American Express Travelers Cheques Reviews

The procedure was simple: I bought AMEX TCs, signed them on both lines, and made them payable to myself. Then I signed on the back and marked the checks for deposit only, with my checking account number below my signature. There is absolutely no way that any other person could cash these checks. I violated no rules stated on the purchase agreement that I received. The purchase agreement did state that I must sign the check on the top line immediately upon purchase and, later, on the bottom line in the presence of the person accepting the check. Since I was both the check purchaser and acceptor, I was, of course, signing in my own presence. Sending TCs through the mail system is no less reliable than carrying them in a backpack or purse. AMEX itself offers delivery of UNSIGNED TCs (!) by common carrier to Bank of America customers. In any case, mailing a TC does not violate any requirements of the purchase agreement.

I never worried much about losing a TC for the following reasons:

1st ASSUMPTION: I thought my money was safe in the form of AMEX TCs. After all, AMEX states in its ads: Your money is always safe with Travelers Checks. American Express Travelers Checks are safer than cash. If they are ever lost or stolen, the funds may be refunded (Americanexpress.com). I remember seeing Karl Malden advertising AMEX TCs for years in TV ads, and he always said the same thing, adding, "Don't leave home without them!"

2nd ASSUMPTION: I also knew that AMEX has offices in every major city around the world. Of course, AMEX has an office in Seoul, where I live, so I had nothing to worry about as far as ease of obtaining a refund is concerned. AMEX tells its TC customers: Refunds are available at American Express Travel Services Offices and partner locations around the world (Americanexpress.com)

3rd ASSUMPTION: I also thought that the refund for a lost/stolen TC would be swift and the paperwork involved would be minimal, and I assumed that you would have to supply the information only once to get your refund. AMEX states that, to get a refund, You give Issuer or Amexco all reasonable information and help requested to make a complete investigation of the loss or theft (travelers check purchase agreement).

4th ASSUMPTION: I thought that the guarantee of AMEX to replace a lost or stolen TC was valid until the check was actually cashed. If the TC is lost or stolen at any point before it is cashed, then AMEX will replace it. Let's say, for example, that I have an AMEX travelers check in the amount of $500 that I make payable to my wife and countersign. She endorses the check and marks it for deposit only with her bank account number on the back. She walks out of the house and goes to the bank to deposit it into her account. Along the way, she is robbed of her purse and the check, or she is injured, losing control of the check, which blows away in the wind. I would assume that AMEX's guarantee to replace lost/stolen TCs would apply. Wouldn't any logical person think so? Wouldn't you be shocked if AMEX told you that, under the conditions that I just described, they have no legal obligation to issue a refund?

5th ASSUMPTION: Finally, it seemed apparent that there could only be one valid purchase agreement between AMEX and me: the purchase agreement that I received at the Korean bank where I bought the TCs. Every time I bought a TC, I was given a purchase agreement. That agreement constituted the only legal contract between AMEX and me, as far as I was concerned. For any company to attempt to make material changes to a contract without the consent of the other party is both unethical and illegal.

In due time, I was to discover that all five of my assumptions detailed above were completely false. In early 2013, I had some bad luck, and TCs of mine totaling US$700 in value were lost. When I filed a claim for the $700, I had a rude awakening as to the true and devious nature of American Express. Here is the reality with respect to my assumptions:

(#1) Your money is NOT safe with travelers checks. Indeed, AMEX claims that they have no legal obligation to refund lost travelers checks if they were lost in what AMEX calls a negotiated state, that is, signed on both lines and made payable to someone but lost and not negotiated.

(#2) AMEX claims that you can get refunds at American Express Travel Services Offices and partner locations around the world. The reality is that I had to send my claim forms to India at my own expense, costing me $10 and causing more delay, in spite of that fact that AMEX has offices here in Seoul where I live. AMEX refused to give me the address of their Seoul office. It took five months to get a refund!

(#3) It is logical to supply all reasonable information. However, after I filed my claim over the phone, which is what AMEX required, they still forced me to fill out additional documents later that said the same thing as the information that I had already given over the phone. They also required me to make photocopies of my passport, driver's license, and alien registration card in Korea. It appeared that they were deliberately delaying and making unnecessary and unreasonable demands for information that I had already given. The claim form was even supposed to be notarized. I told AMEX that the only place I could get the form notarized was at the US Embassy, and they charge $50 for notarization. I chose to get a co-worker to witness my signature instead.

(#4) After I filed my claim (in a 20-minute phone conversation), I was contacted by an AMEX representative from India. She only identified herself as Donna and never used a family name in calling or in emails. She spoke to me in a tone of voice that sounded like an old fashioned schoolmarm from the 1930s who was scolding a naughty boy who had lost his homework. She told me that I had violated the AMEX agreement, and AMEX was not obligated to issue me a refund. However, they would issue a refund if I signed documents admitting that I violated the purchase agreement and stating that I would not take them to court. The required document stated, "I acknowledge I have failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the Travelers Cheque Purchase Agreement...I sign to confirm and understand that I am not entitled to an unconditional refund."

Donna never explained what part of the purchase agreement I had violated. The only thing that she said was that my lost TCs were in what she called a negotiated state. Further, according to her, AMEX has no legal obligation to refund a TC that is lost in a negotiated state. I wrote in response: The statement that AMEX is not obliged to fulfill a request for a refund when Travelers Cheques are lost/Stolen in a negotiated state will be news to almost every buyer of AMEX Travelers Cheques. This language is not mentioned in the Purchase Agreement, and buyers will naturally assume that AMEX will reimburse the buyer if the Cheques are lost or stolen at ANY STAGE BEFORE NEGOTIATION OF THE MONETARY TRANSFER IS COMPLETE. However, according to Donna, AMEX would not have any obligation to refund the TCs that were lost/stolen under the conditions of my example explained above, in which I made a $500 TC payable to my wife and then she was robbed or lost the TC on the way to the bank. According to Donna's letter, AMEX would be under no legal obligation to reimburse me for the stolen/lost cheque in that example, in spite of the fact that no one could cash the missing cheque. What a nice $500 bonus that would be for AMEX!

(#5) In the course of filling out the documents required by AMEX to get the refund, I noticed that one of the documents included a NEW purchase agreement. I conducted a detailed comparison of the ORIGINAL purchase agreement that I received from the bank when I bought the TCs and the NEW one that Donna now sent me from AMEX. The new purchase agreement added numerous new conditions and qualifications that were not in the original agreement. It was clear that AMEX was trying to substitute a new purchase agreement, with material alterations of the contract details. The following statements were found in the new contract but not the old one:

(f) You authorize us to request institutions from which you purchased your Travelers Cheques any and all relevant information necessary for American Express to comply with applicable law and/or to provide you Travelers Cheque related services.

None of these statements were in the original purchase agreement. These statements are very vague and offer AMEX broad discretion in obtaining personal information about the claimant, as well as broad discretion in denying claims. In addition, the AMEX form and Donna made a big point of emphasizing that AMEX cannot stop payment on a TC: "I understand that the Issuer(s) cannot stop payment on any Cheque which I reported lost or stolen and owes me no obligation to refuse to pay any Cheque presented for payment. and I hereby acknowledge and agree that American Express is unable to place a stop payment on any Travelers Cheques, including the above referenced Cheque/s, and [they] remain at risk indefinitely from future encashment."

Here is my response to this load of rubbish about the stop payment: Ha ha. A statement that is cleverly misleading and risible. AMEX has already told me that they put the lost Travelers Cheque numbers on a watch list, and anyone trying to cash them will be arrested for fraud. This procedure is much better than the procedure of stopping payment. In the case of some miracle, by which the lost cheques reach my bank, the bank will not honor them because the cheques are on a watch list of lost/stolen cheques.

