American Express Platinum Card Reviews

I asked to speak with a supervisor who could look over my account to verify that what I say is true. Although I may pay a few days late, I always pay more than the minimum. I have had an American Express card for many years. I was forced to move from one state to another to keep my job so things have been especially hectic this year. Is there anyone who can help me. For sure I will close this account if this practice is considered OK by the Consumer Affairs Bureau. I appreciate your time in listening to my concern.

Now the complaint!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, October 21, 2008 I attempted to use my AMEX Platinum Card for a purchase. Much to my surprise the charge was declined. Immediately I contacted AMEX to find out what the problem was, I suspected it was just a mistake. I WAS WRONG!!!! AMEX explained to me that my personal card had been suspended and that until I reduced my Sign & Travel account no further charges would be allowed. Never did we receive a letter, phone call, e-mail, carrier pigeon message, smoke signal, or AMEX Bat Light alert that there was a problem or that our charging privileges were going to be suspended. This is on an account that is open, never late, never a problem, and according to my statement NO PRE-SET SPENDING LIMIT (and yes my other personal & business AMEX cards are current and still active)!

We have had balances in excess of $90,000 with AMEX Platinum and AMEX has never said a word about it. I made an additional payment of $10,400 on 10-21-08 which does not include the $15,000 payment made on 10-10-08. My current balance is $43,750 and the closing date on my account is 10-22-08. This means I will not receive my current bill for 7 to 10 days. I did try to contact Mr. Ken Chenault, President of AMEX Platinum this morning (10-22-08) but of course he does not take phone calls from his customers who pay his bloated salary!

My next step will be to contact the media and anyone else willing to listen. If AMEX was attempting to PISS-OFF a 14 + year customer, they did a most excellent job! CARD MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES. I would consider this false advertising and a complete line of **!

I logged on to make the housing payment at about 2 pm. It declined my payment. The payment had to be paid by 5 pm to avoid a $20 late fee. I immediately called Amex and was transferred to the credit line dept. after being told that my credit line had been decreased by $1400 by my husband. I told the rep he would not have done that and she was rude about it. She did correct herself and was of not help. She transferred me to the credit line dept. I stayed on hold for 1 hour and 20 mins. At the 45 min point, I dialed again on my fax and waited for 25 minutes. The first line never picked up. I was told that I could not be told anything because my husband was the main card holder.

We live in CA and it is a restricted state. He gave me office manager status so I got on the phone again and waited another hour on hold to speak to someone. By this time it was 5 pm. The rep told me that the credit line was decreased because of my husband's debt ratio. Every time I make a large payment to Amex, they decrease my credit line so it looks like we are maxed out on that card. There was no warning and they stripped me of the use of my money. Finally, after pleading my case, I got someone to allow my charge to go through. I then asked if I would get charged an over limit fee of $39. He told me yes and that he would waive it this time, but I would have to make a very large payment to bring my balance under the credit line before they charge me again. He told me that an e-mail was sent out on that day, which was false.

I received an e-mail on 10/8 dated 10/6 that my credit line was being decreased by $1400. I told him that I did not have another $1400 to make another payment and please reinstate my account. I was not asking for more credit. I was asking for the opportunity to pay my credit card as I have been, on time and keeping it below the line of credit limit. They refused. Even today they refused. They will not work with me. I guess I have to be late or in default for them to show some willingness to work with me at all. News report confirmed that last night. They will even cut your balance. When do the responsible people get the breaks & deals?

He then informed me that I could have been automatically signed up if I had responded to an AmEx sweepstakes or other mailing and didn't check the box to opt out which is located on the back of the form. I told him that I never fill out sweepstakes... consider it junk & a waste of time and that I felt that what he had described to me was very deceptive and just plain wrong! People should not have to opt out of something they never opted into in the first place. Deciding to join something or opt in should be a choice done with complete and total awareness of what you are doing and shouldn't be hidden in the fine print on the back of something either! You shouldn't have to check a box to opt out but to opt in!

I told Shawn I wanted the charge reversed and for the unauthorized membership to be canceled. He said he would be happy to do that and asked for my zip code, name and address to pull up the account. He couldn't find it and asked for my previous address. There was no account with my name and address for anywhere I've lived in the last 3 yrs. I asked him how that was possible? My statement comes to my current address. He then informed me that they were a separate company from American Express, American Express Publishing, and that the two would be separate accounts. He said he could find the Elite Traveler account if he had my AMEX account # and I refused to give him that.

Then he said I would have to call AMEX and dispute the charge telling them that I'd called and talked with American Express Publishing and they had no record of my account under my last two addresses. I did call AMEX and explained what had happened and they immediately removed the charge and said that I wouldn't receive any future charges on my bill.

Feel betrayed, chocked by this. Told AMEX that is a file about my company but its 5 years and not been updated. Nothing negative. Not every business has to have a file with D&B. it is not fair my fico is 798. there nothing in card agreement when i apllied mention D&B. WHAT IS GOING ON.

After the second week our card got blocked and we received a call form a AmEx representative saying that they need our last year's business IRS tax report in order to reactivate our card. I explained that we barely had any revenue last year, but that I'll gladly provide them with our this year's bank statements showing 10%+ monthly revenue growth with $70.000+ revenue in the last month. She repeated that she needs tax reports and that she is not asking for a bank statements. I asked to talk to her supervisor, which wasn't available so I left a message. I did receive his call back after 3 days, but I was already on a 2 week business trip to Europe and decided to call him back once I return back to the US.

I returned back this week on Monday 9/22/08 and left 3 messages within the last 3 days on his best customer service for small businesses answering machine. As of Friday 9/26/08 we still haven't heard back from him and today received a letter from AmEx stating that our business account has been canceled and that they will report this to credit agency which might affect our credit rating.

Apart from us being deceived with their No pre-spending limit offer, not hearing back from their representative and us settling full balance spend before the due date -we are now in a position to have our credit rating affected because of their policies.

One can only surmise that they are trying to dump customers. I have a Gold Card, too and between both of them I spend about $150k annually, always on time. What a completely bogus company. The final parting shot across their bow, was another email request to hear back from a supervisor, explaining to me how on earth the service I received could be considered even barely adequate. To which I received a reply, oh yes, a supervisor will be CALLING you. Sure, sure, and no more Wall Street rip-off, greedy, corrupt corporations are going under in the coming weeks! EVERYBODY DUMP AM EX! I feel liberated, no more Am Ex!

HOURS AND HOURS of my valuable professional time WASTED trying to get anywhere with these [people]!

