American Express
reviews and complaints

I recently made a room reservation via Amex Travel on the phone about 3 weeks out from date of check-in. The first thing I mentioned to agent was that I remembered seeing Lowest Price Guarantee on the room/hotel I was interested in. The booking agent said to submit the claim after making the booking and before the cancellation policy applies. This indicates to me there is some time between making the booking and cancellation kicking in.

I submitted the claim minutes after making the booking. Amex claims that because the room reservation is not cancellable, they will not honor the lowest price.

Amex should never have offered the Lowest Price Guarantee for this hotel/booking. It is impossible for ANYONE to be able to submit a claim and get a refund on the price difference. Maybe that is the idea? I cannot imagine that a company like Amex with a stellar reputation would stoop to a bait-and-switch tactic.

If I am offered a booking with a price protection and informed I should submit a claim before any cancellation penalties kick in, it is understood that there is a window of time between making the booking and when the cancellation penalties kick in, allowing me to submit the claim.

It is truly shocking they have stooped to this level.

I want to say something about AMEX. Their Auto Payment feature is very bad. It doesn't recognize when you have paid the bill early and it will bill you again for the amount it has due, even when you have paid it days earlier. Many people are complaining of this problem and Amex refuses to address it. What makes matters worse is Amex will only send you a credit check out. They won't credit back the money. Basically they are getting interest off of that money until the check they send you clears. I'm going to continue to post this everywhere until they address this. This is bad business which I know will lead to many people cancelling memberships. We need to stop using credit cards unless we have no other choice. We have to hit them in the pockets the way they do us.

Let's see after about 1HR! on the phone with different representatives... at the end it seems I could not get a hold of a supervisor at all! I just applied for the blue cash and heard it was a decent card. After two months of waiting and getting letters about additional information/confirmations needed- I was relieve that today it would all be taken care of- I WAS WRONG! I had to play phone tag, be transfer to numerous individual, one who shall not be named told me to call back- I refused as I had waited so long. If the service had been better, I might have overlooked the wait, the back and forth; however service is by far the worst I've had in years!
I asked to speak to a supervisor at the end and again, I waited and finally got a hold of a supervisor who said she is not the one I need to speak to and transferred me- again I waited. Someone came on and after several " I can not hear you" she hung up and I called back with more wait time.

I am reconsidering this card membership! what a shame, I haven't even receive my card yet. Imagine if service is this poor while they are trying to get me to sign up- how bad it would be when I have an issue or concern?

Is there a better way to make sure that things work out for the best next time? Is there a direct number to call to make sure I speak to someone who knows what they are doing instead of being transfer back and forth and spoken to like I am a child?

Not very happy and at this rate, NO. I will not recommend to anyone I know. I just hope it was all worth it for me. Please reconsider this membership if you value time and headaches!

I had an American Express Platinum card. I did fall behind but agreed to pay in a timely manor. I did pay all payment exactly on time and never fell behind. They promised to give my card back with miles on it if I keep paying on time. I paid them and they did have a credit on the card in June and July cause I keep paying on it. They then sent me a letter saying that if I paid for it they would reinstate my card. It never came in. I called and Zwicker and Associates told me to wait a little time more and it would be returned to me. I called American Express last week they said that would not reinstate my card. I have their letter stating that they would.
First how many other people have gown through this deception. I think its false advertising. Come to look back at this the are being deceptive to collect monies owed. I would have paid them any way. This should be illegal or something promise the sky and let that gray cloud hit you again.

American Express recently changed the agreement to my credit card. I felt that this was unjust as I had a satisfactory credit line with them so I cancelled the account. When I cancelled the account, I told the agent that I wanted my annual fee refunded - $95.00. I was told that it would be credited to my account. The next month I did not receive my annual fee so I called again and was told by another customer service agent that my fee would show up on the next month. This month the fee is not refunded, so I called again and was told that I needed to have done this within the first 60 days. After 60 days, they are going to stick their customers regardless. They are the ones who changed the terms to my account. This seems with the outrageous membership fee and what they charge for interest they should be set for life.

I recommend that anyone considering purchasing an American Express/ Bluebird prepaid debit card that you steer clear of doing so. They misrepresent their services for this card. Stating you can reload your card for$1 and then you are unable to find the reload cards. The card costs $5.95 up front and then no fees after that except a reload fee of $1. Then when you can't find any refill card because the company no longer offers the reload option they will try to sell you another card for another upfront fee and then the only way to reload is to buy a greendot card for $4.95 every time you want to reload the card. This is false advertising and misrepresentation. I recommend you never use their services. It's a scam.

On going through papers of my father, who died in February 2006, I find that on July 24, 2006, my mother has sent to American Express Travel Related Services Company - Redemption Unit - World Wide Traveler Cheques Operations Center, Salt Lake City, Utah [protected], USA, through R Net Worldwide Courier, five American Express Travelers Cheques Nos. RA 183.184.335, RA 183.184.336, RA 183.184.337, RA 183.184.338 and RA 183.184.339 of one hundred Dollars each purchased by my deceased father, SHAMSHER KASHYAP, for refund with Refund Claim for Travelers Cheques - Deceased Purchaser duly completed along with the required documents. However, my mother has not received the refund so far or any communication in this regard. I shall be grateful if you would kindly look into the matter and let me know at my Email ID [protected]@vsnl.com. Thanks.
Nita Sanjiv Jhurani

American Express recently came out with a new prepaid debit card called Blue Bird debit card. It has no monthly fees and no purchase fees. Basically the only fee it has a $1.00 reload fee with their reload cards. The problem is they came out with this card and it was sold through Walmart. Then after a short time the cards were pulled from Walmart but the problem is they offered no other outlet for their reload cards. After contacting American express they had no answer except that I could reload it through my checking account. If I had a checking account I would not need a prepaid debit card.

We closed both our American Express personal and merchant accounts after 21 years with the company. Our account was flagged by an overzealous Amex Fraud Department who felt one charge looked funny. Our account was frozen without any notification. When my Wife called to find out what was wrong the Woman who heads the department was immediately aggressive, condescending, and proceeded to threaten my Wife with damaging her credit by closing our account - unless we did exactly as she said. She told my Wife that she could not call anyone else for help and that each call would be routed directly to her, so we may as well not bother to go over her head. This woman was so cruel that my wife broke down in tears on the phone, and she is no shrinking violet by any standard. For 21 years we have been model customers, on time with our payments and never had any adverse issues with Amex. For Amex to mistreat us in this manner is an unacceptable standard of business practice. We talked to several CSR reps who were sympathetic and empathetic but had absolutely no power in regard to straightening the problem out. Amex's own employees were horrified by our experience and did their best to help, but my impression was that the FD runs things without much oversight. In the end we decided to pay off the total debt and close the account on the spot before the department head could follow through on her threat to purposely ruin our credit for "non-compliance". It is our humble opinion that the employees in that department need further training in their people skills set and anger management. I will never again do business with that company as either a private individual or as a merchant. They say the best message you can send to a business with poor standards is to vote with your feet, I agree wholeheartedly.

I have been a loyal member of American Express since 2002. I have one other credit card than American Express and have a credit score of over 800. Last month I paid my card off in full however did it after the midnight cut off. I called to see if AMEX would work with me to credit the $25 late fee and the $47 in interest charges and they declined. Discover Card accomodates and I never have issues. Amex is not worth the money if you are looking for a credit card.

I had filed an earlier complaint with the CFPB regarding American Express asking for my tax return information from the last three years. I found out why this happened- I received an AmEx Delta Miles Gold card, and shredded it and the paperwork without even looking at it, thinking it was an unsolicited offer from AmEx. About three days later, finally, on about my ninth call to American Express regarding this matter, I found out that there was a second person signed on to the card named Arnold Gonzales. I don't know any Arnold Gonzales and have no idea who that is. However, yesterday morning, when I was getting my mail at my mailbox down the hill, the mail delivery person was there and I gave her back a letter that was in with my mail- it was sent to MY address in the name of Arnold Gonzales and was from American Express. I did also have the three credit agencies put a 90-day fraud watch on my credit account. My original AmEx card and this Delta Miles Card I never applied for were both cancelled by me immediately. Why would someone named Arnold Gonzales try to defraud me by being a second cardholder on this Delta Gold Card, then send it to me, and then have a letter sent to my address in his name? The only way I can see this making any sense is either a mistake or fraud within American Express by one or more employees. They supposedly do not send out cards to two different addresses(or maybe they do) so how would someone named Arnold Gonzales know the number on the card? The problem at American Express is, when I first found out about a suspension of charging privileges the same day I received the Delta Gold card I never applied for, I wasn't able to call them until the next day. I kept asking for the reason they wanted my tax return information to verify my income and received answers like "it's in the card agreement" or "we're a bank holding company, not just a credit card company, so we ask for tax records to verify income." Well, every credit card I've ever received has been through a bank so I don't know what they're talking about. As I mentioned, not until I had called back about 10 times did someone in their customer service department mention the Delta Gold Miles card and put me through to their fraud department. And it wasn't until days had gone by, when I received a letter from American Express regarding the financial documents they had requested, that a person in their Financial Services dept. happened to mention, after I called yet again, there was a co-signer on the card named Arnold Gonzales. Had I known that information when I went to my mailbox, I would have realized what was happening when I received this American Express letter addressed to Arnold Gonzales at my address. So they never gave me this information- luckily, since I never activated the card and cancelled both my American Express cards, because they showed the card as being open even though I never activated it, no charges were ever placed that were fraudulent. And, if the people at American Express had questions about my income when I supposedly applied for a second card, why wouldn't they ask for my income verification first before sending out the card? The entire thing seems very, very odd.

I called again to try and tell financial services and the fraud department about Arnold Gonzales, but when the financial services department representative tried to transfer me to the fraud department, they told him that since the accounts were closed, so was the investigation. So let me get this straight- I closed both my AmEx cards because of fraud, or what I really believe to be an internal or external security breach at this company, and so the fraud department closes the investigation into the fraud? I had an American Express card for nine years- they have now lost my business for life. Shouldn’t their fraud department want to get to the bottom of this before someone using the name Arnold Gonzales just moves on to another customer? Oh, and by the way, I got two different stories at different times- one- that cards on the same account would not be sent to two different addresses and that yes, they could be. The security and/or efficiency at all levels of customer service is sorely lacking. And, a second cardholder, according to the card member agreement, was only to be added at MY request. Never did I apply for this card, let alone ask for a second card-member to be on it. So American Express is also in violation of their own card agreement. They SUCK!

Have been a customer of American Express since 1987. My wife and both carry gold cards and pay hefty annual fees for both. I got the business card to aid in separating some business expenses. Went to Mexico put original rental on wife's personal card. Had a slight scratch with an curved outward curb when exiting a parking space minor damage. Called Amex immediately told both cards were COVERED PERIOD. Talk to 3 different reps getting claim started and getting claim no due to phone cut offs in mexico. Each rep said same thing covered period got claim no. same. day. Submitted all paperwork the day after i got back in states. Weeks later asked for some of same papers stating they did not receive it. Re-faxed told claim was in process not to worry. Then a one-page denial of coverage in Mexico on business gold card which I used to take care of transaction on way out as wife was waiting with luggage and given wrong information. Told situation to Ms. Martinez she said would listen to call records - did not or lied because she said no rep said i was covered. Passed me to her supervisor ms. farling asked for legal dept would not give the name and would not respond until i wrote a complaint letter to NY. Ms. baldwin said she would do so did not as well and said insurance would now handle it and possible give me relief "from a consumer standpoint". did not just billed me. Terrible customer service, terrible card, don't pay the annual fee to have this is your wallet. Just use the personal card. Used to have superior customer service now just poor. Don't care about customers don't think they have to give you legal info and told recorded phone calls only proprietar to american express. Can only get with a subpoena. What a Terrible Company and a Terrible Experience for a small claim of approx. 572.00 not even substantiated by Fox Rental Car with repair bill or fleet log showing loss of use.

On April 25th I made a reservation to fly from Atlanta Ga. To Tampa Florida. I tried to print my itinerary, and when it didn't allow me print it I knew there was a problem. The next day I called and was told that all reservations made that night would be kicked out at midnight and would have to rebook it with the help of a American Express representative I did. Days later i got another call from American Express saying the same thing and that he was calling to rebook my trip. I explained that I had already rebooked for the second time with a representative. He said there was no reservation showing for May19-22 for Tampa Florida in my name. I explained that I spent over 2 hours rebooking that trip and my trip to San Juan Puerto Rico June 12-19. Again I rebooked my trips! Little did I know that I was booked twice on the same flight for the same day! When I went to Air Tran .com to check in It disn't recognize my name so I couldn't check in. I had to call Air Tran and that's when I was told I had two reservations for the same day and flight. I was also told that I needed to call American Express and only they could cancel one of the reservations. Not only did they over book they had my name spelled wrong. This is my first time booking w/Am Ex. and my last! I have spent at least 10 hours trying to fix the mess they created! Now I was told that I would not be refunded for this trip! I have been a
Member since 1991 and this is my card of choice. Not only do I expect a refund I expect some type of compensation for all the time I have spent on the phone trying to fix this mess! (Maybe some extra membership points)! I better not find out that I was double booked for my up coming trip on June19th for San Juan Puerto Rico! I refuse to pay for a misstate that I didn't create! I travel W/ Air Tran all the time and I have never had such a debacle! I will be looking for my refund and membership points to appear on my online statement ASAP! Thank-you!

After making a payment 1 day late, I called to see if I could be forgiven for my 1 day (since I have a spotless history). They were very corteous and said YES. You have been forgiven, you will see a credit on your statement for the reversal of the late fee. But they failed to mention that they were not extending my grace period that extra day, so from that moment on I was accumulating interest on my card (even though I had paid off the prior month's balance). I didn't even think about because I had turned on AutoPay for the full balance. When I looked at my statement 2 months later, and realized they had charged be 127$ in interest on a rolling balance (that was paid off every month), I called and asked for my money back. They refused, I canceled. I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but AMEX's response did not even address the grace period. They simply are "educating me" on how credit cards work and that I really did owe them 127$... Needless to say, I will NEVER use an amex again, and I will continue to explain my story everywhere I can until I actually get a response from American Express that addresses their failure in customer service here.

I made a purchase with the credit card. When I get a bill it has late fees. However, I never got a bill. This happened when I signed up for paperless billing. Now it's happened again! I've got a credit score of over 850. I got it by paying my bills off and on time.
After reading some of the other, similar, complaints I think it would be wise to stay away from the Macy's American Express Card. Additionally, when made arrangements to make the "final" payment they called me everyday but...they just hung up after I answered. Hey folks, that's harassment! Log onto your cell phone provider and enter their number, [protected], into the blocked calls list.

I was an American Express Platinum member for almost 10 years and had never missed a payment, was never late processing a payment, and always paid the balance in full.. One day while shopping at the Pavilions the cashier said my card had been declined for a purchase of $34.. I thought it was a mistake and paid for the groceries by cash. . I went home and got online to check on my account and there was a message from American Express stating my account was closed. I checked to see if the last payment had cleared in a timely manner and it did so I didn't understand why American Express had shut my account down. I went online to google.com to see if the same thing had happened to other American Express customers and there were enormous complaints regarding account shut downs. A few weeks later I got a final statement from American Express in the amount of $800.. I was so angry about the account closure and I did not make the last payment. Anyway after not making payments I got a settlement letter for a past due balance of $1, 199.03 including interest with a 50% balance forgiveness of $599.51 from American Express that said "We understand that you may be having difficulties paying the past due balance on your American Express account, and we'd like to work with you to come to a solution. if you pay just 50% of your past due balance, we'll waive the reminding $599.51 of your balance". In order to participate in this unique offer, please call American Express at [protected] by 02/29/12. Call us at [protected] before returning this payment coupon with payment. Call us and then you can make payments online at americanexpress.com/waytopay Well, of course I called them today since today is the last day of this offer and I spoke to a gentleman named John. I told him I was calling to accept their offer and would like to make payments. He said it was a one time offer and I had to make the balance in full. I told him the letter stated I could make payments online and through the mail. He said "No, you can not make payments through the mail or online and if I did not provide a routing number and a bank account number immediately before they closed their office this evening my case was going somewhere else because today was the last day to respond and I could make some sort of payment arrangements with the other company my account was being transferred to." I told him that was impossible because I was at work and did not have checking account information handy and that it wasn't fair because I called on time according to their letter's instructions and why couldn't I make payments?!. . Well, my coworker heard what was going on and offered to make the payment using her checking account but he said I couldn't do that. . He was not nice and very rude and said since I could not provide my OWN checking account info I was out of luck.. I said this letter said I could make payments online or through the mail and that I was accepting the settlement offer before the offer had expired and he stressed once again it was too late unless he had my checking account info and he hung up on me. I don't think it is fair when you called American Express before their deadline and their letter says you can make online payments or send payments by mail and you are told by their customer support rep whose name is "John" that you can't make payments online or through the mail and you had to pay the settlement balance in full over the telephone before the office closed this evening which is impossible because I'm at work; and of course according to their letter I could mail payments or make payments online which I now clearly see is a bold face LIE . I am again being screwed over by American Express first for being an excellent card holder and second by trying to fulfilled the settlement offer. Why did they send this letter if they had no intentions on settling the debt.? It doesn't make sense.. They do not keep their word nor are they willing to work with you to come up with an amicable solution. They should not lie about making payments online or through the mail. Their letter should state clearly the settlement balance is due in full with your checking account information by the deadline stated on their letter and there aren't any payments allowed through the mail or online.. That's what the letter should have stated.. Not this BS by phone with their customer service rep... American Express should not mislead customers with false promises they know damn well they have no intentions on keeping. Sincerely SL-Jacobucci

I have been a member of American Express for the last 8 years. My limit on my account was set at $10.000. My son is also on the account and share another card. In December 2011, my bill was $19, 873.00 . I was besides myself and thought an error had occur. I called Amex who put me in touch with a supervisor named Anette Sinclair. Mrs. Sinclair could not understand why the credit limit had been doubled without my authorization. She admitted that there had been a glitch in the system and they were sorry. I paid my share of $10.000 but felt not responsible for the remainder of the balance. Yes, my son did incur the expenses but this is why my limit was $10.000. This sum of money is nearly someone salary for a year. 3 months have passed, I have no news from Mrs Sinclair neither from anyone at American Express. This is really outrageous.

American express canada's customer service department is terrible

We signed up for an american express card, while signing up for a membership with costco.
We were issued a temporary amex card that we could use while shopping at costco. We may some purchases.
A permanent amex card was to be sent to us in the mail. We did not receive a permanant card, nor a monthly statement from amex

After 2 1/2 months, they phoned us to say that we were late making a payment on the account. I informed them that we are still waiting for a monthly statement, as well as a premanant credit card. They were going to charge us interest for now making the payment on time. I informed them to go to hell!

I would make the payment (Minus the interest). I am still waiting for our permanant credit card, as well as a monthly statement from amex.

I have discussed this with at least 6 or more people from american express canada's customer service department — they are all idiots!

Do not get an american express credit card!

I have been paying on a debt that had my ex-husband as primary.I agreed to pay creditors instead of filing bankruptcy.My payments were over the amount asked for until the last payment was due on November 27th, 2011.I called to confirm the last payment amount on 11/12/11, I told the gentleman I was going to make a payment by mail, that I was sending a check and a written request for a final payment letter.He told me I would have to wait 21 days for a satisfaction letter and that I could make the payment with him.I told him that I usually made payment through my online bill pay and that it wasn't due yet.The payment was take by American Express twice, in the amount of 121.23.When I called about the error I was told it would be 6-8 weeks for the refund.I was told today by Supervisor Joe Janousek (#10448) that I had no refund coming and that I had NOT over-paid. My total debt was $8, 633.06, the amount forgiven was $5, 179.84.I was to repay $3, 453.22 in 24 payments of $143.88.My 1st payment was 12/09 for $144.00, 01/10 for $144.00, I made 17 payments of $145.00, 1 payment for $140.00 and 1 payment of $150.00, my last payment was for $121.23, of which I called for the amount no less than 3 times and was told by 3 different agents my last payment if my payment amount stayed the same as most of my others at the $145.00. would be due on my regular schedule of on or before the 27th of each month.I have bank statements to show what I've paid.The account [protected], The original person to set up the agreement with me was Brandon Sears-Manager P.O. Bx 6618 Omaha, NE [protected], Ph # [protected].I would appreciate any assistance you could be in this matter. Sincerely,
Doris Sanderson P.O. Bx 2241 Kodiak, Ak 99615, [protected] or
[protected]@yahoo.com

American Express contacted me for a fraud alert. After an hour on the phone they said they needed to replace my card. After three transfers internally no one at Amex would live up to their promise of sending me a card the next day. Best they could do was two days even though it was a simple city and request and their people admitted it was doable. Despite traveling for business and being a high volume user, they could have cared less. The business will go to Visa now.