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To the point, yesterday a cruise company took 3x the final balance from my ARRC card which has taken me 100% over my limit. I got in touch with the cruise line and asked them to refund the money. They were sympathetic but said they can’t do much until it’s cleared funds (10 working days). Amex however won’t do anything and said it’s the cruise line to recall the money, end of.
This seems really unresponsible and unhelpful on Amex’s part to my mind. Surely if they agreed to release the monies knowing they were over our agreed credit limit then they are in part responsible. Personally I think once I bought it to their attention they should have frozen the disputed amounts.
A cup of cocoa and a hug would have been nice. Is there anything else I can do?
You can ask for Amex clemency for any fees they charge at the next statement
You can ask for Amex clemency for any fees they charge at the next statement
Really is that all? Guess the cocoa’s out then 🙁
Ouch. Cruises are not cheap. Getting 3x a cruise billed to your credit card by the cruise company’s (or whoever did it – agent?) error must have made a severe dent in available (and as it turns out, not-available) credit. As it took you over your credit limit.
Which would make me annoyed enough. And then there’s the question of potential damage to your credit profile to consider. Which it might for a long tine to come if your account is over limit and this is reported on the regular reporting to credit agencies.
B***er cocoa, I’d get the whisky out.
Has anyone admitted in writing they made a mistake and billed you 3x as much as they should have? Your carefully kept notes of phone conversations, date and time and who said what plus correct invoice and card statement would likely be enough. But between whiskies I might wonder about calling the cruise co or agent, mention Amex does not seem to believe you that it was a mistake and isn’t doing anything, and is there anything they can give you to go back to Amex with to confirm it was a mistake as you will be over your credit limit when statement is issued. This might be worth a try for a few reasons.
Once you have anything they might send, or if you’re not going to get anything out of them in writing (likely) I’d send them a note describing their error and asking them as previously requested to correct their erroneous charge immediately on your card. I’d mention the distress/stress this is causing and that compensation for detriment to your financial circumstances now and future such as negative impact on your credit record as well as any costs accruing due to their mistake, will be claimed from them. Depending on date of your statememt I’d try to give them 3 working days to fix. I’d give less if I couldn’t clear the balance they caused and if statement generation date will be sooner.
TBH if you can, it would be better to find a way to clear the excess balance yourself asap and before statement date. Though I appreciate that they’d then get a free ride as no damage to you so nothing to claim and you’d be relying on goodwill for your stress and what’s that worth? some kind of upgrade to your cruise from them?
Oh, and I’m not sure if I wouldn’t want to cancel the cruise now if I could.
@Julia – the correct procedure by Amex should be to do a chargeback for the two erroneous charges as soon as they appear on your account, and for the cruise company to notify you and Amex that they will not oppose those chargebacks. The cruise company should write to you and Amex confirming that they took two of three charges in error and without your authorisation. It’s not quite the same as the Direct Debit guarantee, but it should operate in the same manner. The ten day cleared funds patter is shameful.
Amex needs to reverse the transactions such that there is no question of any fees or clemency being required. You need to be very firm with both Amex and the cruise line and make sure everything is put in writing.
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