They then defaulted my credit file and now I have a bad credit rating and cannot get a loan anywhere. I refuse to pay the account as they are in the wrong. charter merchantile who is now handling the account constantly call me with harrassing calls, I cannot understand them when they spaek as their english is poor. This is a joke and I am very angry.

Called Customer service was told that if I would send thim in an extra payment then I could continue to use the card. I have been with American Express since 1986, payments are made on time but it is very embarassing to be told card declined with all payments are being made and on time.

I call several times a day, i have every print out and when I try to explain to them they say that the online print outs and statements are not really accurate, so I have asked amex to provide me with detailed statements that are accurate and they will not. I refuse to pay an additional $3500 when I have paid it already. also, I asked what the 3500.00 itemized charges are and they don't say, all reps have the same answer of not helping but they all come up woth different amounts? So while I am waiting to receive proper paperwork if I will ever get it , interest and late fees may build up!

This is awful, I have been stressed out about this matter for months when the card was declined on our horrible move. Now we are settled and I see they have not credited the account properly, Family life is suffering, financial depression.

By putting my AMEX balance at the high amount, instead of the 50% it was, AMEX is negatively impacting my credit score for no reason other than, **-like credit practices. I will now have a more difficult time getting credit and pay higher interest, because of their action. I believe this is a violation of consumers rights to do this especially without notice and without any reason.

I have spoken to representatives since August 22, 2008 and they told me that American Express was starting a case for LOST sound dock but they could not tell me as to when I would recieve the sound dock. American Express has taken the Memebership points needed from my account to obtain the sound dock. Today, September 6, 2008 I still have not receive the Sound Dock. I had to go to three representatives in order to get a supervisor. I spoke with Erika and she told me that they American Express will be crediting my Membership Points and will be re-issuing me another BOSE Sound Dock. She told me that I would have to wait 15 businees days. I wanted to bring this to the attention of COnsumer Affair.

Buying something and not receiving the item was very stressful. Also, speaking with reprensentative after reprensentative and not getting a definate answer is stressful. I purchased the BOSE Sound Dock with my American Express Membership Points and I just want the item

I called the number on the website for customer service, after transferring the balance to a better card. I told the woman I want the card canceled. Then, I read her the points listed above and she told me I was not allowed to hang up (oh really?) and that she had to transfer me to another department for cancellations. While on hold for many minutes, I got out my tape recorder. When a new person finally came on the line, I started recording. I was on speaker phone, speaking loudly enough to make sure to be heard, and was immediately scolded for yelling. I told the woman I was speaking into a speaker phone and tape recorder and needed to make sure the conversation was audible. I offered to demonstrate the difference and show her what it sounds like when I yell.

She got very upset, interrupted me constantly, and said she would hang up if I did not stop recording. She started yelling, saying, I DO NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO RECORD THIS CALL! She yelled it several times! I told her that I do not give YOU permission to record my call, and she said they have to for quality assurance. I said, me, too. She threatened again to hang up. So, I lied and said I stopped, but I kept recording. Then, I told her to simply cancel the card. I said cancel the card and I'll deal with you through the FTC. Anybody know where I can publicly post the recording?

I fear they will now cancel my personal card, so I am looking at my other cards to get that balance transferred, as well. This was a very upsetting call. I cannot understand why they would do this, and why they needed to create false statements to do it. Why can't they just say that their decision is based on internal data that has nothing to do with my credit score? Did they violate truth-in-lending laws?

I'M REALLY FEARFUL THAT THIS PROMOTION IS A SHAM . . . DESIGNED TO GET PERSONAL INFORMATION ONLY. Fortunately I was in a position to tell them to cancel my application, which they were going to do anyway. I don't think any card company should need one's bank account information and location just for address verification (unless they were performing a credit check). Even the AmEx card reps admit that most banks don't even give the informtion they ask for. VERY SUSPICIOUS! I don't trust the validity of the program.

Deceptive advertising and specification of requirements for application acceptance. The motive for eliciting applicant information is questionable. The cost is the loss of applicant's time and possible loss of identity from theft.

I was tranferred 9x before I decided to cancel my membership. Isn't the convenience and 24 hour customer support the reason why we subscribe to american express? how ironic, they can't even meet the standards they promise their subscribers.

I called and spoke with this very rigid, unpleasant (dishonest) male representative, who didn't really know the reason, but insisted that this spending was more than usual....when I argued this, he then told me that my credit report had shown more inquiries this month, which had lowered my credit score (in reality it was lowered about 8 points). He said this was a DRASTIC change in my credit, so in spite of the fact that my bill had not been received as yet....AMEX would like a good faith payment right now to release my account.

I was incensed. I pulled up my credit report....there were no changes, other than these inquiries and comparatively, this was a rather moderate amount charged this month, on my card. What kind of tactic is this? My credit score is over 700 and I have a good income and pay all of my bills and obligations on time. What the heck is going on? I will not be using the AMEX Platinum card any longer. I am paying this bill on 9/5 and that's it. This is incredibly unscrupulous behavior and I'm absolutely horrified at this type of disrespect and this abusive treatment!

Fortunately, I will just use a different credit card and I can't see any long term financial damage (possibly an improvement). I feel financially, psychologically emotionally abused and insulted.

Once I recieved the checks I used one check to pay off Chase credit card in the amount of $3,970.00. I paid off this account with the American express check and closed the account out. A week later I recieved a letter in the mail from American Express telling me the check was not honored and my credit line was reduced from $9,000.00 to $500.00, I have been a loyal paying custimer for 5 years.

I called american express and discussed this with a representative which was of no help to me so I requested a supervisor, I explained and read the letter I recieved and told her this was the lowest thing anyone has done to me and I wanted the check honored and my credit line put back. She told me they could not honor the check for $3,970.00 because when the check came in to them they reviewed my credit history and saw I had to much outstanding debt and my credit score was low ( which is 640 ) I said to her I have never missed paying any of my credit card ever and have always paid you people on time or the entire balance, she said she was sorry but still couldn't honor the check. I cried and sobbed and was in utter disbelief, how could a company stoop so low. eventually the supervisor only put my credit limit back to $9,000.00 and that was it.

This has caused me a great deal of stress and heartache. the credit card I payed off ( chase ) called me on saturday August 23 to tell me about the check payment and that now my account with them was over the limit and late and I needed to pay $483.55 to bring it current. This late mark will now be on my credit history and bring my credit score down and has given me the worse headaches in the world.

There is NO WAY the person that stole my wallet knew my security questions. So American Express must have approved this Fraud charge without having the vendor call them or else the charge would never have gone through. Either that or American Express screwed up and approved the charge without asking any security questions and because American Express screwed up they will NOT credit my account. I believe the vendor should pay for this charge or American Express NOT me. American Express says on their website "Use the American Express Card online or off, and you won't be held responsible for any fraudulent charges. Period. No fine print, no deductible --just pure protection, so you can shop with confidence"

Obviously this is NOT the point. I called them over 50 times and got the run around. I was charged another $5,000 in interest charges, because I tried to settle this myself for over a year to no avail. Finally I hired a lawyer. She got the run around also. We both received letters from American Express with peoples names, but NO call back phone numbers or addresses which states that there is no FRAUD because the card was "not used without my consent," which is B** S*** as someone stole my WALLET! I believe American Express screwed up and approved the FRAUD authorization. I don't know why American Express just doesn't go after the vendor because that vendor should have ASKED for Identification. I have asked American Express for the security tapes, but that state they don't record conversations and there are NO tapes, but when you call them, they state "this line is recorded."

I HATE American Express and think they are the biggest scam artists out there. I can't believe they try to create this "you must rich to have our card" appeal, when they are a bunch of thefts. My lawyer, which I already paid over $2,000, stated it will cost me another $15,000 to hire a Florida lawyer (where American Express is located) and American Express has a staff of cheap lawyers that they will fight the case with. So, yes I would win the case but I still won't make out because it will cost me another $15,000 to do it and time and flight and hotel costs. I exhausted every avenue on trying to get my $20,000 ($15k + $5k interest charges) back but don't have any more ideas.

I can't believe our government is allowing a firm like this to run TV ads that state don't worry if card gets stolen. Why doesn't someone in our government look into American Express and see how many others there are like me that they are screwing. I believe American Express STOLE back the $15,000 from the vendor and then STOLE my $15,000, so now they made $30,000 + another $5,000 in interest charges. CAN I SUE AMERICAN EXPRESS? CAN WE START A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST AMERICAN EXPRESS? $20,000+ ($15,000 in a fraud charge + $5,000 in interest charges)

The 5th time I pleaded not to get diconnectd when transfering to supv. The problems is I was not notified of decreased credit limit until my telecon with Amercian Express Supv Phil over the phone and for what reasons. The Amercian Express after hours supv informed me on August 20th at 11:00 PM that on August 18th my credit limit was $30,000 and the next day Aug 19th my limit decreased to $19,500 I was shocked. He told me your letter was mailed to you on August 18th and you will recieve it in 3-5 business days. I have made every minimum amount due payment and have paid off my credit card twice in lump sums. I have excellent payment history. I use my credit card for my personnel use and have been an excellent consumer with Amercian Express.

The Supv told me I was not paying more than the minumum amount due by an extra $50-$100 dollars to reduce my balance and my credit score was low. I have very good credit score of estimated of 658. All that is required is the minimum due by consumers and payment by the due date. There is no law required to pay extra on minimum due or your limit will be reduced. Consumers may pay down or off the credit line at anytime providing the minimum amount is paid each month on time. My total credit line was reduced for these reasons.

I never heard of this happening to a consumer with excellent payment history and paying on time. I was approved and increased by Amercian Express because of of my excellent credit history and excellent monthly payment history for $30,000 over two years ago. This has not changed. I feel that I'm being taken advantage of as a consumer of an Amercian Express Credit Platinum card holder.

Econimicial damage. I signed a contract to remove trees from my property and planned on using my Amercian Express card to pay for it. I also have my vehicle in the shop for service and repair and planned on using my Amercian Express. I have reserved my hotel for two nights on my Amercian Express credit card a month ago planned on using it and cannot cancel. This is all just in August prior to August 20th.

But today I learned there was a pending transaction that had not posted and AE will not reverse. They have to post the transaction and then I must disbute. I have been issued a new number but was told that the company can still use this for charges by going thru my old number! If I make a payment they can try to put charges thru. And I will have to make another disbute. THEY ARE OUT OF BUSINESS AND NO ONE ANSWER THE PHONES THAT ARE STILL WORKING. WHAT CAN I DO?

I am told by AE as long as I give someone authority once to use my card, they can put charges thru and it is up to me to dispute them. That this is there policy. How can they do this when my card number is changed and I have reported the fact before it even posted to my account. And how can they charge when I changed my number and they don't have it? HELP

The stress and time I took today is unbearable. And I got nothing done thru AE. I think my nerves and physical health won't be able to take another day of this.

In July 08 - Amex offered me a Starwood account with a balance transfer offer of 2.9% - so I thought I would transfer (2) other cards totaling $540.00. I got a letter denying the transfer and then another letter apologizing for the error. Then a week later I got a letter denying the transfer again and lowering my credit limits. I used to think that AMERICAN EXPRESS was the most prestiqeous card to have and was impressed that it was part of American heritage. Now - I think that they have incapable people working for them or they do not know what they are doing. I am glad I was not on vacation and depended on their card.

Due to this situation - I have decided to stick with other companies rather than Amex because they are not reliable.

I need to open a Corporate card on behalf on the company I work for, but I can't open the card unless I pay the balance. Ok, I've been calling AMEX and they have the balance amount but is unable to locate the account in collections.

AMEX should not be allowed to do this sort of stuff to its customers. I still don't know why I got the email informing me that I had signed up for online bill payment; I still do not know if the account indeed has been set up for online bill payment; therefore, I still don't know if there is any reason for concern about unauthorized activity on the account. I want to know if there is any unauthorized activity on the account. It's THAT SIMPLE and should be easy to determine.

I was appalled when Care One told me American Express wouldn't cooperate. And they raise interest rates during these hard financial times, rather than lower them. I asked for a reasonable balance transfer rate,but they are at like 14.99% and I had to do it anyway before I found out about careOne and the help they could give me.

American Express is my highest rate interest card so it's a hardship for me that they won't join the care One Credit plan. It will take me years and tons of interest to satisfy them.

I sent Mr. Chenault a second letter (certified/return receipt guaranteed), and Ms. Richards called me again. She told me I misunderstood her about her getting back to me, and the matter had been settled. She sent me a letter and cc'd Ken Chenault that the matter had been settled. IT HASN'T! My credit score (as reported by MyFICO.com) was dramatically, Negatively impacted as a direct result of the lowered credit line.

Ms. Richards states in her recent letter to me (after her second call) As you know, from the letter sent to you from our Account Services division . . . the reason the line of credit was reduced are reflected by the aforementioned letter. THIS IS A LIE! What letter? The only letter I received was the one from February 22nd alerting me to a major credit line increase. I don't care about the credit line increase. I have no need for it. I just want my line of credit put back to where it was prior to all this baloney. She even recognizes in her letter that I have an excellent payment history with AmEx.

By telling me one thing (and in writing) and doing the exact opposite, American Express has demonstrated an unacceptable standard of care in the credit card business. Of course negligence is one thing, but for American Express to continue to refuse to correct the problem indicates bad faith. The continued indifference of American Express in this matter is why, to date, I have filed official complaints with the Metropolitan New York Better Business Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Trade Commission and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Office of the Attorney General.

In a return letter to Ms. Richards, I told her I will withdraw all complaints when American Express, in good faith, restores my credit line as it was before all this began. Until then, I will press on consistently, methodically and relentlessly for redress of grievances and damages. Further, I told her You are hereby instructed that if you need to contact me, contact must be made in writing so there can be no further misunderstandings. Any attempt to contact me by phone will be construed as harrasment and prosecuted accordingly.

By lowering my credit line from $11,600 to $5,500, my credit score dropped precipitously from approx. 720 to about 657. I am currently unemployed and today many companies consider credit when looking to hire. This puts me at a distinct disadvantage. Yes, I want to be contacted by an attorney because I feel AmEx is unlikely to budge -- even with all the work I've done thus far --and I want to sue!

Later I came back and cleared my account and discussed this matter with one representative. She told me payments can only be made from authorized cardholder checking account.

I had to travel overseas again in 2008 and the same thing happened, they wouldn't post my payment. I came back and cleared my $2000 worth balance. After doing that, I was told by an American Express representative that it will bring my account to current, but instead they closed my gold & two platinum accounts. When I received the cancellation letter I called them, and talked to their supervisor and asked to credit the prorated annual gold card fee for the remaining seven months. She threaten me to clear the remaining $120 or she would put my case to collection.

Finally after long discussion I was transferred to some representative and she kept asking me to go through different sections of their agreement stating they wouldn't refund the annual fee. But we found nothing and she also hung up on me. Two day after, I called them again and found out that my account has already been transfer d to collection agency.

reduced my credit score,hassle stress due to there incompetent representative.

American Express will cause a damage on my credit score since my credit line was reduced about 25% (down to the outstanding balance) I will be qualified as a customer that have used the full line of credit and that will take my credit score to the ground, and the report will show up that a creditor have reduced my credit line and I will look like a customer not to believe on and no other lender will be able to open a credit line for me in the future or they will charge me astronomic APR's. All of this is happening withouth a bad or irresponsible behaviour from me and withouth any warning. This is unnaceptable.

I cannot complain to them or let them know because the only contact details they give are 1300 numbers you cannot call from overseas. They do not provide an email address. Even their emergency lost or stole crads number can only be accessed from within Australia. They even have on their website: 'Talk to us. We're here 24 hrs, 7 days a week. Call us no matter where you are.' Then they provide no means to do this!

I need to transfer these points urgently or i'll miss out on the ticket I need. Amex customer service is about the worst I've ever come across & Ican't even contact them to say that. I need to book an airlinr ticket with my points. The month I am looking at has very few days left with frequent flyer seats. If I don't get to transfer thse points I will have to pay, so I'll be out of pocket more than $2000.

I need some clarity and help regarding these two accounts. The AMX Gold 22000 was denied a reversal of unlawful charges to the account. On each and every dispute I initiated you denied the dispute but if you carefully review it you'll see I authorized one charge in June of 2006 via e-mail. I did not authorize any further charges to the account via any means e-mail, voice or in writing. Yet in all returned correspondence from the vendor they attached the one e-mail from June. Which is inaccurate and clever on their part. My chargeback requests thus far have fallen on to deaf ears so I'm asking to have the account carefully reviewed. Regarding the same account I have called and called and as you will see I have had conflicting information from your people. To name a few of the recent ones.

Two weeks ago I talked to someone and told them I did not have the information in front of me and asked that they call back on Tuesday. The call never came . Another person called that Thursday and I told them this and asked what I need to and herein lies a little deception on your agents behalf. I began by explaining that two checks were sent in one for a $1000.00 and one for $193.00. Both were applied to 22000 thus causing a world of problems. Having the $193 applied incorrectly raised a red flag within your organization saying the 51004 is past due. This then caused a cancellation of my authorization to pay off the 22000 account over a period of time.

Where the deception is that I asked what do I need to do bring the account currant while I contact your office. I was told I need to make a payment of $1394.00 and all will be well. Later after I made a payment of $2000 I was told "Oh the account was canceled back in January." Shaking my head I asked how to contact the decision makers with AMX and was given this address. Next a person from your office calling saying the account is in collection for entire amount. I explained the situation in detail only to fall on deaf ears. And was firmly told the account is in collection and nothing can be done until it's paid in full. She went on to say I need to call customer service and dispute the amount (If they will do It) before anything can happen. I have not done that in favor of this letter to resolve the disputes.

Here's the resolve I'm looking for. Do the chargeback to the vendor and allow me to pay off the balance as none of this would have happened had that $193 been applied properly and you have carefully reviewed the chargeback. On another note I have had several merchant accounts over the years and with great success except with my most current accounts with your firm as person of no good reason a person can start a chargeback and I have no recourse. Yet when I have a legitimate complaint the chargeback its refused. I get daily calls from a collection company who in itself is not willing to hear my appeal. AMX does not respond.

I also request [their] good self to instruct [Amex] representative not to waste time of persons like me unnecessary. They should tell exactly what they want or required for issuing such credit card. I have wasted my valuable time with long conversation with representative. I am waiting for reply.

Now American Express tell me that all the cards are closed even my personal AMEX card because of the delinquencies in the past. Even though I am making good faith efforts and payments they are taking action and closing all the accounts. I am voluntarily not made any charges on any AMEX card for over six months to control the credit problem yet despite my adherence to their payment plan they say they have the right to close all the accounts and cancel all the rewards miles (over 150,000) I have with them.

Even though I am doing all I can to show my effort to make the payments on this one account that I have left with AMEX they cancel all my air miles and close all open AMEX accounts. I feel this is an under handed betrayal to the payment agreement I have with them. I feel I have no incentive to pay the balances even though I admit I owe them the money.

But despite my efforts AMEX decides to take actions against the company and me personally for a corporate debt. Do I have any rights in this or can American Express do whatever they want? I don't know if this complaint will go anywhere or do anything. I am not seeking legal action as I probably can't afford to do that in my current situation. I will never ever do business with AMEX again after this is over.

It is my wedding gift! which I thought would last forever as it is a swiss time piece!

they were giving information out and my social security number out to my mom.

