June 2016 Complaints Against American Express

Compiled from Public Data by FairShake

If you have an issue with American Express, you’re not alone.

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: June 4, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: CO

Product: Credit card

Issue: Closing/Cancelling account

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: June 4, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: NV

Product: Prepaid card
Sub-Product: Gift or merchant card

Issue: Unauthorized transactions/trans. issues

Full Complaint:
My card, PIN, and ID was compromised. I ‘ve told Amex this several times and they ‘re telling me they the charges are valid and I can not contest to it further. They also shut down my account that ‘s been opened with them for a while. These are the only fraudulent transactions I ‘ve ever encountered on this card and they ‘re refusing to reimburse me, they also refused to give me documentation as to why my claim was denied. They wo n’t even tell me why the transactions are valid over the phone. They did n’t even file the dispute correctly, they owe me more than {0.00}. That ‘s the total they ‘re claiming that I filed for. I can not get thru to them or do anything about this!!!

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: June 5, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: NY

Product: Credit card

Issue: Other

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: June 6, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: NC

Product: Debt collection
Sub-Product: Credit card

Issue: Disclosure verification of debt
Sub-Issue: Not given enough info to verify debt

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: June 5, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: OR

Product: Credit card

Issue: Rewards

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: June 6, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: SC

Product: Credit card

Issue: Rewards

Full Complaint:
I applied the XXXX platinum charge card which offered me XXXX Membership rewards points as the sign-up bonus. It required me finish XXXX dollars purchase within the first three months. However, the system gave me the sign-up bonus on XXXX XXXX and removed them on XXXX XXXX! That made me confused because I knew that I did not fulfill the spending requirement yet. I thought there must be something wrong with the system, so I did not pay attention to it and continued to purchase by using this card in order to satisfy the XXXX dollars spending requirement. However, even after I spent more than {00.00} dollars and waited several months, my account was not credited with the XXXX Membership rewards points. I contacted with XXXX via online chat which said I should make a phone call to XXXX. When I called the XXXX representative, she said I can not get the sign-up bonus because of some cancelled charges. That made me so shocked because I believe I did not cancel any transaction. Moreover, when I asked her to provide me the details which transaction I cancelled, she just told me she did not know and repeat over and over again their so-called ” policy ” -once the sign-up bonus released and would not give back after removing. However, a friend of mine actually also confronted the same situation but got the sign-up bonus back after contacting XXXX! Their explanation is unacceptable because the fault is not made by me but XXXX system. I conservatively value XXXX Membership reward points equal to XXXX cents, so XXXX Membership rewards points are equal to {00.00} dollars. Therefore, I have to suspect that XXXX intentionally gave me and took back the XXXX, XXXX Membership rewards points sign-up bonus within 2 days in order to deprive my rights to acquire them.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with non-monetary relief


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: June 5, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: CA

Product: Credit card

Issue: Rewards

Full Complaint:
Dear XXXX, I received an email from American Express to offer me a new Business Gold Rewards Card. The welcome offer for the card, as described in the email, is to get XXXX Membership Rewards ( R ) points after I spend {00.00} on purchases with the Business Gold Rewards Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. My application must be received by XXXX XXXX, 2015 to be eligible for this offer.

I was not sure if I need the card but though the welcome offer was generous and finally applied the card and got approved on XXXX XXXX, 2015.

However, 3 months after I met the spending requirement, I did not receive the XXXX Membership Rewards ( R ) points so far. I have contacted American Express many times ( through phone and online chat ), but never get the issue solved. They told me my welcome offer was XXXX Membership Rewards ( R ) points after I spend {000.00} on purchases with the Business Gold Rewards Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. And, since the 3 months already passed and I spent less than {000.00} on my card, they can not offer the XXXX Membership Rewards ( R ) points.

Although I still has the email and offered to forward them the email, but they never asked for the email. They simply declined the welcome offer they sent to me.

Please help me to make American Express do what they promised.

Thank you very much.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: June 5, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: TX

Product: Credit card

Issue: Rewards

Full Complaint:
I applied for an American Express Gold Card and was accepted, the splash page of their website advertisement says nothing of the XXXX bonus points not being available if you ‘ve had their gold card at any time in the past ( XX/XX/XXXX for me ). I ‘ve also received a typed advertisement for their American Express Platinum Card and no where in this promotional advertisement ( that I can find ) does it state if you ‘ve ever had their Platinum Card in the past ( XX/XX/XXXX for me ) are you not eligible for the XXXX bonus points that is part of the offer, and yet the American Express Customer Service representative, supervisor, and manager has explained that this would indeed be the case for their Platinum Card as well.

I ‘ve been duped and I do n’t like it. This is false advertisement at best. This has caused me to acquire an unnecessary inquiry on my credit file. I quickly closed the Gold Card account that I was approved for, and will pay it in its entirety once I am billed. While the manager herself explained it ‘s one of the most challenging and difficult conversations to have with their customers and apologized, and also states this harms American Express ‘ brand, this does not make me whole. Removal of their inquiry and the account from my credit bureau is preferred, and {0.00} or the functional equivalent. Conversations XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, and manager call back XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX 15min 29sec.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: June 5, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: MN

Product: Credit card

Issue: Rewards

Full Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX American Express solicited me with a ” new offer ” to apply for a Delta Skymiles credit card. The offer I received explained that I would receive XXXX Delta Skymiles if I completed the application and then used the credit card to purchase {00.00} worth of goods within the first 3 months of receiving the card. I applied for the card and spent {00.00} before XXXX XXXX. I contacted XXXX at AMEX customer service on XXXX XXXX inquiring about the miles not credited to my Skymiles account and he opened case # XXXX. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX I received my next account statement and I still had not received credit from American Express, even though i had spent the {00.00} in eligible expenses. When I contacted AmEx customer service I was transferred to a supervisor who informed me that I am not eligible to receive the offer because I had opened a Delta American Express card years ago. American Express clearly had that information when they sent me the new offer for a new American Express card in XX/XX/XXXX. I can not understand how its ethical or even legal to send someone a false and misleading offer for credit promising incentives that you will later claim you will not honor. I am requesting that American Express honor the offer they sent to me promising XXXX Delta Sky Miles after I spent {00.00} on a new American Express card. I accepted the offer in good faith and I expect American Express to complete the offer as it was described in their credit solicitation.

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


Complaint Details:

Date of Complaint: June 5, 2016

Company Official Name: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

State: AZ

Product: Credit card

Issue: Closing/Cancelling account

Company response:

Response Type: Closed with explanation


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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