American Express is crediting my account back for $200+tax

[seb481]

I bought my iPhone on July 28 from AT&T store.
Yesterday, I called Apple and At&T to get my money back but their was nothing I could do.
This morning I read a post on this forum telling to call American Express. I first asked Amex to match the price difference. The lady first said there was nothing she could do as they don't offer this service since last year.
My Amex protection plan states that if my item is stolen or broken, they will pay it back. For a minute, I was seriously thinking about drowining my iPhone or pretend it got stolen (this is actually a bad idea since you need to get a police report, etc...)

Later this morning, I went to the Apple's iPhone forum and read a thread about amex paying back customers! I called them again and explained I read somewhere they were paying the $200 back.

I am a gold member and I use my amex for everything I can. I spend A LOT of money with amex and I ALWAYS pay bills on time.

After 2 minutes (literraly) on the phone with a rep, he told me he would be able to credit my account back for $200+tax! He says it will appear on my account online within 24 hours!

I can't believe how easy it was...

He said they received hundreds of calls and for most people, you're gonna have to fill out forms and wait like 3 weeks and stuffs but for people like me who have a gold card (or platinum), they give the money back almost instantly.

This terrible nightmare is over for me but I still wanna fight Apple as much as I can. I hate them for what they did to us. I will never buy Apple ever again and I encourage you to do so.
Good luck everyone!

 

[kimirike]

Really? I had a bad time with At&t yesterday but I called AMEX today it was only a few minutes (3 at the most) and the lady told me that she might send me some forms and it could take a couple of weeks. I am Gold card member also but I'm not sure if it my take longer form since I paid $100 cash upfront.

Either way your post and talking with the AMEX claims lady gave me some hope. I was thinking about switiching my card to an AMEX BLUE card but never mind that now!

Here's hoping I get $200 back!

 

[Prelector]

I was on the phone with AmEx.
I am a gold member and I use my amex for everything I can. I spend A LOT of money with amex and I ALWAYS pay bills on time.
After 2 minute (literraly) on the phone with a rep, he told me he would be able to credit my account back for $200+tax! He says it will appear on my account online within 24 hours!
I can't believe how easy it was...
He said they received hundreds of calls and for most people, you're gonna have to fill out forms and wait like 3 weeks and stuffs but for people like me who have a gold card (or platinum), they give the money back almost instantly.
This terrible nightmare is over for me but I still wanna fight Apple as much as I can. I hate them for what they did to us. I will never buy Apple ever again and I encourage you to do so.
Good luck everyone!

I wouldn't count on seeing that refund in 24hrs... I'm also a Gold card holder, and have been for 12 yrs. I use my card for most businesss purchases, averaging $50k or so per month on mine.

I spoke to AmEx this morning, and while they are going to TRY and help us purchasers, there is no guarantee. It's also not a 24hr thing, but up to 2weeks I was told.

I don't doubt you were told an immediate refund was coming, but the rep you spoke too was probably mis-informed. I'm sure AmEx management will set him straight

 

[minivini]

I was on the phone with AmEx.
I am a gold member and I use my amex for everything I can. I spend A LOT of money with amex and I ALWAYS pay bills on time.
After 2 minute (literraly) on the phone with a rep, he told me he would be able to credit my account back for $200+tax! He says it will appear on my account online within 24 hours!
I can't believe how easy it was...
He said they received hundreds of calls and for most people, you're gonna have to fill out forms and wait like 3 weeks and stuffs but for people like me who have a gold card (or platinum), they give the money back almost instantly.
This terrible nightmare is over for me but I still wanna fight Apple as much as I can. I hate them for what they did to us. I will never buy Apple ever again and I encourage you to do so.
Good luck everyone!

How long ago did you buy your phone? I wonder how long AmEx's price protection lasts? I bought mine with AmEx about 5-6 weeks ago...

 

[Prelector]

How long ago did you buy your phone? I wonder how long AmEx's price protection lasts? I bought mine with AmEx about 5-6 weeks ago...

I purchased mine on July 9th, and had no problem from AmEx.

 

[seb481]

I am gonna edit the Original post and answer these questions

 

[robd54]

I called citi bank (my AMEX issuer) and they said i needed some sort of print ad showing the price, a printout or something wouldn't do. Has anyone had to do this? If so what did you use?

 

[seb481]

I called citi bank (my AMEX issuer) and they said i needed some sort of print ad showing the price, a printout or something wouldn't do. Has anyone had to do this? If so what did you use?