We have faxed documentation, but Amex refused to accept it and was quite uncooperative. The way we are being treated is unacceptable from both a customer service perspective and an ethical perspective. Amex had no right to cancel my accounts and there employees should put more effort out to get to the bottom of the situation. Also, we are being treated like criminals, and why would a client who has been with them for 25 years deserve this treatment? Lastly, we had accumulated 100,000 airmiles/membership reward points that they have stripped from us and when we asked for them, they told us too bad.

I feel like American express is being a bully and taking adavantage of the fact that I am 83 years old and not very assertive on the phone. They have not treated my daughter very well either. Please let me know if there is something you can do to help.

I have lost my personal account which I have had since 1984. I have lost my business platinum account which I have had since 2001. I have lost my $50,000 business line of credit which I have had since 2001. I have lost 100,000 membership reward points which I use regularly for Southwest Airline tickets. I have been caused undue stress and had my integrity questioned. This may negatively affect my credit score.

We always fly on that airline and it looks like I have wasted my money x2 for both my husband and myself on the Platinum card. I'm going to cancel that and go back to a regular card.

Twice they declined charges to my email exchange host, causing literally thousands of dollars in engineering expense.

American Express will DAMAGE my credit score by doing this. IT will look like my card is maxed out now, which will lower my credit score I've worked so hard on to remain above 700 FICO. This is unfair, and seems illegal!

all creditors did their best to comply with my son's request. except American Express, who immediately put my son and his wife's interest up to the highest they could charge. My son phones Amex and was told by someone. sorry we don't lower interest rates, now my son is paying more money than he can afford to American Express just for the interest rate alone.

Additionally, their website front page says that points do not expire. I did not receive any notice of account being zeroed out. I've contacted them twice via fax to their service center, but get form letter back, refusing to reinstate.

I am unable to use the points earned for family travel, or gifts to be given, for my new son.

Finally last night I got an email after a series of phone calls with their customer service. The email is delightful it tells me to click here to get my certificate....unfortunately the link doesn't work!

On calling them early this morning I was passed through 4 people until I got the response that I will have to wait until Membership Rewards opens in one hour. I think the program is disgusting...this is not my first time of having poor service as the web site is attrocious. Customer service reps are only trained to say that I am sorry and apologise. They are certainly not trained to fix problems and take responsibility. The final straw is that I have now been charged twice for this same transaction! Oh well, I am only a Platinum card member.....I wonder what service you get as a green or a gold?

Ruined my last 12 hours fighting with them, and upset my preparations for my vacation which I start today. All other suppliers have been great, except for the one that I use for $100K of services a year.

When I first called the first person said you have wonderful credit, I don't know why this has been done. The second person told me that I had derogatory information on my credit report. None of my other creditors have done such a thing, because I have never been late with any of them. I told them I would never recommend anyone to them , because they are an extremely deceitful company.

Economically, I will never be able to reduce my debt with this company. Physically, an experience such as this in such horrible economic times when I am 62 years old has sickened me!

Continual phone calls and threats of lawsuits

In my case I paid in July 2007 130 for Golden Amex ( one year fee), in Jan 2008 I applied for Platinum based on the forms they send me , I never used Golden but only today May 3-rd 2008 and to discover that the payment was refused , I payed by debit card and when I get back home I called them and find out what is wrong with the card. I ask them WHEN and WHO canceled the card .. THEY DID , WHEN they canceled ? .. IN JANUARY, it means that I paid 130 for a year they own back me the amount between Jan and Jul ( around 65$ half of the year).

In the phone conversation I get the money with no resistance from AMEX which proves that they recognize their mistake, but my next question was why your software didn't do that automatically ... Hm it is easy because foolish my loss and them win free money. I do not think this is fair either. .... and the authorities should force them to refund the money back.

My husband visits his mother once a year, she lives in our country. This year we are depending on the redeeming the points to use for airfare since our budget is very tight.

years of payments. I do not deserve to be treated this way. Help!

The harassment at home by phone and the constant demanding of information by this outside company is ruining my sleep and general well being. Business is slow enough without constantly worring about who is calling my family.

Today 4/16/08 eleven days after the purchase, I received an e-mail from the client saying he had talked with AE and was told his card was charged the 22,00.00+ on 4/5/08 and that the funds were transfered to my bank (They lied to him). I called the 800 number. The person at the 800 number (after 10 calls) said that my funds were on hold and that AE needed a fright bill showing that the paintings were shipped. I told her that the paintings were simply being taken to the home of the client. She said the client must sign a proof that he received the paintings. I told her the client was on the mainland, not Hawaii. She said she would not release the funds until she had a signed proof of the items delivered. I told her that after 12 years of doing charges of this type I have never had to do this. The client has always just charged on his card, signed and that was it. In short, here is what we have. My client used a AE card on 4/5/08 for over 22,000.00+, it was charged to his account on that date. Our gallery received an Activity Statement form AE saying that the funds were settled in our account for 22,000.00+ on 4/6/08, not true. On 4/15/08 still no funds and was told 3 times by AE that the funds were deposited; not true. I was also told by AE that they had been trying to contact me, not true, they could have even mailed me in all this time.

Today, 4/16/08, my funds are still on hold 11 days after the purchase. The client is told the charge processed, he was charged, our gallery is billed from 4/6/08 for over 600.00 fee for using AE and we still do not have the funds in our bank. Needless to say we will no longer accept American Express Cards. I recommend that any business, dealing in art, not use American Express. They are difficult to work with, have proven bad customer service, lie, and use the client and business owners funds to timely use funds for their (AE) gain.

Client purchased over $22,000.00 in art, framing was ordered, sales person paid,and after 11 days and looks like it could be over two weeks, no funds were deposited to our account from AE. We ere lied to over and over again. Even the client was told the funds processed.

My wife's employer is very upset at her, and she may lose her job. I am sure this has affected my chances of being rehired by previous employers who they have contacted.

Sunday night I talked to the customer service agent who stated my Gold card was usable.My 13-year-old son was trying to complete school project, so I took my son to the store for school shopping. I had a most embarrassing moment happen. My card was declined for $56.00. I called back the customer services and was again 25 minutes on the phone. They didn't resolve it. We got back home, and my son could not the complete the homework and lost the trust for his father. Monday all day I tried to solve the problem. Eventually, Monday night account services decided to release my money by 8 am Eastern time. In the meantime, my regular payments such as toll road and cell phone bills were delayed. My cell phone was disconnected; most likely my toll road bill is going to be have some late payment fee. I am going to be visiting a psychologist to earn back my trust in the banking system.

