American Express Membership Rewards - Account Services Dept.

Does anyone know a direct number to the AmEx Account Services Dept? They've on occasion been able to handle problems that the front-line customer service agents could not, and getting those agents to contact the right people can be (let's be generous) difficult.


Thanks,
ss

This office should be able to assist you...


Mr. Barry V. Arnold
Senior Vice-President, Customer Relations
777 American Express Way
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33337

Voice: 800-297-6197
Fax: 800-297-6198
Email: barry.v.arnold@aexp.com

I while back I tried all the levels available without success. As I last resort, I researched and found the AMEX CEO's office number, which has a team of folks assigned to try and help those who feel the have a legitimate complaint and have not beenable to get satisfaction after following the chain.

800-297-6197
M-F 9-5EST

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Michael Steinberg
Editor
BizTrip
www.biztrip.com (http://www.biztrip.com)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ss:
Does anyone know a direct number to the AmEx Account Services Dept? They've on occasion been able to handle problems that the front-line customer service agents could not</font>
What do you need help with?


Saar

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by businesstraveler:
800-297-6197
M-F 9-5EST</font>

Same number as above http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Saar:
What do you need help with?</font>

At the moment all is fine, but I've had this recurring problem:

When I purchase a US Savings Bond on my card, the authorization goes through and my available credit line is immediately reduced by the amount of the purchase. Fine. Then when the actual charge goes through a couple of days later, the available credit line is again reduced by that same amount. So if for example I have $7000 available credit and make a $5000 purchase, a couple of days later my available credit line drops to zero and I can't use the card at all.

This isn't like a gasoline purchase where the actual sales price isn't known at the time the authorization is made. This is a straightforward purchase at a fixed price. There shouldn't be any issue in matching the authorization to the actual charge to avoid the "double exposure".

I've discovered that AmEx can clear this up after it happens. But it's hit-and-miss and always painful, involving repeated calls, requests to speak with a supervisor or Account Services or an authorizor, and so on. I've been told that the problem would clear up on its own after a week or two, but I generally want to use the card before then. I've been told that my charges aren't actually declined but rather "referred in" (the merchant is asked to phone AmEx). In my experience this is sometimes but not always true, and anyway since most of my purchases are made online this is to me a distinction without a difference.

Most recently a gentleman in Account Services was the one who reset my available credit to the correct amount, which is what prompted my original question.


-- ss