I didn't have to use anything. Everyone at amex knew about the price change.
Here is all the information I gave amex:
Date of purchase
Price
My mailing address

That was it!

 

[Prelector]

I called citi bank (my AMEX issuer) and they said i needed some sort of print ad showing the price, a printout or something wouldn't do. Has anyone had to do this? If so what did you use?

Everyone I know of has gone directly to AmEx for the claim (as their card issuer). Not sure if you'll have a problem since yours is issued by CitiBank or not...

 

[connie]

Just got off the phone with AmEx. I am also getting credit of $200 +tax within 24 hours. I bought mine with my Blue card on 7/8 and they have a 90 day protection plan. They told me usually this would not fall under the plan but they are making a one time exception if you are in good standing. I have been a long time customer of Gold and Blue cards. Hope you guys get it too because I still am also mad as heck at Apple for this, we shouldn't be having to do this. But in their stupidity at least its under the 90 days. I will be very cautious recommending or ever buying anything from Apple again. Their reputation in customer service is way down in my book. But this is just my opinion. Good Luck.

 

[robd54]

Yeah, I'm wishing I had gotten an AMEX through AMEX and not Citi, but I did just call again and got a much better rep this time. She is sending me the claim forms and said they are trying/hoping exceptions will be made without a sales circular. So i'll hope for the best. While I'm not quite as upset as others I certainly will not object to getting $200 back.

 

[seb481]

Yeah, I'm wishing I had gotten an AMEX through AMEX and not Citi, but I did just call again and got a much better rep this time. She is sending me the claim forms and said they are trying/hoping exceptions will be made without a sales circular. So i'll hope for the best. While I'm not quite as upset as others I certainly will not object to getting $200 back.

Let us know how it works out for you!

 

[deac]

Ya'll spurred me to call. I have a green AE card I rarely use and a Gold AE Delta Skymiles card which is the one I used. As usual I got an extremely nice lady as you do almost every time with AE and here's all she could do. She did not know anything about a one time exception (after checking) but said that she could open a case file for a disputed charge. In the meantime they would issue an immediate credit of the $200 to my account. The claim could take awhile and I would be notifed in several weeks if the claim was accepted or not. At that time the credit back would be permanent or my card would be recharged the $200.

Dang its nice to hear a company that really wants and values you as a customer. I even went ahead and upgraded to platinum level for $80 which gives me a free companion ticket/year on flights I'm using miles and also gives me 5,00 more Medallion miles.

So we'll see how this turns out. As confirmed above they no longer have the price guarantee as a formal part of it, just the lost stolen, damage thing for 90 days unless I think she said you have one of the higher level pure AE cards.

Thanks for the heads up folks.

Still can't over the PR nightmare Apple created with this -- seems like the same kind of thinking that went into the plans for activation on Day 1. Someone was bad asleep at the switch or blew us off and didn't care -- which is the part that grates me still.

 

[Prelector]

...but said that she could open a case file for a disputed charge. In the meantime they would issue an immediate credit of the $200 to my account. The claim could take awhile and I would be notifed in several weeks if the claim was accepted or not. At that time the credit back would be permanent or my card would be recharged the $200.

OK, this explains the "immediate" credit some folks are reporting!

I'd bet they are doing this for everyone, but some of us aren't catching that part. Hell, this makes AmEx even BETTER in my mind... willing to go that one step even further.

 

[seb481]

In my case, the case is closed! I got my $200 back. They won't investigate any further. My $200 will be on my account tomorrow and it will stay there. I don't have any claim to file or anything.

 

[connie]

I did not have to file any report or paper work. They said my credit will show up tomorrow also. They did give me a claim number though. They said nothing about taking it back, they said it was a one time credit adjustment.

 

[seb481]

I did not have to file any report or paper work. They said my credit will show up tomorrow also. They did give me a claim number though. They said nothing about taking it back, they said it was a one time credit adjustment.

Exactly the same here!

 

[seb481]

Hopefully we'll still get our money back even after this $100 gift card marketing loophole

 

[echristodo]

I wouldn't count on seeing that refund in 24hrs... I'm also a Gold card holder, and have been for 12 yrs. I use my card for most businesss purchases, averaging $50k or so per month on mine.

If you spent an average of $50k a month your card would be black, not gold

 

[Prelector]

If you spent an average of $50k a month your card would be black, not gold

Not if you don't pay the increased monthly fee it won't.

Gold gives me the level of service I need, so why pay more for additional features I don't?