December 2016 Complaints Against American Express

Compiled from Public Data by FairShake

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The US government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) collects complaints against financial companies.

In 2016, the CFPB received 2375 complaints against American Express. American Express ranked Number 15 among all financial companies for the most complaints.


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Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 7, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: VA

Product: Credit card

Issue: Other fee

Full Complaint:
American Express card was issued since XXXX through XXXX with no annual fee. Account converted to XXXX XXXX American Express card and no fee was charged at conversion. XXXX XXXX annual fee of {.00} charged but statement was put in incorrect XXXX. Called American Express the moment it arrived in XXXX. I asked that the potential to cancel/have refund of annual fee be considered. Was told it was escalated and to call back in XXXX7 days. Called back on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX and was told no annual fee was ever waived. Asked to cancel the card/pay remaining balance and have fee refunded. Was transferred to another area offering {.00} off. Asked to cancel card/pay remaining balance and was transferred multiple times and then was lost in the number punching. I did not ever request the conversion to XXXX XXXX, have never paid bill late or not in full, have excellent credit and would like the {.00} credited. Have ceased usage of the card. Will pay remaining balance minus {.00} and hope to have situation resolved. Not understanding why i should have to call back in multiple times vs. American Express reaching out to me. Could not answer my inquiries of when there was any advance communication of the fee to be charged. Have spent & gt ; 45 minutes on phone attempting to resolve a card that is used & lt ; $ 400 monthly and have not flown XXXX XXXX in years ( nor chose this conversion ). While some customer service representatives appeared to want to assist, appeared their hands were tied.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 7, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: CA

Product: Prepaid card
Sub-Product: General purpose card

Issue: Managing, opening, or closing account

Full Complaint:
Amex Serve has a policy of holding a consumers funds 7 days after a transaction is cancelled. They claim to not have the ability to release the funds even if you submit proof from the merchant that the transaction has indeed been cancelled. I submitted a complaint within the last 3-4 weeks and received a vaguely worded response that in no way addressed my concerns. While I ‘m quite sure this practice is not illegal, it is a great inconvenience to the consumer.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 7, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: NY

Product: Credit card

Issue: Customer service / Customer relations

Complaint Tags: Older American

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 7, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: NY

Product: Credit card

Issue: Billing disputes

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 8, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: VA

Product: Credit card

Issue: Advertising and marketing

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 7, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: TN

Product: Credit card

Issue: Billing disputes

Full Complaint:
I called to cancel my subscription after receiving a monthly bill on my XXXX AMEX statement for {.00} charged XXXX/XXXX/16. I placed a block on my account so XXXX XXXX could not charge me anymore. I called again and asked them to cancel my subscription. XXXX XXXX charged me {0.00} again the next month XXXX/XXXX/16.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 7, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: IN

Product: Credit card

Issue: Closing/Cancelling account

Full Complaint:
This complain is a follow up to the response from the American Express since the response raised further question. The original case # is : XXXX.

Why is the conversion limited to Blue Cash Everyday? Why ca n’t I convert the discontinued card to Blue Cash or Blue Cash Preferred?

The response raised further question. Because American Express purposely delays the rewards unlike other credit card issuers ( 1 month behind giving the earned rewards ), there is an issue if I would not let the conversion goes through. If I cancel the card and apply for the Blue Cash today as it stated on the response, I have to forfeit two months ( XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX since my statement date is on XX/XX/XXXX ) of what I righteously earned. Due to the discontinuation of the card, can you accelerate the rewards so that I can close this Cash Rebate card after I redeem both XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX cashbacks within this month, and apply for the Blue Cash within this month? I just do n’t understand why I ‘m being penalized for the American Express ‘s decision on this forced conversion.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 8, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: CA

Product: Credit card

Issue: Closing/Cancelling account

Full Complaint:
American express tricked me to keeping my account open.

I called American express on XX/XX/2016 regarding my American express XXXX business account. I inquired if there is any retention offer that can help me decide if I should keep my account. An agent told me that she is able to add a retention offer, ‘spending XXXX on the account and get XXXX XXXX points in 3 months. ‘ Then I asked if she can send me a confirmation email, but she told me that she ca n’t. However, she left her name XXXX with agent id XXXX. Then I finished the spending requirement on XXXX XXXX, but I have n’t received my spending bonus on XX/XX/2016. Hence I called American express on XX/XX/2016 and inquired if my spending is eligible for spending bonus and how long it will take to get my bonus points. The agent responded with ‘sorry there is no retention offer on your account, and you are not eligible for any bonus points. ‘ Then I asked if she can locate the agent XXXX with agent id XXXX, but she answered ‘no XXXX is not here. ‘ Then I ended the call but found I was tricked by American express because American express agents tried to keep my accounts with fake offer and names/ids. Now I can not get my annual fee refund because it has been passed 30 days since annual fee posted.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 8, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: WA

Product: Credit card

Issue: Identity theft / Fraud / Embezzlement

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with non-monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: December 8, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: OH

Product: Credit card

Issue: Other

Complaint Tags: Older American, Servicemember

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with non-monetary relief


FairShake accessed this complaint from the public archives of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). You can file your own complaint with the CFPB here.

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