American Express Let Down (emergency cash)
 

Sorry for breaking rules.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

You should complain to Amex after you get back home. They are pretty good about throwing some points/miles your way when there has been a problem with their customer service.

Who does not have Skype? Even a friend or hotel computer often has Skype. Amex is good at getting you checked into a hotel where you can get cash or have food and beverage. The days of picking up your mail or cash at the local Amex office have gone the way of the pay phones

Skype requires solid internet. Places exist where this is not available. Chuuk for example.

Just ask them to call you back at your hotel?

On the odd occasion when I've called Amex from outside my home country, and mentioned that I was abroad, they've always immediately offered to call me back at their expense on a local number. Based on those experiences with the nice folk in Brighton, I wouldn't hesitate to ring up and say "hi, I'm in XXX, this is costing me a fortune, please call me back at the YYY hotel and we'll do security then, it's urgent" if I really needed it.

Hmm. I had to use this service once ~15 years ago and Amex was stellar. What Amex number did you call initially? It sounds like the CS had no idea how to handle your situation.

Just out of curiosity - how does this emergency cash service work?

Does AMEX have the hotel give you cash which is charged back on to the card?

This sounds like a telecom, not an Amex problem. The local operator refused to place a collect call (which Amex would have accepted), the local Internet apparently was unstable and OP did not ask Amex to call back on a landline at the hotel (which it would have done).

Doesn't sound as though Amex failed on any point.

Not really. Could not reach an international operator. AM EX agent refused to return the phone call and initially did not want to try to connect me to Global Assistance. Then I was on hold for Global Assistance for 45 minutes and disconnected. No internet available. We're pretty big users of 6 AM EX cards and never needed assistance.

Result: A mild complaint got 8500 points. Didn't compensate for $200 phone bill, but helped soothe the annoyance.

And all Amex said they could do (theoretically today) was send me cash via Western Union with me paying the fees. Would not have worked in this situation. Lesson learned to have more PINS on all cards for ATMs, although we mainly use Charles Schwab with no fees internationally.

I've been to Moorea and it isn't all that remote. There are banks there. Additionally, I'm not sure what you wanted from American Express as this is how it works.

So, if their policy "wouldn't work for you" what exactly did you want them to do?

Well, it was a weekend and banks were closed.
And until I needed them, I did not know what they would do. Will have other
emergency options in place for next trip.

Note that the service is different if your card includes Premium Global Assist:

Centurion and Platinum include the Premium version. I think it is not included with any less expensive cards because Delta Reserve does not include it, nor does Premier Rewards Gold.

That's a pretty loose term. First of all, you mentioned a "mobile phone call." You're not going to be able to call collect from a mobile phone in most cases, and even if you could, it would not cover the mobile roaming fees and just the international long distance fees (which are typically included in the mobile roaming fee anyway).

For your and any future traveler's reference, in addition to using a landline phone in this situation (such as a payphone or hotel courtesy phone), you should not try to use the local "international operator" but rather something like the AT&T USA Direct phone number. AT&T has a local phone number in almost every country. Look it up on the web before you go, or any hotel front desk just about anywhere should know what it is. You dial it as a local call (or toll free where available, so no coins at a payphone in many cases), and you are connected to an AT&T operator in the US. You tell them you want to call the "for international calls, dial..." number on the back of your Amex card, collect. In many cases, you just do this all from a menu without having to talk to an actual operator, and the Amex numbers are already on file as accepting int'l collect calls. Don't bother dealing with the local "international operator," who may be difficult and may not speak English.

These days, Skype is going to be easier than the above in most cases. But if Skype isn't available, the above would be my fallback.

Thanks for the tip. From your post, I learned to not rely on the emergency cash from AMEX.

There is this urban legend that AMEX has the "best customer service". I haven't experienced it myself, even with a Platinum, etc.