I now find there are over 40 inquiries currently in a 2-YEAR period at the credit bureaus. Why do they continue to look? I never even used the card once!

A few days later, no lie, we started receiving phone calls from a collection agency. We have borrowed to bring our account current, which places stress on our aging parents, and then received a statement from American Express that says on it this statement is for information purposes only. This is not a bill. Please contact your collections agency for account information. Disregard the minimum due amount, your account is in default and the balance is due in full. Thanks Mr. Kenneth I. Chenault. How do you sleep at night?

I am at a point where I can meet their minimum payment, but the interest rate is currently 29.24%. I don't see this going away anytime soon.

Apparently AE is adamant about looking at my bank statements; I don't feel like they have any right to request my bank statements. They were just fine in '07 with me charging $100k, but apparently they're not ok with it in '08. If they feel that an account is a risk, they can always lower the credit line on that account, but to tell me that they want to see my bank records and that my behavior is similar to people that are going bankrupt is just despicable. I wrote AE a lengthy letter stating my dissatisfaction, and they have yet to reply. AE did not even issue the points from my last statement. I will cc AE this letter. Good bye AE, I regret being a loyal customer since 1999. I'm sure there are plenty of other credit card companies willing to accept a $100k customer with a 700+ credit rating.

I was extremely frustrated after the phone call. I absolutely cannot believe they would lie about the terms of the offer. I knew I had seen something on TV recently - Date Line, 20/20, or some news program that talked about this. I can't remember where I saw it, so I got on this website to see if I could find out anything and call them again - this time armed with more information. It has kept me from sleeping well ever since. I applied for a different card by phone right afterwards but haven't heard whether or not I qualify. I will need to find something else so that I can continue to try to get out of debt without paying a lot of interest, and I was doing well until this. I am shocked at American Express - their lack of integrity in changing the terms. This kind of shady business should not be allowed, and the people who allow and/or encourage this at American Express should be embarrassed and ashamed.

rRuining credit score, mental anguish, depression, divorce.

I feel as though they have damaged my name by telling folks in my office my personal business information even though I am paying American Express as I get paid. I am tired of the threats, and people in my office now look at me and are all concerned about the calls. I do not have the money to pay the account in full or I would. These folks also recently tried to debit this balance out of my checking even though I called and specifically told them the funds were not going to be available - which is what they told me to do. They tried debiting the account 4 times, causing $140 in NSF Fees even though they were instructed not to. It's amazing that people can get away with violating the Privacy Act; and when I mentioned this, they just laughed it off.

Delinquent account, collections on credit report.

Late June they mailed me a letter stating that they were closing the investigation due to me not submitting any information. No information was requested of me nor do I have any information on the charges. When filing the investigation all they needed were the dates, amounts and they could see exactly what I was seeing on my account. Now I called back a couple months ago and filed another investigation, which they then closed again stating that I did not submit any information. When I called about this I was just given the runaround and transfered about. Also 1/28/08 there is another charge for a magazine I don't subscribe to. Your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated

My bill is going higher, higher finance charges, late payments etc etc.

Keith Herr of American Express states the reason: "as a member of the credit granting community, we seek to establish practices that are comparable to other standards within our industry." He refused to acknowledge my second letter with documentation of my credit report status, credit line increases by several reputable credit card companies, and how unfair these arbitrary reductions have been.

It has affected my credit score, because now my debt ratio on my American Express cards are excessive, compared to all my other accounts that are less than 20%.

Now I don't have any option but to ask to return the Platinum cards. It's not that I am not sure if I will charge that much on these cards or not, but it's the point of mis-information (hiding the fact). I am writing this email just to inform that why I am returning/canceling these cards.

I am planning a family vacation in the next 4 months, and my plans were to pay on my existing balance on my American Express Card therefore allowing me a comfortable available credit amount. I had not planned on maximizing my account. However, I feel I have been treated unfairly and disrespectfully, and I have a high regard for my credit and the creditors that I give my business to.

I called their customer service twice. The first time the rep told me he would have the supervisor contact me in hours, which I've never got a call back. So next morning I called again, and was told that the credit reduction was because I charge too much on my another credit card issued by another bank in December.

American Express sent me the excellent offer, I took advantage of it, then American Express declined it on the same day when they found I used it.

One fare should be $3600 and they said it should be $13,715.

As time went on the collection calls incresased. I was finally turned over to a person named Ms. Pacheco. In January 2008, things started to shape up financially for me and I called Ms. Pacheco to work out an arrangement to bring my account up to date. In our conversation I balked at the practice of not being able to make a modified payment plan and informed her that other creditors did it. She told me we are in business to make money. I told her that I was in now in a position to catch up and make payments to catch up and asked for relief on late charges, etc. She refused. I told her I would make catch up payments until it was current. She told me that my account was now being turned over to outside collection. She was rude and crude. I told her fine, I would deal with them. Today I received another collection letter from American Express. I called them and was informed that my account was turned over to outside collections. I got the name and number of the collection agency and called them. I made arrangements to pay the back amount in two payments and a reduced payment plan thereafter. Why was I able to work out something suitable with the outside collection agency when all of that could have been avoided if only American Express would have done that to begin with? I believe they purposely do that to ruin my credit rating and standing. And, believe this, I was told that once I paid my account I was pre-approved for another credit card.

It will cost me untold hours on the phone to clean up their mess and try to extract payment from my former employer to pay this bill. I will warn everyone NEVER to accept an Amex charge card for any reason - work or pleasure.

To make a long story short...we got into a car accident. When we called to inform them, they told us that the policy does not cover rentals in your home city. We fought this and then was transfered for 3 hours. Then they told us we were only covered for 30 days (the accident occurred on the 38th day). I called customer service immediately and asked their policy again...specifically asking if I was covered for 2 months and they assured me that I am covered for the length of my rental. 4 agents gave me this same info!

Now we are desperate to talk to the manager, but he is always out of the office, at a meeting, or in an important call. This has been going on for a week and a half! We feel like we are being ignored...and brushed off. Even though we have good credit history. They make you feel ignorant..by quickly get a condescending yet indifferent attitude!

I called them and they lowered the APR to 16.49/22.49 (charges/cash).

I have not the means to do this at this time; I am in the process of obtaining a small business loan to pay off these debts. I am a small business owner and have been working on a means of taking care of this problem. In the meantime I am willing to set up some reasonable payment plan with American Express to show I am making an effort, but if they are unwilling to do this. I don't know what else I can do. This has effected my personal credit score, and I am in the process of trying to get back on my feet.

I do not have any of the paper work as proof now!