If I had been living in the USA, I would not have filled out their onerous documents; instead, I would have filed a lawsuit against AMEX for violation of the purchase agreement. However, I was living in Korea, and it is more complicated to file such a claim in a Korean court. In the end, I filled out their forms as requested. However, I added an 11-page addendum stating that I was signing the forms under duress, along with my denials of key points. I made photocopies of all documents requested and mailed everything to their office in India. A couple of weeks later, I received a refund, about five months after my initial claim.

I did not let the matter rest there. I have filed a complaint with the New York Attorney General charging AMEX with two violations of New York law (AMEX is domiciled in New York): (1) false and misleading advertising; (2) material alteration of contract (i.e., travelers check purchase agreement). I also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in New York City. Even though I already know that the BBB is a toothless tiger, I still filed the complaint to annoy AMEX. Incidentally, over 2,400 complaints have been filed against AMEX during the last 12 months at the New York City BBB alone. Concerning AMEX, the New York BBB states:

"On October 1, it was announced that American Express will refund $85 million to customers to settle regulators' accusations that it charged unlawful late fees and deceived customers to pressure them to pay off old debts or buy extra credit card services. Besides the refund to about 250,000 customers, AMEX will pay civil penalties totaling $27.5 million to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency."

Aside: In light of its manifest betrayal of its customers, why is AMEX still a member of the BBB, and with a rating of A? Because of its perfidy and lack of ethics, AMEX should have been expelled from the BBB. Is it because the BBB is a pantywaist organization that doesn't want to give up AMEX's membership fees? You can decide for yourself. In searching on the Internet for more information about AMEX, I came across numerous complaints against the company for failure to pay claims as well as for AMEX's deliberate obfuscation of the claim process. In addition, I found out that there are some banks that sell AMEX TCs but won't even cash them. Incredible!

To sum up, I now advise everyone to avoid dealing with this deceptive, insulting, and unscrupulous company. I have no faith that American Express can be shamed into including standard ethics as part of their company dealings. However, I feel a duty to warn others to steer clear of this sinister company like the plague. Incidentally, I can back up every claim in this posting with documented proof. If Karl Malden were alive today, he might very well be saying, "Leave home without them!"

Then, I contacted Bradesco Bank. I delivered the documents and the traveler's checks and after more than 5 months, no refund. The arrogant employee of Amex Brazil, Gerson, told me, "If Amex Global authorizes, I will authorize the refund." I called again Amex Global in the US. I sent the documents to Amex Customer Service Center and I am still waiting. I trust in the correctness of the information received by American Express Global. I trust in Amex organization. However, I don't trust in the employees of American Express in Brazil. I am waiting for a contact from American Express Customer Service Center.

The nightmare began when I called American Express to report the stolen traveler’s cheques. Right off, the representative told me that I would probably not get my money back within 24 hours as the website claims, and that I should try to find another way to get money (I was stuck with just $100 in Thailand). They said it would likely be a long process. In the subsequent months, I found myself having countless discussions with customer representatives, sending dozens of emails along with photocopied documents, bank account statements, my lease agreement (to prove where I live), and answering dozens of questions that included my height and weight and many other extraneous details.

If I had just lost $50 or $100, I might have given up, as I’m sure many people do, but the amount stolen from me was so great that I keep trying. I kept up with calling, e-mailing, photocopies, faxes, and everything else. After months of this process, I finally received a letter from American Express stating that they refused to give me back my money even though the checks were cancelled and cannot be used. They claimed there is insufficient substantiation that any cheques were lost/stolen from you. In addition, they now claim that all further communication with them must be conducted through written documents only, so basically calling them does me no good. One word describes the customer service at American Express: indifference.

I’m 33 years old. I have two degrees, one in mathematics and the other in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. I’m clearly not a crook or a scam artist. There is no reason for them to treat me with such indifference and lack of respect. I will never use American Express Travelers Cheques ever again, and I encourage you all to learn from my mistakes. I nearly had no money in Thailand. Thanks to a friend I was able to carry on with my vacation.

