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Back in February Amex carried out a Financial Review on my account which I didn’t pass. I proactively closed the account and paid off the balance in full before doing so.
Within a couple of days after closing the account I received several refunds amounting to over £8k to my Business Platinum card (I’d been hoping they’d come through before I closed the account but it took longer than expected to get those refunds).
I now had a credit balance of over £8.5k
I spent more than 2 months chasing amex for my money which remained as a credit balance on the account. During this time no one I spoke with at amex seemed to have a real clue as to what was going on. I was asked several times to send them proof of payment source, despite one of them being from a balance transfer credit card, and when I told them it didn’t come from a “bank account” they insisted I send them statement copy showing the full 16 digit credit card number, which I believe they have no business asking for. I was also given contradictory information regarding the status of my credit balance refund during this time.After more than 2 months of being messed around by amex, with no end in sight I filed a formal complaint with them, in which I requested that the money owed to me be transferred immediately and that I also at this point expect to be compensated for the time I spent chasing this matter and be paid interest on the outstanding amount, considering the unreasonable amount of time that had already passed. I threatened to escalate to the Financial Ombudsman if this wasn’t resolved to my satisfaction.
Perhaps I might be naive to think it was a coincidence but a little more than 2 weeks(!) later the refund finally came through, followed several days later by an email reply to my complaint whereby the complaint was upheld and they admitted they’d made several errors along the way.
However there was no mention of any compensation or interest payments that I’d requested, only a “goodwill gesture” of £100.Personally I feel like their “goodwill” is an insulting offer considering the 3 months of stress and inconvenience this whole saga caused me, but I’d love to hear your guys’ thoughts on this.
Should I just accept the £100 “goodwill” and move on or have I got a valid case to fight for more?
Would be happy to post up a copy of my formal complaint and amex’s response if it will help shape your opinion.
I doubt the FOS would award you any more in these circumstances. Unless you are actually out of pocket as a result of Amex errors, goodwill payments are quite low and you don’t get paid for your time.
How long had you had the card? I’m a bit confused about why you would be getting a balance transfer refunded, I’m wondering if that’s why Amex didn’t seem to know what to do with it.
How long had you had the card? I’m a bit confused about why you would be getting a balance transfer refunded, I’m wondering if that’s why Amex didn’t seem to know what to do with it.
I didn’t get a balance transfer refunded. Before I closed my account I paid off part of the balance by transferring it to another card. Amex later wanted proof of the payment methods I used to pay off my cc bill.
Unless you are actually out of pocket as a result of Amex errors, goodwill payments are quite low and you don’t get paid for your time.
But surely @ZACK is actually out of pocket – surely he missed out on a substantial amount of interest over those three months during which the sizeable balance was kept from him?
Current BOE headline rate is 4.5%
4.5% of 8.5k over a year would be £382.5. For 3 months that would be £95
And that’s at most because interest on deposit accounts is no where near 4.5% – closer to 2% so not even £50.
IMO – if you ask for an extra £50 they will probably just give it to you. An extra £100 might be possible without any hassle but then they also don’t want you as a customer any more.
Glad it was resolved. But a financial review? Did you tell a porky during initial application? Some figures Amex wasn’t happy? We’ve been getting a lot of closed accounts recently due to self employed enlarging figures.
Do you still hold Amex personal products?
Double it and give it to the next person 😉
Joking aside, I would ask to double it on the basis of BOE base rate (courts allow BOE base rate + 8% so base rate only is reasonable). And £100 for the aggravation and stress.
Glad it was resolved. But a financial review? Did you tell a porky during initial application? Some figures Amex wasn’t happy? We’ve been getting a lot of closed accounts recently due to self employed enlarging figures.
Do you still hold Amex personal products?
Regardless of what I stated in the application, I never gave them the documents they asked for during the FR stage, hence why they closed the account.
I did not hold any personal cards at the time but I don’t think that makes a difference. As far as I’m aware when a FR is triggered it will be across all cards, regardless of business or personal, happy to be corrected though.Looks like nowadays we can’t get anything done unless we complain. Similar issue with curve and until I complained no one looked at it.
I went to the FOS over a £65k car that literally didn’t work at all. It sat on my drive for 6 months as the dealer and finance company argued over liability. In the end the ombudsman made a ruling and I got my money back, plus simple interest on the £65k and an additional £300 for “loss of enjoyment”.
My advice, take the £100 on your £8k and move on. Do you really want to destroy any future relationship with AMEX over an additional £20? You really aren’t going to get more than that and it’s quite possible the FOS will find against you for not accepting a reasonable offer.
Having recently dealt with the Ombudsman relating to AmEx, they are about to come under a lot more scrutiny for their practices, especially relating to business cards.
Glad it was resolved. But a financial review? Did you tell a porky during initial application? Some figures Amex wasn’t happy? We’ve been getting a lot of closed accounts recently due to self employed enlarging figures.
Do you still hold Amex personal products?
AmEx have an interesting approach to financial reviews / underwriting. And the Ombudsman has taken note.
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