I worked with an indvidual and explained the situiation and made a good faith down payment. I was given a deadline to get some payment plan set. I explained that this has put a negative mark on my credit and have tried to work with American Express. On October 22, 2007 i received a call from a very rude and threatening individual who was putting words in my mouth that I nver stated such as I was stating I would not pay this acoount which I never said or implied.

I hung up after being on the phone for over 15 minutes. Another individual called me on a private number stating I had 24 hours to get some payment plan in even though I was given until the end of October 2007. Lies, threats, and harrassment have been the only way they work. Why cannot they try working with people and support getting the account paid.

First my credit report now carries a negative mark. I now for weeks get daily harrassing calls from the American Express collection agency using abusive language, lies and threats.

We keep all the cards current, and never had a problem.

We discovered that one of our employees had convinced a bookeeper to issue a card in his wifes name. This card was often paid off in part, and our bookeeping department lost track of the rolling forward balance (or so they claim). The CFO was a friend of this employee - so who knows. Finally, charges began to rack up, and along with a series of other financial scams and games - this employee was able to tank the company. After 15 years of profitable operations, we were brought down.

But then Am Ex went after the individual card holders, not for their debt, but for the debt of the former employees wife. They said that all of the personal signers were personally responsible for the other card holders - fraudulent or not. They've actually sued one of the other employees for the charges of the wife.

I Asked if I could still reddeem the points and have my cards reinstated do to it was the error and they told me no. I called back a few months later and asked about the points again and was told that I only had 30 days after the cards were canceled to redeem the points, I explained to them that is not what I was told when the cards were canceled.

A few months after that I decided out of spite that I was going to miss a payment on both cards to get there attention. Mistake on my part, they sent the accounts to a collection agency that is extremely ruthless and un ethical, they break all the rules. I called American express and told them the whole story, they agreed and said that if I caught up on the month behind and made another payment that was due to bring me current that they would pull the accounts from the collection agency. I have since been making my payment to Amex on through there web site as agreed. two months later that collection agency is calling me again.

However, my experience with their new security policies became a nightmare in September, 2007 when I was notified by mail that my account was suspended pending further identity verification. When contacted by phone, the security representative explained that all new customers were required to undergo this additional screening procedure. I was told I had to fax them a copy of my Social Security card, bank records and utility bills. I explained that I would do so if I were applying for a mortgage, but wouldn't do it just for a credit card. I further objected to this policy as intrusive and excessive. I asked for alternative options but told there were none.

Also, I was told that punitive information would be placed on my credit reports should I fail to comply with all of their demands.

I refused their extortionate demands and cancelled my card. I received a letter confirming the cancellation with the following punitive statement: "You did not provide the banking information, financial statements, income tax return and/or other identification documents requested. Our cancellation of your account under these circumstances may result in negative reporting of this account to the consumer reporting agencies."

I want other consumer to be aware of this situation. I did not know or else would never have done business with this company. Their security demands significantly increase a consumer's risk of identity theft once these sensitive documents are out of the consumer's control.

I have 35 years of exemplary credit on my credit reports and now I have to monitor all three agencies for punitive information from American Express because I refused to comply with outrageous and threatening demands. Isn't this extortion?

When I received the card, the limit was not enough to transfer my balances. So I called and inquired and they told me to call back in 30 days at which time I should have no problem obtaining an 'increase' to my card. They just wanted to see that I was going to use the card and it would not even hurt to make a payment.

However, when I called, they advised me that I would NOT be able to transfer the balance because of what was on my credit report. Now I am really upset because when I called about the limit the first time, I asked them to cancel my card because I did not need any additional debt. They 'encouraged' me to go ahead and do a partial balance transfer from one of my accounts as there should be no problem obtaining the increase.

The result is I am sure that what the credit report is showing is high debt ratio because they extended me more credit instead of taking the old debt that I asked the to take that they said they approved. So as I explained to them, because of your encouraging, you have in essence generated another bill for me ! This is dirty business and I will do all in my power to pay them off ASAP ! I do not want to do business with a company like this. I was just looking for them to do what they said, to allow me to transfer my debt to a lower interest card.

Of course not being prepared to pay the entire bill in 30 days, I did manage to pay the majority of my bill over a two month period. I notified Amex and informed the representative I would pay the remaining balance at the end of the following month. However, when I deposited the funds to pay the final balance, they refused to accept my payment by phone from my Bank Account. Even the representative didn't know why I couldn't make payment and asked me to use another account. This of course, presented a new problem since the account I normally used for my Amex Platinum card is my bank in New York.

Since I deposited the check in NY before I left for my home in Florida, I had to now move the funds to my Florida bank which took even longer to pay them back. Can you believe they closed my account and penalized me because my payment was so late.

They had to nerve to tell me I had to reapply for my card again. And, of course, I lost my 200,000+ miles I had accumulated as I have been a member since 1987. To add insult to injury they denied me for a new card because of my late payment. I am ****** and felt as much as they call you directly, they could have notified me when they decided I wasn't good enough for S&T but to stop my pay by phone option for no reason felt like they were trying to sabotage my payment.

This is an extreme inconvenience since I travel to NY for my work on average every other week. You cannot imagine the hassle of booking flights, hotel and car rentals with a debit card.

Employee was able to contact AX directly, get a new card without anyone's permission and have the new card sent to his apartment. AX never called, emailed, nor mailed us to notify this happened. AX said that the employee had the right to get a new card and AX doesn't necessarily have to inform the owner.

This is odd since EVERY other account related move we made was followed by a FYI by mail. Employee went off the deep end was able to charge $45,000 over 3 days!!! I think that he bought 4 60 TVs, jewelry, 40 items at the Izod store, Apple computers and accessories, high-end clothes, gift cards, etc.

Our company has no history of these types of purchases. Our purchases are mostly gas and job supplies. AX never suspected a single charge and let them all go through. I only found out because with such a high balance, I was declined other charges. After many calls to AX, they finally cancelled the new card account, but not immediately.

Ex-employee was arrested after trying to buy more jewelry. AX was a royal pain to deal with and finally initiated a fraud investigation. The police were little help as well. I was hoping that somebody was going to question the ex-employee to try to recover some items while they were still local and could be returned for credit. Not a single item was recovered. Police said they had no leads. AX said for me to nothing but wait for their investigation.

After a month or so, AX informed me that investigation was complete and I was responsible for each and every charge. When I asked for details on exactly what is was that I was paying for and possibly some help in retrieving serial #s, they said that they don't provide any of that. After many calls to many managers nobody will return my calls and they now won't even transfer me to the fraud department. Complete stonewall.

