At the end of my tether with Amex - what can I do?

Brie

Thrugelmir said:

Why not simply use up the credit balance? 

Possibly not an option if there's too few places wanting to take an Amex card.  Must admit that's one of the reasons I've never applied for one.

P3

Missing out all the point (free money)

You will be suprise how many it takes amex, rather than how many it doesn't.

Plus have back up visa/MC . 

Could easily get some supermarket gift card and spend it off.

Also shouldn't have cancel the card until the money landed in account . Even if it was 2nd year annual fee ,it get refunded pro rata

WillPS

P3 said:

Missing out all the point (free money)

You will be suprise how many it takes amex, rather than how many it doesn't.

Plus have back up visa/MC . 

Could easily get some supermarket gift card and spend it off.

Also shouldn't have cancel the card until the money landed in account . Even if it was 2nd year annual fee ,it get refunded pro rata

Answering for myself - I had an £800 refund relating to a laptop I purchased 4 years ago on a Platinum Everyday Cashback card I no longer use day to day. If I spent that £800 on that card, I would get 0 reward for doing so as the cashback is:
a) already negative on account of the refund
b) wouldn't be paid anyway as the spend on the account won't reach £3k

By obtaining the refund and spending on my normal Nectar Amex, I am better off to the tune of 1600 Nectar points or £8.

jay1804

WillPS said:

P3 said:

Missing out all the point (free money)

You will be suprise how many it takes amex, rather than how many it doesn't.

Plus have back up visa/MC . 

Could easily get some supermarket gift card and spend it off.

Also shouldn't have cancel the card until the money landed in account . Even if it was 2nd year annual fee ,it get refunded pro rata

Answering for myself - I had an £800 refund relating to a laptop I purchased 4 years ago on a Platinum Everyday Cashback card I no longer use day to day. If I spent that £800 on that card, I would get 0 reward for doing so as the cashback is:
a) already negative on account of the refund
b) wouldn't be paid anyway as the spend on the account won't reach £3k

By obtaining the refund and spending on my normal Nectar Amex, I am better off to the tune of 1600 Nectar points or £8.

I'm not sure if this is the case anymore, but they should be able to move a credit balance to another amex card, as long as your the main cardholder on both accounts.

I have a credit on my Account. Can I transfer this money to another American Express Card that I hold?

Yes, as long as you are the main Account holder, and have the same details, for both Cards. Please contact us via chat in the Amex App, or online, or call the number on the back of your Card and we’ll be glad to help with this. Please make sure you have your Card to hand.

https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/company/notice/covid-19/?intlink=uk-aexpcomm-covid19#refunds

[Deleted User]

FWIW the FOS doesn't automatically charge the case fee to the provider, with cases deemed frivolous not being charged - say in a case they actually fixed your problem and you went to the FOS anyway; or a complaint about PPI where the complainer demonstrably didn't have it

eskbanker

Deleted_User said:

FWIW the FOS doesn't automatically charge the case fee to the provider, with cases deemed frivolous not being charged - say in a case they actually fixed your problem and you went to the FOS anyway; or a complaint about PPI where the complainer demonstrably didn't have it

Yes, that was what I meant by the reference to FOS actually opening a case for investigation, as some posters have previously been under the impression that merely referring something to FOS automatically hit an institution in the pocket, and that this would therefore be leverage!

I'm not aware of more recent figures being published but an old FOS document stated that it was less than one in six 'initial complaints and enquiries' that resulted in a chargeable case:

when does a case fee become chargeable?

Fewer than one in six of the initial complaints and enquiries we receive to our front-line customer helpline become chargeable cases. The other complaints and enquiries usually involve issues that we don’t deal with – or where we can sort things out informally at a very early stage. 

Given the lead times involved in assigning FOS case handlers, it would surprise me if Amex hadn't long since refunded OP by the time FOS were ready to do anything....

WillPS

jay1804 said:

WillPS said:

P3 said:

Missing out all the point (free money)

You will be suprise how many it takes amex, rather than how many it doesn't.

Plus have back up visa/MC . 

Could easily get some supermarket gift card and spend it off.

Also shouldn't have cancel the card until the money landed in account . Even if it was 2nd year annual fee ,it get refunded pro rata

Answering for myself - I had an £800 refund relating to a laptop I purchased 4 years ago on a Platinum Everyday Cashback card I no longer use day to day. If I spent that £800 on that card, I would get 0 reward for doing so as the cashback is:
a) already negative on account of the refund
b) wouldn't be paid anyway as the spend on the account won't reach £3k

By obtaining the refund and spending on my normal Nectar Amex, I am better off to the tune of 1600 Nectar points or £8.

I'm not sure if this is the case anymore, but they should be able to move a credit balance to another amex card, as long as your the main cardholder on both accounts.

I have a credit on my Account. Can I transfer this money to another American Express Card that I hold?

Yes, as long as you are the main Account holder, and have the same details, for both Cards. Please contact us via chat in the Amex App, or online, or call the number on the back of your Card and we’ll be glad to help with this. Please make sure you have your Card to hand.

https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/company/notice/covid-19/?intlink=uk-aexpcomm-covid19#refunds

My fiancee is the primary cardholder on that account, but in any case it also takes a few days and is just as much faff as asking them to refund it.

I'd rather have cash in my back account than in-credit card account any day of the week.

Jasonh2015

born_again said:

Jasonh2015 said:

eskbanker said:

Jasonh2015 said:

You're best off logging an FOS complaint, they need to reply within 3 business days or let you know if they have to investigate further. If it went to the FOS they'll get charged £550 regardless of the outcome.

OP needs to go through Amex's formal complaint process before escalating to FOS - it's unclear if they've even started that.

Incidentally, the FOS case fee is now £750, once a case is actually opened for investigation.

Yeah, log an FOS complaint with Amex is what i meant  

Wasn't aware it's gone to £750 now, thanks 

As far as any complaint goes in finance sector. You do not need to mention FOS. ALL complaints have to be logged & if not resolved in 8 weeks, or sooner if deadlock letter issued. The customer has the right to go to FOS.

Failure to log a complaint is a serious matter and calls are checked. 

Yeah, I'm aware how complaints are logged in the finance sector. They have 3 business days to issue a final response letter if the compliant has been resolved, or a letter confirming they need more time - up to 8 wks. 

Of course you can call the complaint whatever you wish, but the op might not know about the FOS or complaints process. Some finance companies are known to act quicker if the FOS are mentioned, it presumes a level of understanding by the person logging the complaint.


Barclays for example acted more swiftly after I had waited a week and nothing happened regarding a charge issue, no complaint logged either. Told them to log an "FOS" complaint, and it was strangely enough resolved that day, with a £50 credit I hadn't asked for.

eskbanker

There's no such thing as logging an "FOS" complaint with a financial institution - they all have FCA-regulated formal complaint handling processes, and FOS escalation is an option for the customer to pursue if the institution fails to resolve a formal complaint in the specified timescales.

Lumiona

I'm sure my credit balance refund took 10 working days to receive, this was over £2k.