I say I was taking care of my cheques and cash by keeping it in a money belt, as I have done over many years of traveling abroad. Failure to close the zip was due to extreme tiredness and a momentary lapse of concentration caused by jet lag and lack of sleep on the overnight bus journey from Bangkok to Koh Samui. I've been dealing with this matter since I came back in April. First, I went to the Citizens Advice. They put me onto the financial ombudsman service who, after 6 months, came back with the decision that American Express travelers cheques were not regulated by them. So now, I'm back to square one. As far as I know, the travelers cheques have not yet been cashed. So, AMEX should still have my money. The cheques were cancelled by me within half an hour of discovering them missing. This loss was an accident and there was no intentional neglect. Surely, as it says on the package when you buy the cheques, "lost or stolen cheques are refunded". They must be covered for this type of event - if not what.

I still have not received one word from American Express and since my sister had Asperger's syndrome, there is no telling where she hid the checks.

I had to go through a very lengthy phone process to enable me to cash them at a Western Union in Florence. However, I spent almost $100 on the lengthy phone call, so I lost that money. Do not use these checks.

No bank, money changer, hotels or office to cash them or accept them. I don't know what to do except cry. That money was hard earned over those 6 years here in Saudi and now I have saved nothing. No way will I ever trust in American express again. Not even their credit cards. I am still in Saudi and not only do I have to worry about terrorists. I have no way to safeguard my savings or travel money.

I had some trouble cashing them in Beijing with some major banks. These banks that refused to cash my AMEX travelers checks happened to sell them but would not cash them! How ironic!

It was a hassle to get banks to accept my AMEX travelers checks. I cashed in $4,000 in three months and ended up using ATM withdrawals and credit cards while in China. But when I returned to the states and tried to deposit them in my Bank of America account (a bank I no longer do business with), the manager told me they would "have to check these TCs through the computer one by one to see if they are valid because we have been ripped-off before with AMEX travelers checks". Again, they sold AMEX travelers checks but did not want to cash them.

It was nothing but a hassle to deal with AMEX travelers checks. I will never buy/use them again, ever. No, thank you American Express. Bad business product.

The cost to me apart from the stress of dealing with the Myan Resort management, was the difference between using cash for exchanging to Mexican $ and the cost of putting the charges on my credit card, which is significant. As mentioned in other complaints it appears to be impossible to contact AMEX without an American Express Card. It seems that the AMEX travellers cheque has gone the way of the Dodo. I will take the travellers cheques to my home branch bank where they are accepted and be done with them.

The best they could do was give me American dollars at the 'buy rate'. Essentially that was a 20% loss on my part. The only solution they could recommend was to submit a claim for to AMEX for reimbursement of the difference. When I called the AMEX office in Belgium they told me that the banks and merchants should have accepted the travelers checks. The fact of the matter is that I wasn't able to find a bank or merchant in Belgium or France that would cash the checks for me.

Was without cash upon my arrival in a foreign country. I spent hours during my vacation trying to find someone to cash the travelers checks. My final 'loss' for all the back and forth transactions was about $30 on 200 euros worth of travelers checks.

I had to go to the Rome American Express office in order to get cash but that was after having no working credit card, and no euros in a small Italian lake village where I had to mail the owners euros days later from Rome. How embarrassing. Moreover, American Express knows that no one will cash the traveler's checks anymore - not just in Italy, but in Germany and France. Yet they continue to sell them without warning U.S. citizens.

I'll admit that I hadn't been to Europe in a while, but they should not sell a product they know that no one will accept anymore outside the States. Their solution for people who could not travel to the Rome American Express office? File a claim. That does Americans a lot of good with no cash in a foreign country. Horrible. I will never ever use a product of American Express again!

the lady mailed me back three days later(its was a friday hence a weekend)on monday and asked for me to send her all the documents including police complaint report etc.i did that promptly an had the documents faxed to her as well as have been speaking to her regarding the progress on my case.

till now every time i ask them they reply by saying that they are investigating. i understand the need for them to investigate but its been over a wekk since i have dutifully completed their requirements yet they have not sent me duplicate cheques on cash.i'm constantly on the move due to my proffesion and rely on travellers cheques for money.now i am help less. please can you help me thankyou

Loss of travellers cheques worth 4500$USD.

