Joe wants to thank American Express for fixing an incorrect charge on his bill even though he completely forgot to send in the paperwork. Aw!

About two months ago, I went on a business trip with two colleagues that featured a layover in Memphis. We stopped and had breakfast at a restaurant at the airport. We made the error of not informing the waitress at the start of the meal it would be separate checks. She separated them after the fact, I charged mine to my American Express card. When I got back, I submitted my receipt for reimbursement, and kept a copy for myself.

Fast forward about two weeks. When my electronic statement was ready, I noticed that the charge from the restaurant was three times larger than it should’ve been. I guessed that someone fouled up and submitted the entire tab on my card. I filled out an online dispute, grabbed my copy of the receipt (from my expense report), and set it aside.

A week later, I received a letter from AmEx, informing me that a temporary credit had been placed on my account and asking for additional information. Unfortunately, life got the best of me, and I missed the deadline to submit my copy. I thought for sure I’d be on the hook for it (based on the way that most credit card companies approach customers).

Saturday, I received another letter from AmEx, which I assumed could easily be summed up as “No paperwork, no credit; too bad, so sad.”

Instead: “We have determined that the inquiry was correct, and the credit has become permanent.” They had reached out to the restaurant, confirmed the error, and I “won”!

While I don’t recommend doing what I did (in terms of forgetting the paperwork), I want to give AmEx a public round of applause. When I was growing up, my dad always told me that AmEx was infinitely better than the other credit card companies. This validates it.

Hooray! It’s nice to hear a happy story.

(Photo: kajatl )

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