American Express Global Reviews 5,210

My online statement showed a $30.01 charge by "Internal Revenue Credit Union" with a Maryland phone number that is out of service. I disputed it. A few days later, they rejected my dispute and reinstated the charge, with no explanation. I called and of course it took 10 minutes just to talk to a real person. Who in ten minutes could not come up with an explanation; she just reopened the dispute. I wonder how many other people are being scammed for small amounts like this, with the help of AmEx.

American Express kept mailing replacement cards that were stolen every time. Fraudulent charges continued even after cancellation. Serious security issues.

I am a former American Express customer and have found it effectively impossible to contact them.

Once my account was closed, my card destroyed, and online/app access removed, all digital contact routes became unavailable. Every online form or help option requires a login or card number, which a former customer no longer has.

This leaves the phone as the only contact option. I attempted to call the international support number while living abroad and was left on hold for over 40 minutes with no answer, eventually having to give up. This resulted in significant call charges, which is unacceptable for simply trying to ask a basic question.

The reason for trying to contact them was an unexplained attempt to collect approximately £50 via Direct Debit. I received no email, no statement, and no explanation. I am not disputing the charge at this stage. I simply want to know what it relates to and, if valid, settle it. However, American Express provides no reasonable or accessible way to do so once an account is closed.

The lack of any written contact method and an unusable phone system means former customers are completely locked out. This is not what should be expected from a financial services provider.

Excellent financial and credit card company. Their annual fee is too high!

We have been with Amex for nearly 20 years.

Amex recently emailed me asking for me and my wife to upload proof of id which was not straightforward, since she did not have a log on account.

Then Amex wanted us to put in place a second Direct Debit on the account that we already had a Direct Debit!! This was to validate that the Direct Debit they has used for over 100 times was valid?!?!

The they requested we send them copies of our third party bank accounts - these last two requests did not seem to comply with their Terms and Conditions or Privacy Policy which does not state third party bank statements are collected. They gave us 45 days to comply otherwise, the said they could stop using the existing valid Direct Debit and potentially then could report us for non-payment of the balance - even though it would be Amex that chose not to use a legally valid payment method that had been operating for some time.

In the end it all seemed more effort that it was worth so I decided to cancel my account with them. We had already earned over £235 on our account in cash back in the year to date and Amex said that if we cancel within the notice period of 45 days that they specified, Amex would keep the Cashback themselves as a penalty!

In my mind this is unreasonable given we had already earned the cashback and it was Amex that was changing the rules and asking us to cancel or comply with their new one rules. We should therefore be allowed to leave without penalty.

I always cleared my card monthly (down to £0 at the end of the month, every month).

I ended up with interest fees. I didn't notice until multiple charges had come out. Filed a complained and closed down my account to stop this happening again. Customer services did nothing to support the situation.

Be cautious and check for fictitious interest added to your account.

It's incredibly hard to earn enough points to make paying for any of these cards worth it. Once a free trail ends on a card, AMEX will then renew it for another year but delay charging you for 30 days. So when that payment is taken technically you've had your 30 days to cancel. And therefore all you can do is cancel the remainder of the second year. I've never seen a financial institution try and trick me into giving them money in this way before. They've lost my trust and will likely never open an AMEX account again.

All my online fees seem to have an additional charge of 4.5% that only shows once the transaction clears from my bank account.

4.5%????

This is pure price gouching

AVOID AMEX if you are looking for a balance between good service and value. The "service" is non existent here and the fees are heavy so these guys are like robbers in suits by the look of things.

AVOID AVOID AVOID

Be careful signing up for any bonus point offers. AMEX is such a dodgy company, and will find any way possible to get out of paying the bonus points. As I have recently experienced, it's always in the fine print, and always difficult to interpret.

I applied for the British Airways Amex Premium Plus through their official BA promotional link promising 50,000 Avios after £6,000 spend in 3 months. Card approved and activated, but the bonus never appeared in my account. Called customer service and they said ‘the offer doesn’t exist anywhere’ - ZERO effort to investigate or resolve. Forced to cancel immediately. Unacceptable service from a premium brand. Complete waste of time.

That’s it, bye bye. I am a platinum member and heavily rely on Amex, spend literally millions over decades through this card. Their online system IS SO BAD that I will cancel my card and move to an alternative provider.

