American Express - any dealings?

andypandyy

just received a cheque for £77 i asked for £160 for charges They said that without prejuduce .Also goes on to say that in July 2006 the charges has been £8 in accordance with the OFT. I want the full amount, i no its not much money to American Express but to me it is. Do i send the cheque back,cash it or hold onto it until we receive the right outcome.Am i making the right decision in going to court.

Kurt_Hamster

andypandyy wrote: »

just received a cheque for £77 i asked for £160 for charges They said that without prejuduce .Also goes on to say that in July 2006 the charges has been £8 in accordance with the OFT. I want the full amount, i no its not much money to American Express but to me it is. Do i send the cheque back,cash it or hold onto it until we receive the right outcome.Am i making the right decision in going to court.

You may find it very difficult to find a Judge who is willing to declare that £8 charges are unfair and unlawful given that the OFT have used a figure of £12 in their last report.

darby_2

Hi, It is completely up to you whether you accept the cheque as full and final settlement, however, there is no real reason why you should as the OFT's ruling is not law. Even the £8 Amex now charge can be seen as unlawful.

If you decide to proceed through the courts, then you can accept the cheque, "without prejudice" as part payment towards the claim.

I hope this helps.

andypandyy

thanks, i will hold onto the cheque, until i the courts decide i think. Lets see what the courts say, that will be my next step. hope i'm making the right step

Witness

Amex have just offered to settle my claim in full, i.e., Charges + Interest + Court Costs

I’ve been a Gold Card holder since 1999

The whole process played exactly to script, just a summary here, if you’ve spent time reading these forums you know the contents of these letters……


5th March – applied for copy of statements inc £10.00 cheque.

19th March – Statements received & £10.00 returned (goodwill gesture).

20th March – First letter requesting £436 plus £67 Interest.

21st March – Amex reply - Investigating complaint & will respond within 28 days.

27th March – Amex reply – charges are fair & reasonable etc etc etc.

29th March – Letter Before Action.

30th March – Amex acknowledged LBA, complaint escalated & will investigate further.

16th April – no response from Amex, claim issued through MCOL £80.00 costs.

18th April – Amex acknowledge claim & intend to defend.

1st May – Amex offer £366.43 (difference between pre and post 1st July 2006 charges £244.00, Interest £42.43 and Court Costs.)

6th May – Politely but firmly refused offer.

8th May – Telephone call from Amex, I was out so couldn’t call back.

9th May – Letter offering full refund £436 + £67 Interest and £80 Court Costs, usual BS, no admission of liability, charges are fair, avoiding unnecessary use of court time and legal expense etc.

Easiest £500 I’ve ever made, stick to the process and timetable set out on this and many other websites & wait for the money to come in.

Hope this helps others in their fight against Amex

depakp

Help! I am a bit confused by all of this. Tis is the first time I am having to do this, as I normally use switch and never get charged interest. But with AMEX, I have been charged loads of times! So can someone please help me understand what I need to do?

1) Should I go through all past statements and find all interest charges? Then ask for these back?

Casadeora

Hi.....currently trying to reclaim charges at the moment.....sent 1st letter requesting £455.71 including interest.........
Received their normal "this is our initial response". Sending next letter NOW!

Casadeora

Hi.
Received identical letter (signed Cilla Adcock Exec Customer Relations Manager) with telephone number on bottom 01273 576151 Executive Customer Relations Department. Tried the softly softly approach to get them to up their offer...."other credit card and banks are doing it...." but was told that unfortunately, their legal team had advised them that under NO circumstances can telephone callers be told they can increase their offering...i.e. make you sweat at court etc... WAS TOLD i would be receiving cheque anyway....suppose when it comes then i can cash the cheque and write back saying that i will still be pursuing them for the difference if i can be bothered

mamarsden

Hi,

I recently wrote to American Express regarding getting charged two late fees on my Corporate Card. In the company I work for we have to use this card for expenses and reclaim then through an company online expense system. Late fees were previously never imposed which is why I got caught out and I wrote to them quoting the OFT ruling and that they were unlawful and that all my transactions were now accounted and paid for and that they should revoke these charges. They have written back saying that this ruling was for consumer products such as credit cards and current accounts and that my Corporate card is a charge card and a business product and so exempt from these regulations. While it is a Corporate card I am a personal account holder and a consumer. Does anyone know whether they are correct and able to essentially exploit me? Many thanks, Matthew.

mamarsden

Hi Robbie,

I am in a similar situation to yourself and was wondering how you have managed to progress with your claim? I posted on the forum but got no replies.

On my card my name is stated with the company name beneath and I believe I am the account holder as I have to settle all the bills via my company's online expense system.

I noted on the thread that Mumonamission was successful in claiming back Amex Corporate card fees. Maybe she can shed some further light on the subject.

Thanks,

Matthew.