Dear American Express: Don't punish an honest man for your mistakes
I've been an American Express cardholder for longer than I care to say. Let's just say it's been close to
40 years, and American Express has always been the first card I use. No more. Hello, MasterCard and Visa!
Here's the short version. I bought a suit for my son at an off-retail store.
For the next few months, the store's owner (aka thief) charged me $1,400 per month, month after month. The first time we caught it, she cried and cried and refunded the money. The second time, we called American Express. Turns out she had done it time and time again. I'm still waiting for thousands of dollars. But that's just the prologue.
They canceled my card last week and promised to send me a new one.
I found it on the ground outside my house. No signature required. Didn't even make the effort to walk up the stairs to leave it at the front door. Why bother?
So I called the number on the back of the card, and, miracle of miracles, I found an honest man. Probably too honest for his own good. That's what I'm worried about.
The honest man told me I was right to complain. But there was absolutely nothing he could do. The only advice he could give me was to find some higher-ups and make a "public stink."
Finding higher-ups is really easy. First, you look up the chief press person of the press department. They always give their emails out in case someone like me is inclined to write a piece like this. Next, you just use the same format for anyone else you want to reach.
Somehow my letter found its way to a woman who said she was in the executive office, but with no email address — so she sent me an email I couldn't respond to. How helpful. Finally, she reached me. Of course, she blamed the carrier. Why would American Express be responsible for making sure a replacement card (that was issued because of major fraud) is delivered to the actual cardholder? Of course, to activate the card, I had to call and verify my identity, but all that was required was my mother's maiden name, which you can find in five minutes online. This is security?
But here's the worst. She listened to the recording of my conversation with the honest man, and she was clearly not pleased by it, to say the least. "Don't punish him," I said. "He was the only helpful person I talked to." She told me that was none of my business and I would not be informed about what happened to him.
But it is my business. It's all of our business. When an honest person answers one of these calls and has a genuine conversation with you instead of just reading a script, it means a lot. (I
once spoke to a customer service representative who said she was from Detroit. "What's your baseball team?" I asked. That's when she fessed up that she wasn't even in the United States. Need I add that she was utterly useless in helping me?)
So I would commend American Express for having an honest person in America answer my call. But my fear is that he will be disciplined for it. If anyone reading this can help, please pass this on to him. A good man deserves help. An honest man deserves praise.
If American Express thinks otherwise, let's all make a public stink.
To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.