Consumerist
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Permission Slips
AmEx Won't Reactivate Your Account Without A Note From Your Lawyer
American Express won't reactivate the charge card Xiyang closed more than two years ago until they get a note on letterhead confirming the source and amount of his annual income from an "accountant, broker, or attorney." Two accountants and a lawyer each told Xiyang they never heard of such a request, and said that it would be a "HUGE liability" for them to verify his income. Xiyang offered to send in pay stubs in addition to the IRS documents he already submitted, but AmEx won't budge until they receive their verification on letterhead. More » -
american express
AmEx Charges You For Having A Negative Balance. What?
American Express hit Mike with a finance charge because his Blue card had a balance. A negative balance. Incredulous, Mike called and said, "so you dinged me for carrying a balance and not making a payment, even though it was a negative balance?," to which AmEx replied, "Right, even negative balances." More » -
credit applications
9/11 Ruins Another Customer Experience
Angela can't get a new American Express card because Amex can't verify her Social Security number. They have to verify it because of 9/11. Since they can't, they've canceled her application. Because of 9/11. More » -
security gaps
American Express Keeps Emailing Sensitive Customer Info To A Random Stranger
We're starting to think Amex doesn't take this whole "data security" thing very seriously. First they confused a customer, and us, a few months ago with their random confirmation phone call, where they demanded a customer turn over bank account information over the phone without giving him a way to verify they were really Amex. Now a reader says the company has "for years" been sending him someone else's account info via email, including the customer's name and the last 5 digits of his account number. J.R. writes, "Seriously, I've seen better security on a video game forum." More » -
amex
Don't Be Alarmed By Zombie American Express Bills
A system error at American Express led to their computers kicking out bills with $0.00 balances for accounts that were long ago closed...or never activated in the first place. If you receive one, don't be alarmed. Annoyed, maybe. More » -
success stories
College Student Calls Amex Executive Customer Service, Gets His Limit Reinstated
Jon, like many American Express customers, had his credit limit slashed without warning recently. What he did next makes us feel all warm and fuzzy about our jobs here, because he found the necessary contact info buried in a post from 2007. Here's his story, proof that sometimes persistence pays off. More » -
american express
Amex Hikes Rate, Drops Balance, Then Tries To Bribe Customer To Pay Off Debt Early
Courey Gouker's recent experience with American Express encapsulates every trick the company has pulled in the past few months to drive away their customers, including dropping the credit limit, hiking the rate, and even offering him a cash bonus to pay off his balance in full. In addition, the company's CSRs made promises to him that they didn't keep, and notes on his account have gone missing. About the only thing they haven't done is email a photo of the CEO flipping him the bird. More » -
applecare
Apple Sells You The Wrong AppleCare Package, Then Loses Your Refund
Apple sold reader Melody the wrong AppleCare package, but instead of switching her to the proper coverage, they issued a refund and told her to re-purchase the warranty extension. They even gave her American Express transaction reference numbers so she could track the refund, but AmEx says the numbers are invalid and that they have no record of a refund posting. Melody's been out $195 since February, and thinks it's time for Apple to cough up her money. More » -
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It turns out that weird evening bank verification call from AmEx was legit. Brandon wrote back, "After reading all the comments on Consumerist, it stoked my fear of fraud even more, so I called Amex security. They verified the call was legitimate and was from American Express. It was just poor customer service after all."
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american express
Amex Wants To Play "Scam Call" With You, Please Participate
Update: It turns out the call was legit.
American Express—assuming that's who Brandon called back—has apparently never heard of social engineering scams, considering how they verified Brandon's address the other night. You'd hope a credit card company would help educate its customers to be wary of giving out information over the phone, but the alleged Amex rep on the phone with Brandon demanded personal info and threatened to deactivate the card if he didn't comply. More »
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chargebacks
Woman Who Missed Obama's Inauguration Starts $10,000 AmEx Chargeback
See, here's why you pay for big ticket items with a credit card. A Chicagoan who gave $10,000 to the Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) back in January to secure a spot at Barack Obama's swearing in, never got to see the event because of the security and crowd-control clusterfrak. Unfortunately, the PIC has ceased to exist, and has basically taken a "sorry about that, but thanks for your money" attitude, so she initiated a chargeback. The Washington Post reports:
American Express has given her an "interim" refund in full, pending a review that will involve the credit card company presenting to PIC officials all of Blessman's documentation on the services she feels she was denied.
"One Spurned Purple Ticket Holder Claims Victory" [Washington Post] (Thanks to Megan!) (Photo: Patricia Jones Blessman)
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wcia 2009
Worst Company In America: Peanut Corporation Of America VS American Express
We're doing two a day in the first round, people. It's madness! Stretch out your quads and get ready for #16 Amex VS #17 Peanut Corporation of America.
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amex
Make Sure Your Replacement AmEx Gets Overnighted
Traditionally, AmEx will send you a replacement credit card via overnight, but an insider tells us that as a cost-saving move, they've been trying to cut back on this. If you have low-balance, low-usage or are not an annual fee payer, they might not offer the overnight right off the bat, or may even deny it. Our tipster says there are some key phrases you can use to make sure you get your card lickity-split: More » -
american express
13 American Express Executives' Email Addresses
Here are the email addresses for 13 American Express execs, in case you need to send them an eecb. More » -
money
Get The Best Cash Back Credit Card
Tired of using a two credit card system to maximize his cash back returns, I did an analysis to determine the single best cash back credit card. Here's what I found: More » -
american express
American Express Cancels Your Card Right Before You Were Supposed To Get Your $500 Rebate
Andrea, an American Express member for over 20 years, is upset because AmEx canceled her cash-back card two weeks before her $500 rebate check was supposed to arrive, and declared the rebate forfeit. More » -
leaks
Internal AmEx Doc On $300 Bribe To Zero Account And Leave Program
Here's an internal AmEx doc with what customer service reps should say when people call up asking about the $300 to pay off and close your account program, or, as they term it, the "Balance Down Initiative." The sheet was obtained exclusively by creditcarforum.com. My favorite part is the answer for if people who weren't chosen to participate ask if they can join. The correct response is, "We apologize, but we can only honor this offer for selected cardmembers. However, if you're interested in paying down your balance, I can help you with that." Full doc inside... More »
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american express
AmEx Pays Some $300 To Zero Their Balance And Leave
American Express is so desperate to clean liabilities off its balance sheet that it's paying some customer $300 if they will pay off their balance in full and close their credit card. The offer is only good if you get a card in the mail from them about it with a 14-digit RSVP code. Thanks for playing, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
American Express Wants To Help You 'Simplify Your Finances' — Will Pay You $300 If You'll Close Your Account [CreditMattersBlog] (Photo: nicubunu)
UPDATE: Internal AmEx Doc On $300 Bribe To Zero Account And Leave Program
american express
New York, 5:18 AM
Mon Jul 6
6 posts in the last 24 hours
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