Dockside Chat - AMEX Rant- advice needed

A friend of mine has an AMEX credit card account. This person went past the due date (by 15 days). Please note that this is the first time since the account has been opened that it has not been paid on time. (10 years) Arrangements are made to do an ACH deduction on the Friday the The 1st. Instead they ran it Wed the 30th and over draw the checking account. Then they run the transaction again on Friday the 1st! The bank is has said that they will handle this with AMEX. AMEX has said this incident needs to be investigated because it could be fraud and the nothing will be settled for 2 weeks? They also offered just to set up a credit on the account versus returning the money to the checking account which is not what they want.

They said that they have reviewed the tapes and in their opinion authorizations was given for both of these transactions. How do we get a copy of the tape?

This friend has spoken to "supervisors" and gotten nowhere. What needs to be done here?

Has anyone else been subjected this treatment?

There are 2 things you don't f&ck around with - the mob and American Express. There's a reason why normal joe schmoe's don't have Amex cards. Interesting how "a friend or mine" turns into "we" as the story continues.

Ok, so I can changed it to they instead of we. No, this is not me and even if it was what does it really matter? Hopefully I will get some constructive feed back on this from some of the others on this site.

Check if American Express is regulated by The Office of Comptroller of the Currency.

Then file a report. The ONLY people these people listen to is THAT office. OCC doesn't frack around. :D

I wouldn't get involved in my "friend's" financial issues.

This friend has spoken to "supervisors" and gotten nowhere. What needs to be done here?

Has anyone else been subjected this treatment?

You are still talking with monkey's in rubber suits....you need to go higher. ;)

Not exactly your situation, but simular. As you climb that tree of management record everything and us it against them.

I wouldn't get involved in my "friend's" financial issues.

The tone, emotion attached and wording used by the OP's suggests he is not talking about a casual friend.......but it matters not to me.

I would loan your friend the money he needs to cover the second ACH. He can write you a post-dated check for 14 days from now.

Then deposit the check into your account 14 days from now.

Pay the account off then get the promised credit on the amex acct and then call back and ask for a Credit Balance Refund on the account. I believe they are required to send it if the balance is negative.

The key phrase is "arrangements are made"

By whom and using what method? On-line? At the bank? Over the phone? All AMEX is saying is that both payments were authorized.

Apparently someone setup the payment for the 30th and then thought they rescheduled it for the 1st. Can't say who's at fault without knowing who "arranged" but its probably not AMEX unless it was done over the phone with them.

So now AMEX has two months worth of payments. It may be difficult for them to put the money back into the bank account. Probably a ton of red tape and multiple departments for them to go through. Maybe it's not right but the quickest way to get the money back is a credit or check from AMEX.

So now AMEX has two months worth of payments. .

AMEX will not view the extra as another monthly payment.

It will go towards principal.

Do not view it as another payment and not make a regular payment.

There are 2 things you don't f&ck around with - the mob and American Express. There's a reason why normal joe schmoe's don't have Amex cards. Interesting how "a friend or mine" turns into "we" as the story continues.

It didn't take me long to figure out the same thing. I was 2 days late once... ONCE!

My experience with amex in 2006 was we paid it off every month one month I mailed the check, I keep track of my bank statements on line and noticed the amx check never cleared so before the due date I called amx they said they had not recieved the payment so I put a stop payment on the check and paid them on line the full amount before due date. then they must have found the stopped check and deposited it and it went back to them, they tried to charge me a returned check fee they lowered my credit limit mind you I never carried a balance with them and after many heated conversations with them they cancelled my acct, reason given derogatory statements given, IE I told them to go f themselves. I would not use them if they were the only card on the planet.

On the flip side I use an AMEX for almost every purchase I make, I pay in full every month. About 3 or 4 years ago we paid the payment a day or 2 after the due date and the interest hit, about 120 bucks or so in finance charges. I called them said, we have paid in full every month for 10 years, you make xx% on every purchase we make, we pay an annual fee, so waive the finance charge or close the account and refund the portion of the unearned annual fee. They waived the finance charge......They also call me on any suspicious charge, overnight me a card when mine is compromised or lost and have been great to deal with on merchant disputes.

I would ask them to refund the 1 ACH payment and the overdraft fees....non of us were privy to the delinquent payment arrangements or the policy on returned payments so it is hard to comment. On the flip side if the committed an error i think they normally would make it right.