The teller informed me that since the amount was under $500, I would have to buy Gift Cheques. She assured me that they are accepted worldwide, just like Travellers Cheques. I agreed, and paid the $26 fee required by American Express.

While in India, I attempted to change one of the $25 cheques for local currency at my resort in Tamil Nadu. After taking my cheque to their bank, the resort informed me that their bank refused payment because it was a gift cheque, not a travelers cheque.

When I returned to the U.S., I deposited the cheques in my savings account, told my bank what happened, and contacted American Express both by letter and phone. They were polite, but pretty useless. They even said that I should have phoned one of their Indian offices and asked them to authorize the transaction. Never mind that there are only two American Express offices in India, both hundreds of miles from where I was staying and the long-distance phone call would probably cost almost as much as the cheque.

So, I paid $26 for something I couldn't use. A small amount, but it could have been worse and unsuspecting tourists may run into similar situations if they rely on this service. I'd warn tourists to steer clear of travelers cheques and stick to an ATM and cash.

I had some cash with me and was able to make the $25 exchange at the resort. However, I needed to make another exchange a few days later and had to arrange for a ride into town to withdraw more money from an ATM. I also was out $26 for the cheque fee.

Their excuses are as follows: We sent you a check. Yes, to an address other than the one on my letterhead. We cannot possible send out a replacement check until we learn if a stop-payment was made on the original. That was five weeks ago and no replacement check has been sent. I will take care of this problem today. That was one week ago. No check has been sent.

I am out some $400+ depending on which exchange rate one wants to use.

They tell you that you didn't safeguard the checks, that they are exactly like cash, that you have to find the checks, if you have no money left on your gift card, you aren't entitled to a refund regardless of whether it was stolen. They have no security in place, if a merchant takes a gift card without an ID or even similar signature,American Express can't get the money back from the merchant, they have no policies established. American Express also cannot stop payment on their traveler's checks, if someone steals them there is no way to stop them from being cashed.

That is why American Express has a contract that is nothing like other traveler's checks or gift cards contracts, its designed to get American Express out of refunding your money, you can't even sue, you have to arbitrate and even if you win, you pay your own fees. Their office is closed until 1:00 pm, it takes about 30 minutes to talk to someone, you are told to call back over and over, they ask for info that is not relevant, refuse to let you speak to a supervisor, put you on the defensive, argue with you, lie about their policies, make you jump through hoops until you finally get so demoralized you just give up.

Because American Express would not refund my money, I lost my car.

I am losing my car because I am behind on payments because American Express won't refund my money. They are scam artists, the same as kiting checks and engaging in conversion. I wrote this complaint beause I read your story about American Express refusing to refund checks lost in a fire even though it was documented, how crooked can you get?

American Express can't stop payment on their checks, they have no security in place and engage in false advertising in order to make money at consumers expense. American express told me I had to find the checks, that they were just like cash. I said That's not true, I know where my money is, no one has cashed these checks in 4 months, you have my money. If you lose cash you don't have to spend hours and hours of your time trying to get a refund which never materializes, you don't have to feel ripped off and insulted. American Express engages in this behavior as a matter of course and they just lie about everything when you talk to them. They are worse than con artists beause they can advertise their respectability and con artists can't do that. The tactics American Express uses to deny claims would make a good class action suit. They scam people under color of law. I would have rather carried cash,I relied on American Express' reputation to my detriment.

