American Express Membership Rewards - Escalating a Customer Service Mess

Does anyone have the number to the 'Office of the President' or any other top-level customer service team?

Short version of the story - they 'detected' fraud on my account, froze it, then I get transferred to some doofus in India who doesn't even speak english, who proceeds to confirm the fraud (against my wishes), freezes my account and sets it up for card replacement.

I cannot wait days for a new card (I need to buy food and gas today), nor do I want a new card number which will mess up the myriad of travel sites which have my number recorded. I want the current card re-activated immediately.

I spoke to various people in US fraud and card replacement, and they refused to escalate me to the SDL (service delivery leader or director) and just repeated 'sorry, there is nothing we can do'.

They said someone will call me back within 1-2 days - and that is unacceptable.

I could call the HQ switchboard at 212-640-2000, but if someone could post or PM me a better contact number for top-level escalations, it would be appreciated.

Why is this worth bothering top level people? Someone detected fraud and shut things down. Would you rather let the potential fraud continue? Clearly this is not ideal for you, but once fraud is detected, they are going to follow protocol to protect both you and themselves. I'm sorry its a pain in your butt to use another card or cash for a few days and to give your your number to various people you do business with, but save the escalation for something real.

Why is this worth bothering top level people? Someone detected fraud and shut things down. Would you rather let the potential fraud continue? Clearly this is not ideal for you, but once fraud is detected, they are going to follow protocol to protect both you and themselves. I'm sorry its a pain in your butt to use another card or cash for a few days and to give your your number to various people you do business with, but save the escalation for something real.

There is no fraud! They are not protecting anyone - I confirmed all the valid charges with the idiot in India. He decided to flag the account because he didn't understand what he was doing. Good grief. Please read the post before commenting.

Wirelessly posted (goingaway's phone: BlackBerry8900/4.6.1.114 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Sorry to say iy is too late to retain the card # - go ahead and complain, but do not expect any good response. AMEX customer service is now under the hill (beyond sliding)

There is no fraud! They are not protecting anyone - I confirmed all the valid charges with the idiot in India. He decided to flag the account because he didn't understand what he was doing. Good grief. Please read the post before commenting.

I am surprized but not shocked.

Two years ago, I booked an airline ticket using my Amex. I fly many airlines extensively, so nothing unusual about that. My booking was confirmed directly with the airline, and I had an email with my ticket as well. The airline's website also showed my ticket when I logged in.

Then, some days later, I logged in to change my seat, but couldn't. So I phoned the airline directly and was told that my ticket was cancelled. Why? Because Amex reversed the payment, and thus the airline cancelled me. I asked what had happened - they had no idea, and explained that the payment was approved, and then later they received notice from Amex that it was "declined" and Amex would not be honoring the charge, despite having an authorization code originally.

I called up AMEX member services, and was told "yes, there was fraudulent activity on your card, so we protected you". I asked what was the fraudulent activity, and they said....... the plane ticket I had purchased !
I was transfered to supervisors to determine what made them think it was fraudulent, and why was I not notified. No logical answer on either question. Nor did they offer to change the card number or replace it (if, as they claimed, they thought it was being used by someone else). Instead, just a simple "ok - we will make a note that it is a genuine transaction, and you can go ahead and contact the airline and tell them to book it again".

I did, but the fare had since gone up, and Amex wouldn't do anything since they maintained that they were "protecting me". From a genuine charge I made myself.

As goodwill, the airline agreed to honor the lower fare, and I re-booked my flight.

Go figure. Never heard about it again, nor had another problem.

I called the main switchboard and asked for 'office of the president' escalations. A very nice, calm and helpful person took my issue, and at this time is trying to get the security department to re-open the account - if they refuse, he will Fedex a new card to me for delivery by 10am tomorrow.

Edited to add: the problem is resolved - account is restored.

It's a shame I needed to blow a fuse and escalate like that to get a simple problem resolved.

I cannot wait days for a new card (I need to buy food and gas today)...

You don't have an ATM, Visa or Debit card???

There is no fraud! They are not protecting anyone - I confirmed all the valid charges with the idiot in India. He decided to flag the account because he didn't understand what he was doing. Good grief. Please read the post before commenting.

I did read your post, and reread it now and you just sound self-important to me. Its not a crisis but you try to make it one with that gas and food line. But I'm glad customer service was able to resolve it for you. Just disagree that calling the CEO is the next step for something trivial like this.

AMEX customer service is now under the hill (beyond sliding)

How so? I don't have any bad experiences with Amex customer service at least not here in Australia and also not in Europe. Amex is actually investing quite heavily in customer service at the moment.

I had something similar happen to me. I did report a fraudulent charge on my account, something like a $60 gas charge in a city in New York I'd never been to and while I was in Las Vegas. The customer service rep (in the U.S., this time) canceled my card without informing me. She actually told me that the card would not be canceled unless I reported additional fraudulent activity. Therefore, the next time I tried to use the card, it was rejected. Nice. I had to call back and they hadn't even issued a new card yet. It took about 5 days over a weekend to receive a new card and I did have to go about changing all my automatic charges.

It is a royal PITA. I understand why they do what they do, but don't tell me something that is incorrect. If you don't know, find out first and then tell me.

I've had great luck with Amex, although given I'm a PLAT.

No way should you have to wait more than 24 hours for a card replacement, pretty much ever. Also, to get the American tech team, call during U.S. business hours. If all else fails and you don't feel like escalating to Executive Liaison, call the Concierge desk - those folks are really on top of things, usually (the Travel desk is usually not staffed by rent-a-doofus, either. ;))

Should you have further difficulties, here's the number for the Executive Liaison Office:

1 (800) 297-6197

I have a contact there whose extension I'm not at liberty to reveal, but I can tell you they've quickly fixed anything I've ever called them regarding (my credit report, which was marred by different account numbers every time they sent me a new product, now shows me as a loyal 21-year Amex member :D)

.....Should you have further difficulties, here's the number for the Executive Liaison Office:

1 (800) 297-6197

..........

That's a great number ... those agents ... (BTW working near the OT in Ft. Lauderdale) ... are great. However, all they can do is expedite the issue of the new card.

That's a great number ... those agents ... (BTW working near the OT in Ft. Lauderdale) ... are great. However, all they can do is expedite the issue of the new card.

I'm not sure if that's the group I called - since I dialed through the switchboard in NYC.

My agent was both willing to overnight a new card, but also willing to work with security to restore my original account. He got a security agent on the line and remained on the phone with us while everything was being worked out.

If only every Amex customer service agent worked like the person I spoke with, and probably the rest of his team, then Amex would be among the top customer service organizations in the country.

Yeah. They have some really crackerjack people working on the payroll over there. The trick is finding them when you need them....I have a few direct extensions stored in my Contacts list. Most of the time, the agent will give you his/her name and direct info if you request it. I happened to get one woman on the line who could tell me virtually every benefit of PLAT in detail, which is handy, since I can't ever seem to find what I need on the website (and it's very slow/often broken, the one real downside of Amex in my world). Now I call her all the time with questions.