American Express - what a shambles!

[Subliminal Sam]

I'm in the middle of quite a few PPI negotiations with various credit card companies that I have got involved with over the years. One of them is American Express.

 

They made a written settlement offer to me and I signed the acceptance and returned it. I thought that was the end of it. I am now waiting for the eight weeks it allegedly takes for them to refund the money. Today I received the following letter from them.

 

Thank you for your signed acceptance offer received by this office on 21 May 2012. In the final response my colleague explained that he would offer you a premiums refund of x and interest of y. However, having reviewed the case I can confirm that the refunds amounts provided are incorrect due to an administration error. The correct premiums refund is x1 along with interest of y1 which totals z. (The premiums element is £300 less than originally stated and naturally the interest amount has reduced too.)

I understand you have now signed the acceptance and agreed to the amount of x+y however, according to guidelines, we are only able to refund the premiums that have been billed to your account. For this reason we will refund the true figure of z. I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that this may have caused and in light of our error we will include a £50.00 credit as a gesture of good will. Etc. etc.

 

I have never heard anything like it in my life. Can they do this? I was unaware of the amount of PPI involved when I received their written offer and I accepted it in good faith. Surely they should pay the amount we agreed?

 

To add insult to injury the letter I received today is dated 11 May 2012 which, given its opening line, takes their incompetence to even higher levels!

 

Can you please advise me where I stand on this? Do I have to now accept the reduced amount?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[citizenB]

Did you not do your own spreadsheet in order to have an idea of what was due ?

 

Have they given you a breakdown of how they have worked out your refund.

 

It is pretty disgraceful for a financial company to make such a cock up - but if their figures are correct, I guess there is little you can do about it.

 

I will however, flag your thread for the PPI crew who might have a different opinion.

[ims21]

I agree with CB...if it was a genuine mistake then little that can be done. They have given you £50 for the inconvenience.

 

Time really for you to do your own workings so that you can check which of the figures is accurate.

 

Have you got all of your statements?

[Subliminal Sam]

I didn't have any statements so I just accepted their offer. It was in my early days of trying to get PPI back. I am older and wiser now. I SAR everything now! They have not given me a breakdown, either when they made the original offer or in today's letter.

 

I will wait to see if any of the PPI crew can advise.

 

Thanks citizenB

[Subliminal Sam]

Sorry ims21. Crossed in post. Is there anything I can do?

[ims21]

I would demand an itemised breakdown of each premium they are refunding and the interest attributable to it. i.e. a full breakdown.

 

I would also SAR them to get the statements.

 

In the meantime I would pop a letter to them saying that in view of their error you now wish to check the calculations yourself and that they should not take your acceptance document as valid since you now have grave suspicions about the figures.

[citizenB]

hehehe.. ims21 is the PPI crew:madgrin:

[Subliminal Sam]

hehehe.. ims21 is the PPI crew:madgrin:

 

I thought so!

[Subliminal Sam]

I would demand an itemised breakdown of each premium they are refunding and the interest attributable to it. i.e. a full breakdown.

 

I would also SAR them to get the statements.

 

In the meantime I would pop a letter to them saying that in view of their error you now wish to check the calculations yourself and that they should not take your acceptance document as valid since you now have grave suspicions about the figures.

 

Thanks ims21. I will do as you advise. Can I combine the SARS request with the other things you suggest in one letter or should I do two separate letters by separate recorded delivery?

[ims21]

If it were me I would do them separately

[Subliminal Sam]

Thanks. Will do.

[Subliminal Sam]

Quick question. Is there a link on this site which will allow me to download the FOS questionnaire? I've looked and searched but I can't find it.

 

Thanks.

[citizenB]

Sam, I dont think so - you will need to go to the FOS website and download from there..

 

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

 

I think the link above takes you directly to the Complaint forms - you will have to scroll through to see which one is applicable to you.

 

[Subliminal Sam]

I followed the link and got the questionnaire. Many thanks CitizenB.

[citizenB]

I followed the link and got the questionnaire. Many thanks CitizenB.

 

[Neeta]

Hi there, hope you are getting this sorted out now, just wanted to ask how you convinced AMEX that they had mis-sold you PPI? I'm having a heck of a time convincing them and their last letter to me states they didn't mis sell so get on my bike... any tips? Their t&c were all included and it does seem that most things are covered, self-employment etc...? Any help would be great thank you