I called American Express right away & was given a claim number then told that someone will contact me in 72 hours. After 72 hours, I was the one who called them because I need my money. I spoke to Maya Iman, who was the one reviewing my case. She asked me the specifics of the incident but in the end it came to a point where I felt like a criminal being interrogated. I let her know this so she ended the phone call by telling me that she will send me some forms to fill-in.

I filled in the claim forms right away & faxed with it a copy of my passport & traveller's cheques receipts on 18 April (Wednesday). When I called back that afternoon to follow it up, their office was already closed so today, I made a couple of phone calls before she got back to me. Maya Iman told me that she would have to let 2 weeks pass before she can make a decision, to wait if someone would try to encash those cheques which I find ridiculous beyond belief because, I need my money now while I'm still in the US & since they've put a worldwide alert for those cheques, they're of no use to anyone, anyway. Plus the fact that I was led to believe that traveller's cheques are the safest form of cash since they're replaceable within 24 hours. Now I know better. This will be the last time I'd be dealing with American Express.

It's a traveller's nightmare to be short of cash while still abroad! I'm here supposedly to de-stress, recharge, recuperate from life's challenges in 2006. I was victimized when my cheques were stolen & again by Maya Iman for making me go through a hellish experience with my claim.

This is a very long story, but I will make it as short as possible. I had taken several thousand dollars in American Express Traveler's Cheques (TCs), because I felt, as they advertise, that was the safest and most acceptable form of money for traveling. I received my TC's from my local bank, Fifth Third, who has since refused to help me.

Before leaving, I went to my nearest local office of Cingular Wireless, to see for certain if my cell phone would work in Ouagadougou. My son, was with me and is witness to the fact I was told my cell phone would work. Upon arrival in Paris, I found the network was inoperable, but simply thought that was due to being in an airport.

I had my TCs in two packets...of equal size. One, unfortunately contained the larger amount in larger bills. In the bank envelope I had the telephone number for the American Embassy, which I had planned to call the morning after my arrival. My phone would not work, and I found the hotel room phone had been disconnected. Before I could do one thing a knock came on the door. It was a the knock of a woman, Rose who told me her husband was a member of two ministries...JUSTICE AND CULTURE. She offered to take me to her husband's office to get an export license..which was required to take artwork from Burkina Faso. This is stated on the American Embassy Website.

The hotel was in on this scheme, along with this 'Rose to take me hostage, steal my TCs, poison me, attempt to take my passport, and steal my cameras (I had pictures of all these people), and attempt to force me to sign documents to open many bank accounts. Cash was also stolen by force. I was taken to ECCOBANK, where I was beaten, and forced to countersign my TCs. They had only found the packet of TCs containing $8000. They had overlooked the second envelope. I was not allowed to leave the hotel.

Sheer good fortune allowed me to meet a hotel guest who assisted me in contacting the American Embassy, which I was able to do the morning of May 15th...a Monday. Within minutes, the Embassy arrived with their security and Interpol. Immediately, upon arrival at the AMERICAN EMBASSY, the ambassador, Scott Summers, called American Express number on the forms, to notify them of the theft. The checks were not yet cashed. They had been warned in time.

The American Embassy arranged for me to stay longer in Ouagadougou, in order to go to the police (I had the license number of the car) and I knew I could find the place where I was taken. A police was report was made and the American Embassy arranged for the director of ECCOBANK to meet at the embassy and confront the bank employees. I had remembered the name of the bank manager, who assisted in robbing me.

As it turned out, the bank had to admit the were wrong in giving the money from the TCs to my captor and not to me, the owner of the TCs. I was totally counting on receiving that money, running out of the back room of the bank, and screaming police and help in the lobby. I knew I could do this and my captors would be useless to do anything about this. I would have my money...but NO...they bank officials gave the huge stack of money to ROSE...my captor and obvious friend of the bank employees involved.

The embassy even wrote to American Express, sent a police report backing me up in everything.

