American Express Helps You Even If You Screw Up The Paperwork

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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