Consumer complaint received 2025-06-17 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Unexpected increase in interest rate
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: HI

Complaint narrative:
This is a continuation of Complaint XXXX. 

The following is more information American Express should be aware of. 


XXXX XXXX American Express XXXX Customer Service XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Sunrise, Florida XXXX Account Ending : XXXX Dear XXXX XXXX, I am in receipt of your letter dated XX/XX/XXXX. In response, I would first like to say, this is a more complicated issue than you XXXX be aware of. I feel it imperative to review the matter with you for there is additional information provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to which American Express has not addressed or responded too as of yet. Also, by virtue of this letter, I have other vital information to share. 

It is my intention to lay out the entire situation as it has developed. Please understand, theres no way I can casually dismiss this issue under these circumstances. However, before moving away from a dialog with American Express to find resolution, I prefer trying to convince American Express there is clearly a moral injustice here and only American Express can fix it short of litigation. 

I have been a loyal American Express XXXX XXXX XXXX for 40 years. Actually, I think I XXXX have been among the founding members of the XXXX card program. Ive never made a late payment or had a Payment denied by my Bank. After extensive explanation, its extremely disheartening to see American Express treat me this way. I had an XXXX. XXXX XXXX at the time of this issue. Clearly, there was no factual cause for such a severe penalty in the first place and certainly not XXXX to warrant a XXXX penalty with no explanation. There are common courtesies in the professional world that I would have thought American Express would extend. Unless I misread the XXXX XXXX of XXXX, it is my understanding there is a XXXX penalty expiration rule that apparently was not followed. You say your actions were based on valid reasons and in accordance with policy and procedures. Please provide me with a detailed accounting of these valid reasons, policies and procedures as well as the legal authority that led you to inflict such maximum harm? 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I entered an online payment of {$1000.00} to my account from the American Express payment portal on your website, as usual. You say that payment was returned because you couldnt find the account provided. XXXX you find that a bit strange. My payment information has been stored unchanged in your system for years. Payments have been made from that data for years with no returned payments. You shouldve already received a copy of my Bank XXXX to verify the funds were clearly in the Bank ( statement enclosed ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I checked my Bank account to see if the payment had been madeit had not. I thought well, maybe tomorrow. I didnt become aware that my payment had been returned until I checked my AMEX XXXX account to make sure the funds had been received. I do that every time I make a payment. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I saw the online alert advising me of the alleged returned payment. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called AMEX customer service to straighten the mess out. I was told that once a payment was returned, the banking information for that particular Bank is automatically deleted from the system. We re-entered the same banking information as before and the payment was made. It was withdrawn from the Bank on XX/XX/XXXX, 4 days prior to the due date of XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX XXXX, right? I viewed it as an algorithm hiccup quickly rectified. There was no mention of any forthcoming penalty rate. After the fact, I was told you were not obligated to notify a card holder of a penalty rate and all that was in my card holder agreement. 

Further, your customer service representative advised me, if I had complained earlier about the penalty rate, all of this could have been avoided and been rectified without additional interest charges. You should perhaps check your recording of the conversation on this. My question was and still is, if it could have been avoided then, why cant it be rectified now? Of course, if I had been made aware of what American Express intended to do, I would have been all over it. But, not knowing, I assumed that since the matter was quickly addressed, corrected, and rectified prior to the due date, the matter was favorably resolved. 

After 40 years of doing business with American Express, my oversight was simply due to XXXX trust and perhaps a little to do with my age. As always, I get my statement from American Express and I pay it. I didnt realize what had happened until after the first of the year ( XXXX ). I noticed the interest charged was a lot less. I sure thought that was unusual and I started questioning what happened and here we are. 

Apparently, my usual XXXX rate was reduced from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX YOU VERY MUCH! You are correct that the rate was increased to the maximum penalty rate of XXXX XXXX 

XXXX American Express like I did, I incorrectly assumed the problem was due to a Bank error. I have discussed this extensively with Bank officials and have recently come to learn that my Bank has no internal data to indicate they returned a payment. They are adamant about that and are prepared to provide a sworn notarized affidavit to that effect. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should have provided American Express with a copy of the Banks internal activity report reflecting the only transaction made to American Express in the month of XX/XX/XXXX a payment of {$1000.00} to American Express posted on XX/XX/XXXX. This account has very little activity and is used primarily for making credit card payments. 

You should also note from the enclosed Bank statement there are no insufficient funds fees, overdraft fees, or Bank fees of any kind. If the Bank denied payment there would be fees associated with that denial. 

Your customer service representative suggested all of this was caused by my oversight stating that it wasnt XXXX XXXX XXXX said that if it had been XXXX XXXX fault, they would make it right. XXXX, from what I have learned, it appears the problem is most likely an American Express system error more so than a Bank error. 

I would ask that American Express reconsider its position and refund the almost {$5000.00} penalty American Express imposed. If I have not received favorable consideration within 30 days, I will assume American Express is not interested in any further discussion on this matter. I have very little desire to seek a legal remedy but I will have no choice. I am XXXX XXXX XXXX, retired and on a fixed income. I can not afford for American Express to stand on such an unfair position. 

Your immediate attention and favorable consideration would be greatly appreciated. 

Regards, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation