So I lost my card last weekend, left it a gas station in Stuttgart. When i noticed about an hour or so later, I immediately called Amex. I live in Germany, but I am not German. The first person i reached refused to speak any English, but she understood what I was saying. I asked to please connect me to anyone else, saying that that was urgent. She just laughed at me. "this is germany we speak german', then laughed again and hung up on me.

This was calling the gold lost/stolen card service line. Wow. I called again and the next person was more helpful.

How can Amex justify this sort of response?

... who changed the subject? Not appropriate. Amex is an international company. As an expat in Germany or anywhere I should be able to speak to someone in English, especially in urgent situations.