Dear Amex, your ad once said, "A HOLDER HAS HIS OWN PRIVILEGES." I've been a holder since 1986, 40 years—longer than my marriage—and have had a gold card for the last 10 years. But about 4 years ago, despite never having cheated on you and always being punctual in my obligations, you imposed a limit of €1,800 on me, without any plausible explanation. Bear in mind that with two other credit cards from competing networks, whose annual fee isn't even half the cost of the gold card, I have total limits of €6,000. In October 2025, you emailed me that you had decided to revise the limit, eliminating the €1,800 threshold and restoring the unlimited limit as it had been from the beginning. Then, however, you blocked my transactions because I'd reached my usage limit for the previous months, which was still €1,800. What a complete joke. After 40 years, I've decided I no longer want to be with a false and hypocritical partner like you. I'm leaving you.

The worst bank ever - they mandate that your credit cards can only be frozen for 7days, after which it will automatically be unfrozen, and you would have to freeze it again by yourself.

My cards was stolen and over $1000 spent unknown to me until I received an email stating the amount that was spent. Meanwhile I was at the gym.

I called them for more than 3times before someone put in the claim, then I found out that the claim was not completely taken.

Now it means AMEX is setting people up for failure. Who has time to keep date to monitor freezing of cards every 7days? I am going to the military basic training for 10weeks where we won't have access to our phone, how in the world would I freeze my card every 7days after their system automatically unfreeze it after 7days? This policy is nothing but robbery. Their employees can actually be using people’a cards knowing the freeze would be lifted after every 7days, or if it is stolen, the thief would continue to spend the card for as long as they can.

Amex does not deserve one star from me. This is slavery and setting people up for failure at their own benefit. Say no to AMEX CC.

Just reinforcing many people's opinions which is that AMEX value making money and quite frankly do so with a self-sanctimonious attitude that places themselves above anything else. They don't really see customers as people, more a means to end. I don't think I've encountered a more inflexible and difficult to deal with customer service. Don't go there.

After claiming direct debit for 20 years from the same bank, Amex contacted me to say that the bank account is in a different name. It is not. I phoned help who agreed that names are the same and didn't understand why I was sent the message, and agreed to close the issue. Despite this, I got another notification that I needed to update my direct debit mandate. The notification email referred to an attached dd form, but none was attached. On the document upload folder I found a dd form for credit cards and completed this one, but I got notified back that I completed the wrong form. Absolutely rubbish

Up until recently I have been very happy with AMEX. Credit card interaction has been fast fair and expedient. A year ago I invested 50.000 $ in an AMEX CD; when it came to maturity it became a mess; funds invisible/disappeared for days. In my infinite lack of wisdom I took part of the CDs proceeds and put in a high yield AMEX savings. FIRST PAYMENT I MADE ON MY AMEX CREDIT CARD using my AMEX SAVINGS was returned and they added a 29$ return fee. Payment eventually went through, of course, ! I HAVE NEVER EVER had a returned payment IN MY LIFE. So ! We're done AMEX ! New CD can mature and go elsewhere !

I was the victim of an APP scam on Jan 22nd, with the caller appearing to be the fraud team from my bank (nationwide). As the scam was done through Apple Pay money was taken from both this and my Amex account. The Amex team dealt quickly and efficiently with the fraud, with investigation concluded, card resent and money reimbursed within days. The customer service agent, I think named Revake, was swift and helpful in ensuring the phone and accounts were secure, and Amex has spotted the fraud and message even before I was aware what was happening. One week further on, this experience stands in such contrast to the other bank involved I felt I had to leave a review for Amex highlighting that service and support from them around this APP fraud was simply exemplary and made a very difficult and stressful situation much less so. I am extremely greatful.

I was lied to.

In August 2025 I received an email invitation to sign up for Amex’s high yield savings account wherein if I put in a certain amount of money and maintain it there for 60 days, I would be given $500.

I left it in for 90 days before needing to withdraw it.

Today is January 30th and I called Amex to ask the status of my incentive. Ultimately they indicated that I was not a target customer and that I was ineligible for the incentive. When I asked what made me ineligible they were not able to identify any specific reason.

If the email incentive was sent to me by mistake that is Amex’s fault. I jumped through all the hoops to do this and when I completed everything they simply said I don’t qualify.

I will be telling everyone I can about this as it was the most unbelievable experience I have had with a company. They said they will file a complaint and move on. They don’t care to rectify anything.

As a loyal American Express customer for six years, with a flawless payment history, I was surprised and disappointed to have my credit limit reduced from $18,000 to $7,000 without any prior notice.
Totally disappointed!

Amex middle east - I had a platinum card in UK and had a great experience in London over the years. I moved to Dubai and got myself a card here as the FX charges on UK card were high.
The MENA Amex is a scam .the poorest customer service, never give a straight answer..
1. Card applied in AED but they issued in USD.
2. Then they charge me 11% worst FX rate
Everytime you message them they say someone will get back but they never .
Avoid at all costs it's a scam and is shame on the Amex brand