Dealing with the Evil American Express "Twins"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Los Angeles, California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) October 31, 2011 -- In this world of political and financial turmoil, economic uncertainty, and with streets “occupied” from coast to coast, the time has come here at The Crediteer to expose a case of corporate greed and double dealing that cost me and my family over $5000, perpetrated by two of the most respected companies in American business.

It all started when my wife and I decided to go to Art Basel (http://www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/) in Miami with our year old baby girl.

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Dealing with the Evil American Express "Twins"

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Art Basel is a collection of fairs held over several days each December in Miami (there is also one held in Basel, Switzerland, each spring). The fair is great fun, and affords a rare opportunity to see wonderful art before in disappears in private collections around the world. Admission is cheap, and the main fair and surrounding fairs are definitely worth checking out (including Scope, NADA, and others).

As we had done many times before, we called American Express Platinum Travel Service to help us sort out a few different lodging options (a mistake we won’t make again for reasons to follow). People who hold Amex Platinum Cards use the PTS because they offer benefits if you book through them and pay with the Platinum card (which of course, they have direct access to). Sometimes it’s a late checkout, or a hotel coupon, or free breakfast each day, depending on the program and the property.

During our first call, we had the AMEX Platinum Travel Service (Amex PTS) agent put 3 different hotels on hold for us (one near the fair, one on the busy part of Ocean, and one right in-between). We had never traveled with our baby before, so we needed to do some research before we made a final commitment to a hotel. One of hotels we put on hold was the Ritz—for which we held 2 adjoining rooms. Any person with even a modicum of common sense would figure out that we were not yet ready to finalize our lodging arrangements (if someone holds THREE hotels, they clearly are NOT ready to decide on one). And yet, low and behold, we were told the next day that the “hold” on the Ritz was made WITHIN THEIR CANCELLATION PERIOD—and hence, 100% NON REFUNDABLE. And not just one night, or two, but for the entire stay! And not just for one room, but for BOTH rooms! This amounted to $5,586.72!

WOW. The Amex PTS agent had effectively sold us the rooms that we clearly intended solely to HOLD. How could they do this? Well, that’s where the AMEX part comes in. You see, while AMEX PTS is a separate company, they DO have your Amex platinum card on file—so they have the UNFAIR advantage of being able to charge your card—AND THEY HAVE THE UNFAIR ADVANATGE OF BEING ON THE SAME SIDE AS AMERICAN EXPRESS IF YOU TRY TO CHALLENGE A CHARGE RELATING TO A RESERVATION THEY MAKE FOR YOU. Here at The Crediteer, we call this the fox guarding the chicken coop!

ANY other travel agency would have required a separate credit card authorization—and would be forced to disclose in WRITING what the cancellation period and terms were. AMEX PTS did no such thing, nor could they provide any written proof that we were ever told the cancellation period or terms!!! Obviously, if we were, we would NOT have “held” the Ritz until we were darn certain about staying there!

This feels to us like a stunning case of insider dealing and conflict of interest—which on Wall Street gets you 10+ years in prison.

So, we called Amex Platinum Card—explained the situation—and we were told that we could challenge the charge—like in most cases where you have an issue with a merchant—but we had to wait for the charge to hit our bill—which would be AFTER the art fair! When we brought our issue up with AMEX PTS , they cancelled the reservation without our knowledge—thereby guaranteeing us that we would be charged for the room AND not be able to use it.

When our next bill came, the charge – the entire $5,586.72 was on the bill. Amex PTS and Amex Platinum card decided TOGETHER to NOT give us a credit. They claim that the AMEX PTS agent “told us” that the RITZ “hold” was non-refundable—though they had NO WRITTEN PROOF—even though they have our emails and fax numbers where they could have sent us the cancellation terms. They even claimed to have their disclosure on TAPE—which they never made available to us—despite multiple appeals to Amex and Amex PTS (and we’re not even certain that a verbal disclosure is sufficient in matters such as these—but that’s a matter better left to lawyers).

So, out of options with the evil Amex "Twins", we appealed to the Ritz South Beach directly, and we called the Room Manager. Surely they would not want to take over $5000 from long time, loyal customers, due to a miscommunication. WRONG AGAIN. They were more than happy to shift the blame back on Amex—and keep our money (By the way, in a galling turn of events, the Ritz claimed to be 100% booked during the fair—proving that they sold our room anyway AND kept our money). So, we escalated the matter (which The Crediteer always advises), and we called Ritz Corporate (Debbie Howard, Corporate Guest Relations Manager, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, 4445 Willard Avenue, Ste 800, Chevy Chase MD 20815. Email : debi.howard@ritzcarlton.com).

Surely THEY would take our side, and pass down a favorable ruling to their bratty property down in South Beach. WRONG YET AGAIN. As nice as they were, Ritz Corporate claimed it was all in the control of—guess who—AMEX...NOT in theirs.

Since we figured we’d never get our money back, we asked Ritz for a room credit—not cash—merely credit at the property to stay there—something arguably in their control. We even said we’d accept 50% of the credit—instead, we got NO reply—only avoidance...and no satisfaction.

So here we are—almost out of options. We could sue, I suppose. And we could complain to the chamber of commerce, the department of consumer affairs, or the newly formed Consumer Finance Protection agency.

Instead, we thought to do our friends and followers a favor and tell them about what happened. If we can’t get any satisfaction here, at LEAST we can prevent others from falling in to the same traps as we did.

So what does The Crediteer have to say about this:

1) Demand all terms—cancellation notice period and amount—in writing.

2) Don’t deal with Amex Platinum Travel Service—not only will you have NO chance to win an appeal, but frankly, you can often get better deals by calling the property directly (for Amex PTS to offer “benefits” they generally have to charge you the non-discounted “rack rate” for a room—which you can ALWAYS beat by calling directly or searching the web for deals).

Feel free to forward this rather lengthy post or link to your friends – especially if they have Amex cards—and we’ll keep you all informed of any further developments.

More information can be found online at http://www.TheCrediteer.com

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