When I arrived back home and I called American Express, they told me to supply many things,,,which I did to all exactness. I faxed them over 50 pages. A couple days later I called, spoke with ANNA, and was told they had received nothing in fax form. Now I had a receipt and it cost $50. Anna said faxes are often lost, but I refused to incur further costs. I asked if I could scan everything an E-mail the documents as attachments. Anna told me that was OK. It took quite a lot of time, but I did scan everything and e-Mailed all to ANNA. DAYS, went by and I heard nothing. I called and called and left any messages. Never were any of the calls returned, nor any e-mails answered. One day, I was able to find out that the e-MAILS HAD BEEN RECIEVED.

I have called all numbers for AMEX. All I get is the run around. Never has my claim been denied, but I have been told I must fill out a claim form, which I have not been able to get anywhere.

Finally, I sent a certified letter to AMEX in SALT Lake City, where I threatened to take action against them. In doing research, I found out much. The Amex TC division is the money laundering arm of the heroin industry and Interpol is the police agency which permits all this to happen. This fact may explain Scott Summers' statement to the effect he though Interpol was not helpful at all and was appreciative of all efforts by the Ouagadougou Police.

I truly intend to go to great lengths to expose this scam...many have been victim to this. Any claims over $2000 are automatically not paid. This is all mixed up with our government, ad I do think it possible my bank, my government, the Burkina Faso Embassy in DC, may all be involved. I know a member of the Iraq study group is also a board member of AMEX...Vernon Jordon. MY own congressman is mixed up in this, so I am willing to put my life in danger, if necessary, to expose this criminal organization. I also found out the Fifth Third TCs are counterfeit...which explains the bank's reluctance to cash them in for me. Finally, I was able to get all cashed in last week...but this feat took several months.

The result of my certified letter is very curious. I finally received an e-Mail from ANNA. In her email she said they needed the hotel information. Then she wrote another email to me stating she never received the police report and the e-mail from Scott Sumners, the American Ambassador. I set all info to her and forwarded the email from Anna to Scott Summers. He wrote back in shocked surprise at what was continuing to happen to me with Amex.

That was a couple months or so ago. Time is short supply. That know I cannot spend all my time on this. I have not given up and do plan more if I am unable to get satisfaction.

Cingular Wireless refused to speak with me about the phone issue. That is an entirely another matter, which someone should address. I was told they do not care what happens to their customers and I cannot hold what they say to be truth. It was my fault for believing my phone would work when they told me it would work. Also, I was due an upgrade at the time, but I was not told that at the time. Every tie I complained I lost my NETWORK. This did not happen to the other individuals on my plan. One would not believe what they do to harass me.

Quite by accident I came upon your story about the poor man who lost his TCs in a house fire. One would think that would be a simple case of quickly refunding his money...but no...this is proof of their crooked, underhanded business practices. In the end he settled for less that he was owed, and AMERICAN EXPRESS MADE A PROFIT.

This company must be exposed for what it is. I f I do not hear from you, I will know your company is all tied up in this some way. I hope I have found a partner to expose them for what they really are.

BTW, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL of the state of Indiana will not assist me. I was told I was a business, which I am not. They do not work with businesses.

I hired an attorney who initially asked me to pay for writing a letter. Then he wanted a huge retainer. I fired him, but he kept all y document copies. I have the originals still.

The hotel is part of a larger chain, but they won't help me. I would think the ECCOBANK should pay me, but they are in Africa.

First of all, my husband hates me for being so stupid. My entire family is against me. I have had to change me phone numbers, I am being stalked by computer and the phone, until I changed my phone and added better software, which stopped the hacking of my computer by the criminals.

I went to Ouagadougou and had to spend the entire time locked in a hotel room, then locked in a hotel room by myself...to protect me. The embassy changed my hotel....but someone tried to break down my door....they called me and made threats. I have suffered from PTSD and have sought counseling. The ticket to OUAGADOUGOU cost over $2000. I could not buy what I had traveled so many miles to purchase. I want all my money back and I want to expose Amex for what they are. The money came from funds from refinancing our home. Now we have nothing.