Consumer complaint received 2024-06-11 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: CA

Complaint narrative:
To whom it may concern, XX/XX/2024 I purchased XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX, using American Express travel services. The tickets were booked for my minor son and myself. 
Booking Confirmation # : XXXX total amount was {$8600.00} The tickets were booked with XXXXXXXX XXXX however it was being held by XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX At the time of the booking, I was unable to select the seating. I went ahead and completed the purchase process and then was directed to the XXXX website in order to select my seats. 

I had to then set up an account on the XXXX website in order to select the seats. I did so and started to select my seats. At that time, I noticed on the return flight ( XXXX XXXX ) they were no business seats that were side-by-side and they were staggered. Since I am traveling with a minor, I needed the seats to be side-by-side. 

I went back to the American Express travel website, re-entered the same exact dates and the same passengers to and from the same destination, and I saw there was a different flight on the return, leaving the same day just a few hours later. I attempted to change the return but Amex website does not allow that. It requires you to rebook a new flight and cancel the previous flightEven though it was done minutes before. 

I rebooked that flight and then went ahead and selected the side by side seats that I needed. 
Booking Confirmation # : XXXX No other changes were made, just the return time that has a different plane seating configuration. 

I then went back to the original reservation and I canceled those tickets on the Amex website. 

A few days later, I was going to pay my bill online and noticed that the amount I paid for the first set of tickets were not refunded to me. I was still being billed for both reservations. 

I called American Express and they told me that the XXXX already expired and they could not assist me. I called the airlines multiple times and they told me my tickets were flagged as duplicate and they would give me a refund, however, because it was purchased through American Express. I had to deal with them. 
I called Amex again and was told XXXX did the ticket, so I must deal with XXXX. 

After multiple attempts with American Express representatives, I was informed to just file of dispute with American Express, which I did, and I was credited the amount of XXXX. The credit dispute for {$4300.00} was denied. 

I called again to ask about that and was told by Amex rep that the code the agent used for the {$4300.00} charge was not the same. He said, he needs to close out the {$4300.00} dispute and resubmit using the same codes that was used for the {$4300.00}. 

As you can see, this was very frustrating for me. He said it would take a week to show up as a credit. 

I called again, week later and was told, no resubmit was ever made. The woman at Amex said she would resubmit and asked me to check back in 7 days. 

Now I get an email from Amex saying the credit for {$4300.00} has been reversed. 
I did use the tickets for XXXX I have spent countless hours on this and now, want a resolution ending with a full credit for both tickets. 

A duplicate ticket shouldve never been issued, and this is not my fault I did use the other tickets as planned Booking Confirmation # : XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation