Earlier this year, my wife & I were planning honeymoon trip to Moorea/Bora Bora and since I am a Amex Platinum card hold with accumulated reward points, we initiated phone conversation with an PTS agent.
Soon we found that PTS could not meet our budget or
specific requests for accomodations so we withdrew
our requests for their services during our final
phone call and went on to book with an outside
travel agency who did contact Amex for our flight
reservations to avail ourselves of our reward points.
On our return, we found a charge totaling over
$3000.00 for a stay at a hotel on Bora Bora that
was totally unfamiliar to us. Certainly not the hotel
where we did stay.
After some investigations we
were advised that the charge on our Amex bill was
for a "no show" at that hotel. We figured out that the agent at PTS who we initially had spoken with
had cancelled 2 components of the travel package
(a second hotel on Moorea and original flight package) but had in error negelected to cancel the
hotel Le Meridian in Bora Bora. We advised PTS of
this unwarranted charge and asked them to investigate and advise us when the correction was
made. Instead, we have had to repeatedly call for
over two months, asking for information and resolution and only in the past week have engendered some interest on the clerical level .
Five different conversations, with five different persons have resulted in being told that we have to provide proof that we cancelled the request for booking this hotel. We keep insisting that we did
not confirm this package. That it had 3 components
and that we are being charged for 1 component of
the package, which does not make sense that someone would keep the booking of only one hotel
from the entire package. It is obviously the agent's
error and I am sure that there are records of the
phone conversations my wife had with the agent
constantly expressing her unhappiness with the
tentative arrangements and price. I am sure the
agent was required to keep some sort of record ot
the entire package offered and refused but Amex
claims that there is not such evidence.
The most
disturbing element of the situations, it that in spite
of numerous requests to step past the clerical level
and be able to speak with someone in management
who has the skills and authority to resolve this
dispute fairly, we have been told there is an 72
window requirement before we can speak to someone at that level.Since each time we call we are speaking to a new person, that 72 window is
endless. A very effective way to frustrate a customer so maybe they will pay up and go away.
I have sent certified mail to the CEO/Gen. Mgr of
Amex Travel Services, to E,R, Manager of the
generic "dispute" dept and to the general Amex
customer svc ctrs, in El Paso and Ft. Lauderdale and
to the day, I have only been able to speak to Celia
another clerk in the "claims dept" for Amex. Another untrained clerk, who did not even advise
me that we were being recorder even though I could hear the beeps. And who pretended ignorance of all the details concerning my dispute
although in 3 previous voice mails I had left detailed specifics including the file number of the
open dispute. Her sole job was to get me to misspeak so that they can deny the claim. She doggedly tried to put words in my mouth concerning some emails that might have been or
might not have been sent to us after we had already' verbally advised the PTS agent that we
would not be booking through PTS.
I have spent
at least 3 days on the internet reading through volumes of complaints similar to mine regarding
customers paying high fees for either the Platinum
or Centurion card. I can surmise by the scope of
these complaints that " there is something wrong
in Denmark". To me it is almost fraud to collect
these fees with a promise of better services and yet
not honor the valued" customer with the simple
ability to be able to speak to at least a manager
when a true disput arises. Why are these managers
and officers of Amex hiding from their customers?
I expect, like many of other Amex customers, that
I will end up in court, because I am not going to
be harassed or frustrated into paying unjust charges.
ending