They don't have any problem calling twice a day to let me know that account is past due, though. Ex-employee is now likely homeless and zero chance of getting any future money from him. I guess my biggest beef is that they were good about flagging $200 in fraudulant grocery purchases, but let $45,000 in electronics and jewelry go through without a hitch.

Once we received the new cards the story changed again. They kept requesting us to requests the reward by letter they did not see any reason why we could not have them now its 2007 we received to denial letters(standard letter obviously)explaining we should have requeste our rewards reinestetement back in 2006. We are back to squre one with two new cards no rewards no reinstatement nothing. I wish they would get their story straight.

We were spending 100,000 a month for many years -- they got there money while our business was profitable. Never would not pay. I believe the rewards were earned and should be paid. Forfeiting a little but the entire amount is highway robbery.

I faxed over what they requested a couple of days later. I then received another phone call from this woman who said she received the fax. She then began to ask me if I was calling from my business. I said no ,this is a cell phone. Well, why are you using a cell phone she asked. And why when she called my business, nobody answered?

She then started a line of questioning about my identity. I would now need to fax over documents to confirm my personal identity. I asked her, if American Express had all these questions about my identity and about if I actually had a businesses, then why did they send me a pre-approved offer, in my name/business name?

However on April 2007 they apparently ran my credit report again and found that I have too much credit. They dropped my limit to where my balance is and raised interest rate substantially, showing on my credit report that I now maxed my limit. This caused other credit card companies to follow suit. Discover, Chase both raised the interest rate to 23.99 and 24.99 percent respectively due to balance with AMX. I have pleaded AMX to reconsider but they would not.

Well Amex, I took a drill to your precious RFID card because you make it easy to see where the RFID is. A 1/8 drill bit sent the RFID chip to hell.

AmEx silently embed these chips without notifying their customers or giving us an opt-out option.

After about a year, I decided to apply for the Platinum card. I was approved for the card immediately and it was sent to my home. I racked up about $6,000 after the first month on the Platinum card. This is not a lot of charges for me, as I usually spend $10,000-$20,000/month on business expenses.

In my previous history, I have spent and paid off much larger amounts that this with no problems.

Regardless, I get a call from someone at the Financial Review department of Amex. She called me in the middle of the day to inform me that all my cards are on hold and will be canceled unless I send them a signed 4506t IRS form, which is a form that authorizes a third party to pull your income tax returns. Not only does she ask me this, but she talks to me in the rudest manner. I felt like I was a criminal being interrogated. I was outraged.

I decided to cooperate and I sent in the signed 4506t form as requested. I figured it wouldn't be a problem, since my tax returns show over $450,000 in gross sales from last year alone. Since all my charges are for my business, I figure it wouldn't be an issue. I finally call Amex a few weeks later because I haven't got a call back as promised.

They tell me the fax came through blurry and I need to resend. I resent right away, this time from a different fax machine, in case there was a problem with the previous fax machine I used. By the way, I send hundreds of faxes and month and I have never gotten a complaint about a blurry fax from any of my clients.

I don't hear a response from Amex, once again, so I call them back. I am transferred about 4 times, until the rudest lady in the world starts telling me that I need to pay my balance of $6,000 and says things like why haven't you paid your bill? You know we can send you to collections! She even said I can't answer any of your questions. Why don't you pay your bill first. Why haven't you paid it? Are you gonna pay or not? She spoke to me like I was some deadbeat...despite the fact that I charged and paid back, on time, over $100,000+ in the last year alone. After all that, she is treating me like scum over a measly $6,000 charge?

I told her to look at my previous history, and that I couldn't pay because I was locked out of my Amex online account, and I have not been getting statements since that first phone call. Eventually they transfer me and someone tells me they are canceling my card because they never got the 4506t form faxed to them. I explain that I have faxed it twice. I also tell him that I have over $100,000 in my checking account, and have had a perfect payment history on huge payments over the last year and a half. He tells me he can't do anything.

I can't believe that they would treat a loyal customer like this. I have since applied for Visa and MC cards, which treat me much better. I have also convinced three of my closest clients to cancel their Amex cards as well. They each charge about $150,000 on the card every year. Amex will lose a lot of business if they keep treating their customers like garbage.

I lost all my Amex points. I am still not sure if this will damage my FICO score, which is at 725 right now.

I have no idea what the fee is since I always paid the bill in full each month. This was sent to NCO Financial (collection agency) who insisted I paid to avoid future late fees. American express will not accept any calls related to my account. I have since paid the balance. But just to let everyone know AMEX does not actually cancel and account and they continue to rip you off months after you have closed your account with them.

Shortly thereafter I tried to take advantage of this offer during a trip to South Africa. A standard business class fare was $7,500 through Delta but exactly the same flight was $11,500 through Amex Platinum. If I accepted this offer it would have meant that my company was paying most of the cost for the so called free ticket without realizing it. In good conscience I couldn't do this.

I called Amex and told them the offer was misleading and that I wanted my membership fee back. I had only used the card once to buy gas, in order to activate it. They refused.

I think the offer of a free ticket is misleading, because the first ticket is so much more expensive than a standard off the shelf fare, it really represents a discount for two tickets but there is no free ticket. It also leads people to defraud their companies if the first ticket is reimbursed by an employer. I feel that Amex is well aware of this issue and is actually trading on it.

Finally, I think it is defrauding the IRS. If I had booked the $11,500 fare and got the free ticket, I would actually be putting the price of the discounted ticket (ie an extra $4,000) in my pocket but telling the IRS it was a legitimate business expense.

Prior to calling American Express, I obtained a quote from Austrian Airlines. They quoted me a price of $2510 for one person round trip. American Express's quote was $6824. From my point of view, the most I should have to pay would be $5020 not $13648!

I ended up talking with four individuals in the Platinum Travel Services department, none of which could resolve the overcharge issue. After that, I spoke with a very pleasant lady in the Executive Services department. She was very sympathetic and assured me that the issue would be resolved and to call back in two days.

After two days, she said she was surprised no one had responded and that I would be hearing from them. Two days later no response. I called again at that point and spoke with the same lady who said that the Travel Services department's lack of response was not acceptable and she would contact them again. She advised me to wait to hear from them before purchasing my tickets. Needless to say, two days later, no response.

This time when I called back I received an answering machine. My conclusion: Either American Express does not want to assume their responsibility or are too arrogant to address issues when confronted with them. Maybe they do not want to face potential fraud/abuse issues when a loyal customer (I have been with American Express since 1977.) requests a reasonable answer. Or, perhaps they simply do not care (as it has been demonstrated with me).