Update: I filed a BBB complaint and in Amex's response
they documented they only refunded me less than 35% of the annual fees, and included a check for less than $240, I guess as some sort of consolation. What irks me the most is that I also paid the massive initiation fees (for myself and AU's that they cancelled), doesn't seem right to pay a big initiation fee if they can just cancel you and keep the money.
All my Amex accounts were paid in full and in good standing for over 20 years. The one AU that has ties to the cannabis business apparently kept all his LLC's separate from his personal business, so no connection there, and he still has his own personal Amex account while I am banned and couldn't even be added as an AU to my parent's Amex account (and they are old school Amex customers).
Looks like the next step is to file a claim with
this form and hope to get some resolution via arbitration, or perhaps even an answer.
If there are lawyers out there who want to take my case, I'd be glad to share half the proceeds with you!
All advice welcome.
Happy to answer any questions, here's some responses to some of the feedback:
Originally Posted by
TravelStar
I read that thread. However the RAT group within Amex appears to investigate more than just the single incident of applying for multiple new card offers. According to the article they pursue all sorts of perceived "abuse"
Originally Posted by
llary
...I don't have any reason to suspect the OP is intentionally hiding anything important. I hope they come back with some kind of clue from Amex about what they have done wrong. This probably really sucks.
I am not hiding anything, happy to share more information, only wish to guard both my privacy and that of my AU's.
Originally Posted by
Eujeanie
Letting an AU charge huge amounts and pay for them themselves sure sounds like the Centurion card belongs to someone other than who Amex intended it to be for.
I specifically asked Amex if I could do this, multiple times, was told verbally I could do this and also had their customer service reply via messaging that this was acceptable. They could have warned me not to have AU's pay directly (but they had been for almost 15 years, so why is it suddenly an issue?).
Originally Posted by
SPN Lifer
To me, the most likely explanation is "excessive" use by an authorized user (AU) combined with minimal use by the primary account holder, especially when the AU has connections with the cannabis industry and may have minimal accounts of her own.
I was doing most my personal spend on cards that had better points/miles values. All they had to do is ask me, I would have just used my Amex instead of other cards if I needed to. I wasn't opening other credit card accounts much either, had the cards I needed and didn't have the time for the points/miles sign up bonus efforts I had more time to do in my youth.
Originally Posted by
ijgordon
Then why not just cancel the authorized user? They’re giving up a lot of fee revenue.
If they had offered me this opportunity, I would have done it. By this time, I had already cancelled most my AU's anyway.