Consumer complaint received 2025-12-27 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint regarding repeated failures by American Express to correctly update my address, issuance of an incorrect card, multiple card delivery failures, misinformation from representatives, excessive service delays, and the significant time burden placed on me as a customer. 

I applied for and was approved for the American Express Platinum Card on XX/XX/XXXX. Upon approval, I was presented only with the option to accept or reject the offer. In order to confirm approval, I accepted the offer. At that stage, I was not given the opportunity to review, confirm, or edit my address details, including adding my apartment number. Once the offer was accepted, the card was automatically issued and shipped, with no ability to go back and correct the address beforehand. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the same day I was approved, I contacted American Express to add my apartment number. I was told I needed to wait 24 hours before the address could be updated. After waiting 24 hours, I contacted American Express again and was then informed that I needed to wait until an initial delivery attempt was made before a replacement card could be issued. 

As a result, the first card was delivered without my apartment number and was delivered to my building management, where it was placed in a miscellaneous/common package room, making it difficult to retrieve. 

When I retrieved and opened this package, I discovered that the card inside was not the correct or updated card I had requested. I contacted American Express to report this and requested that the correct updated card be sent. During this call, I again clearly and explicitly confirmed my full address, including apartment number XXXX, and was assured the address had been updated. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, following these discussions, a replacement card was issued. During this call, I was again explicitly told on a recorded call that my address had been corrected and that the new card would be sent correctly. 

Despite these repeated confirmations, I later received an email stating that delivery of the replacement card failed due to a missing apartment number, confirming that the address had not been updated as promised. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, after continued delivery issues, I contacted American Express via chat. After speaking with a representative and receiving no resolution, I was placed on hold for a supervisor for over 40 minutes, with the estimated wait time repeatedly increasing. I also called American Express by phone that same day and again received no meaningful resolution. 

After multiple complaints, American Express offered only a {$20.00} statement credit, which does not reasonably reflect the repeated delivery failures, incorrect card issuance, misinformation provided on recorded calls, excessive delays, or the several hours I spent attempting to resolve issues that should have been corrected during the first interaction. 

This experience directly contradicts how the Platinum Card is advertised and marketed. American Express promotes the Platinum Card as offering premium service, priority support, and seamless onboarding. Instead, I experienced repeated agent errors after confirmation, issuance of the wrong card, multiple failed deliveries, and prolonged escalation delays. The gap between the advertised Platinum experience and the service actually delivered is misleading for a premium product with a high annual fee. 

Additionally, the repeated failure to update a simple address detail despite multiple confirmations on recorded calls, combined with the issuance of an incorrect card and continued delivery failures, constitutes operational negligence. Reasonable care was not exercised in handling basic account information, resulting in avoidable errors, unnecessary delays, and an unreasonable burden placed on the customer. 


This issue should never have occurred and certainly not multiple times.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation