated that the charges were valid solely because the merchant provided hand-written receipts with no investigation into the authenticity of the signatures, the PIN misuse, or the highly questionable nature of the transaction amounts.

Further, Amex instructed me to resolve the matter directly with the merchant. This contradicts Regulation Z ( 12 CFR 1026.13 ( f ) ), which obligates the card issuer to resolve disputes and not shift responsibility back to the cardholder to handle directly with the merchant. 

In addition, I went to the XXXX XXXX  XXXX to report the incident and spoke with Officer XXXX, who works under Officer XXXX of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I was informed that they could not file an official report because Amex was considered the technical victim of the fraud. Despite this, Amex has never confirmed whether they attempted to contact the police to verify my account. 

In addition to the mishandled investigation : On XX/XX/XXXX, Amex representative XXXX ( ID : XXXX ) promised a callback from Executive Customer Relations. I never received one.

On a later date, after follow-up, Senior Disputes Officer XXXX ( ID : XXXX ) also assured me that a note would be left for Executive Relations to contact me. Again, no callback occurred. 

This dispute process has demonstrated a complete lack of follow-through and proper consumer protection, particularly given the financial severity of the fraud and the clear signs of merchant abuse. 

What I Am Requesting : A formal reinvestigation of the fraud charges Consideration of an exception-based resolution given the extensive documentation and merchant misconduct Assurance that Amex upholds its fraud protection guarantees in line with Regulation Z

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief