American Express

[Maurice1977]

Hi there,

I work for american express customer services.

 

Does such a department exist?!

[buzby]

I have done that and they are saying liability is mine until card is settled!!!

 

Perhaps, but as the card is paid for (it has an annual charge) you can stop them from issuing another. Is there any reason why your old firm would not settle the card as before? Certainly, I would ensure no further debits can be made to the card, and THAT won't be an issue, because if you cannot sign for goods, can anybody else?

[Hopson]

Dodge and all - again to clarify, my main complaint/concern is the ambiguity, I applied as an authorised signatory of the comapny for a company card under the small business section of the amex site, and I still cant see in the t&cs it is my personal liability otherwise there is no wat I would have taken the card out. I destroyrf the card, cancelled it and sent it back to amex as i no loner work for the company. The company makes regular minimum payments to amex and think the card is theirs, however when they are late paying I get adverse credit.All I want is Amex to acknowledge that it is my ex companies card and not mine - hell I dont even mind having a personal amex card, beleive it or not they are actually quite nice people on the phone but I can tell they are restricted in what they say

[dodge11555]

See attached the t+c's of card

 

http://www10.americanexpress.com/uk_sgv2_ss/uk_sbs_card_benefits_ss/pdfs/SBS_Charge_TandC_April2007.pdf

 

If you look at section 3 especially 3a it tells you who is liable there.

[ScarletPimpernel]

Apologies for the hijack, but I wonder if Dodge can supply links to Ts & Cs that Amex have failed to provide under CCA requests, specifically:

 

Gold credit card

Green charge card

Blue credit card

[Hopson]

Dodge, these are the ts & cs relating to the card I have and is a totally different link to the one you are showing

http://www10.americanexpress.com/uk_sgv2_ss/uk_sbs_card_benefits_ss/pdfs/502_N36_UNEX_04_06_07.pdf

[Hopson]

Is it me - but even the terms and conditions you sent to me on that link are contradictory

 

A Says the individual is responsible jointly with the company

B Says the company is responsible

 

When I asked Amex how they apportioned liability and ammount to whom the response was 'well there's a question' surely there must be some guildeines out there for this

[dodge11555]

Dodge, these are the ts & cs relating to the card I have and is a totally different link to the one you are showing

http://www10.americanexpress.com/uk_sgv2_ss/uk_sbs_card_benefits_ss/pdfs/502_N36_UNEX_04_06_07.pdf

 

In got the t + c's off amex website so i dont know! What I will do is find this out for you as when I myself read them I was confused!

[Hopson]

Thanks, any help appreciated - need to calm Mrs down somehow!!!

[Hopson]

This is getting ridiculous, they are now writing to me where I used to work 3 months ago, luckily I got it forwarded on - I rang them and challenged them, not even an apology, woudl you beleive that my old company has even written to them telling them the credit card should be theirs, but AMEX wont acknowledge this, I have offered to drive to Brighton and sit with them and resolve, I might as well bang my head against a wall, Off to the Financial Ombudsman today see if they can help me

[Hopson]

e-mail I recieved today

 

I tried to contact you a couple of times this afternoon on your mobile phone but got no answer. I am leaving tonight at 4pm so I will ring you tomorrow morning if that's ok. Basically the balance cannot be transferred to someone else and the name on the card cannot be changed but a direct debit can be set up or the company can pay the statements as they are received

 

What a bunch of tw@ts they are, I have been in all day and no phone calls received- they are not even listening to my points,

[buzby]

Does this mean they are saying the card is still valid and current? I'd try to stop therm doing this,as you'll next get hit with a renewal (annual) fee. You do need to sever this link ASAP. If it is still active, report it missing and ask for it to be cancelled, ensuring you don't want a replacement. That'll put them between a rock and a hard place!

[Hopson]

Does this mean they are saying the card is still valid and current? I'd try to stop therm doing this,as you'll next get hit with a renewal (annual) fee. You do need to sever this link ASAP. If it is still active, report it missing and ask for it to be cancelled, ensuring you don't want a replacement. That'll put them between a rock and a hard place!

 

I cut the thing up and sent all the pieces back to them weeks ago telling them I no longer worked for the company and that the card should be cancelled

[buzby]

That won't prevent a re-issue, might be worthwhile ensuring that as you are rescinding your agreement to being a cardholder (due to having let your employer). You need to ensure they don't automatically bill the £40 or whatever it is now on renewal.

[Hopson]

That won't prevent a re-issue, might be worthwhile ensuring that as you are rescinding your agreement to being a cardholder (due to having let your employer). You need to ensure they don't automatically bill the £40 or whatever it is now on renewal.

 

Now they are saying that cancellation means settlemt of bill (£16,000)

[buzby]

Wasn't this a charge card? So the amount outstanding would supposedly have to be repaid (in full) at the end of the following month? And for this amount, you did authorise this expenditure whilst in their employ?

[Hopson]

No it was a business credit card, I have tried dialogue with these guys to no avail. In their eyes it is my card, my liability, my debt, no matter how ambiguos the application, ironically when I asked them about liability for the debt if I dropped dead and they said "the company of course" - talk about cake and eat it!!

[buzby]

Ah - I'm assuming the company is actually paying it off (at the minimum rate?) Since the know the situation, and the fact you are being held liable to AmEx, it would seem to me that since the debt is yours (and there is no dispute about this), the fact you have left the company means that you require the AmEx debt to be repaid immediately.

 

I think a claim, for the total amount outstanding should be made, after all THEY didn't enter into an agreement with you for credit, and I'm sure you have no interest in keeping them afloat on what is your credit card.

 

With the documentation you have, it would be pretty easy to prove, and obtain judgement after you send them an LBA explaining that as an ex-employee, you cannot be expected to float credit to your old employer.

[Hopson]

To be honest thats my point - I dont think it is my debt, the card was taken in the business name, the bills are sent to the company, and the agreeement says the liability is with the company, however I seem first point of charge with the card company, and it is this ambiguity I am fighting as it is not clear on the agreement, and if the company goes t!ts up tomorrow muggins is liable for the debt!!

[Hopson]

With FOS now - they have been given 8 weeks to reply - in which time the bill mounts, and my adverse credit rating is still **** poor and getting wosre through no fault of mine

[Hopson]

8 weeks now up, its D Day soon, see what kind of teeth FOD have, AMEX havnt even acknowledged them or complaint

[Hopson]

I have just heard that my former company is winding up/going bust, have a lot debt. Up until now they have been making minimum payment to american express, when that stops I know that American express will come after me for the money - I dont have it. To make it worse I ahve been asking financial ombudsman to mediate and have filled in all their forms, I just keep getting letters telling me how busy they are and will get to my file when they can. Really at end of tether now!

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello Hopson!

 

Would you object to having this Thread moved into the new Amex Section?

 

I'm trawling CAG to see how many Amex Threads are live, and yours is one of them.

 

If we can gradually move them all into the new Amex Forum, I think it would be better for all, as we can then start to see the bigger picture of how they operate.

 

At the moment, Amex Threads are spread thinly around CAG, whereas it could be better to group them all in one place to concentrate our efforts.

 

I'm not part of the CAG Site Team, so this request would have to be made to one of them to organise it.

 

No problem if you would rather leave the Thread where it is. This is just a helpful suggestion as I think you could get more people looking if it was in a dedicated Amex Forum.

 

Cheers,

BRW

[ScarletPimpernel]

An Amex forum - good idea! There's a pattern to the way Amex operate (though it often appears illogical), and a single forum will help people get a quicker appreciation of how to deal with them.

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello SP!

 

Many thanks for your Support, it's appreciated.

 

For the benefit of others reading this...

 

The New Amex Forum is in the last main Main Section of CAG:

 

Bank Action Group

 

Then look for Other Institutions

 

Amex is a new Forum there!

 

I suggest it would be a good idea to make those having a battle with Amex aware of this New Forum and/or suggest they may like to have their Threads moved over there for dedicated CAG Amex attention!

 

As I have said elsewhere, I thought it was about time that Amex received more concentrated attention, and the Site Team agreed.

 

Their rather hostile tactics are not getting the full coverage they deserve, as most Amex Threads are dotted about CAG, so it has not been easy for us to spot their tactics and true nature.

 

I used to think Amex were one of the better ones, until people in my family fell ill, I was late only on some Payments, and they unleashed Telephone Harassment that was at least as bad as any other banker that I have had the misfortune to deal with.

 

Amex IMHO are arguably worse than the other Card bankers, if that is possible, so it is high time we made this more public.

 

Cheers,

BRW