Merchant refund (x2) not appearing on my Amex card
 

Hi all,

I am having an issue with a merchant & Amex. The merchant is a car rental company.
I put a deposit with my Amex platinum for a car rental in November 2018. Following some issues with the rental company, I disputed the charge but American Express voided the dispute.

• The car rental company sent me a screenshot from their 'billing system' showing 2 refunds where made to my Amex card, respectively in November 2018 and March 2019.
• However, I do not see those refunds in my account. I spoke with different customer officers and they confirmed that no refund was made.

Has anyone ever had refunds gone 'missing'? Could the dispute of the charge with Amex have generated some glitches?
What are my options?

Thanks

If the merchant has given you proof of refunds that have not posted, open disputes about missing refunds. Don't dispute the original charge again.

Is the merchant a corporate owned location of one of the prominent brands (Hertz, Avis, National et.al.)?

What was Amex's response when you provided copies of the ledger entries showing the refunds?

It is indeed operated by one of the large brands but not sure who the owners are behind the merchant. The car rental was in Namibia.

Still waiting to hear back from Amex.

It may be that what they showed you was an internal request for a refund to be issued, and that the refund would actually be issued elsewhere and later.

Even if that's the case, that should be enough to sustain a "missing refund" dispute. There appears to be no disagreement between the cardholder and the merchant that a refund is due, and the cardholder has proof of this from the merchant. The OP should pursue the matter on that basis. To restate what I said earlier, the OP should not mention the original situation, what lead to money being owed back to them, or any of the other details of what is likely to be a drawn-out drama. Many people are tempted to do just that, in order to establish to someone (anyone) just how wronged they've been and how unjust the situation is, but when they do so in this sort of situation, they do so at the cost of making it more difficult to get their money back, as it distracts attention away from what is needed to resolve the situation. Focus on the missing refund that both parties agree is due, and nothing else.

Update July 2019:
After several claims with Amex, which were not appropriately handled, Amex finally issued a credit for the missing refunds. That made me whole (I only paid the actual car rental).
Can't believe it took 9 months! Will never rent again from Hertz, and glad I booked the car rental with my Amex Plat.