Consumer complaint received 2026-03-12 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Other problem
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Description of Fraudulent Chargeback XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX retained our company to provide professional services, including branding development, packaging design, and e-commerce website design and development. The services were commissioned, delivered, and partially paid for by the client prior to the chargeback dispute. See attached Scope of work 1. Initial Engagement and Approved Work Between XX/XX/year> and XX/XX/year>, XXXX XXXX XXXX engaged our company to design the brand identity and packaging for their chocolate products. The scope of work included brand development, packaging design, and production-ready assets. The work was completed and delivered to the client. The client reviewed and approved the deliverables, and all invoices associated with this phase of the project were paid in full and on time. The packaging and branding assets created by our company are currently being used in the clients commercial products. In addition, our company retains physical prototypes and development materials demonstrating the design and production process. 2. E-commerce Design and Development Project Following the successful completion of the branding and packaging engagement, XXXX XXXX XXXX engaged our company to design and develop an e-commerce website. The agreed project budget for the website development was approximately {$25000.00}. The client ultimately failed to pay the final invoice of {$7100.00} associated with the e-commerce development work. After multiple attempt to get the invoice paid we wrote to them to inform our legla action against them. 3. Chargeback Filed Through American Express Rather than resolving the outstanding balance through normal commercial channels, XXXX XXXX XXXX filed a chargeback through American Express seeking reimbursement for previously paid services, claiming that they never engaged with us and never received the material/services. The chargeback included the following amounts : Approximately {$3800.00} related to the branding and packaging design work described above ( See email attached here from XXXX to their packaging vendor ) {$7100.00} related to a payment made for the e-commerce design and development project ( see email attached here to their legal, requesting closure of unpaid invoices and of last pieces of change or order to launch the website ) The client paid invoice via XXXX XXXX service using their Amex In the chargeback submission, the client alleged that the services had not been commissioned and that no work had been delivered. These statements are false and materially misleading. 4. Evidence of Services Commissioned and Delivered Substantial documentary evidence exists demonstrating that the services were properly commissioned, performed, and delivered. This evidence includes, but is not limited to : Approved branding and packaging assets currently being used by the client in commercial products Email correspondence confirming project requests, feedback, and approvals Design files, revisions, and project documentation generated during the course of the work Development records and deliverables associated with the e-commerce website Physical prototypes related to the packaging design work All of this evidence was submitted to American Express during the dispute process. 5. Chargeback Outcome Despite the documentation provided, American Express processed and approved the chargeback, resulting in the reversal of approximately {$12000.00} in payments for services that had already been commissioned, completed, delivered, and in part commercially utilized by the client. Following the decision, no meaningful opportunity to appeal the determination was provided. American Express indicated that the appropriate recourse would be to pursue the matter directly with the client through legal channels. 6. Basis for Fraud Concern The chargeback was filed after the services had been fully delivered and after the client had begun using the deliverables in their commercial operations. Based on the documented commissioning of the work, the clients approvals, the payments previously made, and the ongoing commercial use of the deliverables, the chargeback appears to represent a fraudulent reversal of legitimate business transactions.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation