Back in August, my family was due to go to California on a trip of a lifetime. Two days before departure, my father-in-law was given a “few short weeks to live” and we had to cancel. Our flight and hire car were booked through British Airways and, on receipt of proof of my father-in-law’s terminal illness, it refunded our flight and car payment immediately.
Unfortunately, the payment for the holiday was made in three lumps as we could not afford the total cost of £2,500, allowing us to save up. Two of these payments, almost £1,000 each, were made on two separate American Express cards. The money has been refunded to the cards but American Express has refused to return the money to us.
In this age I appreciate the need to be careful about money laundering, but this is ridiculous. This event has added to an already harrowing experience for my family and, with more than £2,000 locked away on cards we cannot access, we are at our wits’ end.
RH, Worthing
It’s worth noting that we get very few complaints about American Express, and am surprised that this was not easily resolved by the company, especially given the unfortunate circumstances, and the fact that you just wanted the money paid to account from which you pay the card bill. The company says customers asking for a refund must provide their bank statement verifying the bank account to which American Express will be returning the funds – which you had.
Maybe Amex just needed prodding into action, as your refund has now been processed.
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