MY AMEX BLACK EXPERIENCE – EMAIL TO AMEX.
Dear Ariane, Vicky, and the Directors of American Express (bcc'd)
I am sending you this note as a matter of courtesy.
I originally wrote this email re a single issue, but decided to sit on it as issues have continually arisen through your team's service/efforts, or lack of.
I have spoken with the Hon. Michael Lavarch's office this morning from the Financial Ombudsman Service and I am required by law to submit a formal complaint prior to them taking on the case, hence this note.
I feel there are fundamental issues within Amex Centurion concierge being lack of / misleading service, and effort, which need to be brought to light through a larger investigation. It should be noted that while I have not decided to submit this form, I would like it on record so I retain the ability to do so. I don't need a reply to this email so much like other requests made, don't feel obliged.
Upon joining your service I was promised a concierge service 'second-to-none', world class. 'Above and beyond'. The stories were endless – I'm sure you have read your own brochure….it's the one lined with seemingly far-fetched stories regarding customer issues which have been resolved, missing items located half way around the world, impossible bookings being made, people bending over backwards to find solutions.
One source even claimed you sent sand from the Dead Sea to London on request – I doubt it. The concierge service was the selling point for the centurion, the benefits led me to believe centurion was a premium service.
Below are my 5 experiences over the past 12 months
1. I did not receive my free flight in 2011, or 2012 due to your error. When I asked about my flight I was advised due to "cancelling my complimentary Platinum card" I was no longer eligible.
In fact the only reason that card was ever cancelled was due to a call directly from American Express who advised me there was no benefit to keeping the Platinum card, so I requested for it to be cancelled, on that same call. Aware of this misleading advice, American Express kindly shuffled some paperwork around, didn't apologise for the incorrect advice, and awarded me my entitled flights to use this year. In fact I was told 'strings were pulled' by Shunali to effect this.
The resolution was 2 year saga ended, dozens of emails, without apology. I should have cancelled my card then & there and used your fee to buy a real ticket in the face of incompetence.
2.When I used AMEX to book my trip to New Zealand (this week), I requested to go for the long weekend. I was then sent a suggested itinerary leaving Friday night, returning Sunday night…..I had to go and request to leave Friday Morning, back Monday night. Why? Nil thought went into this.
I was then told there were NO flights Monday night, only Monday morning, so I booked that.
I subsequently found out through Google there were Monday night flights, I was then told that the flights were only with Virgin.
I checked again, sure enough there were Virgin night flights, they were $50 extra on Virgin, I was then told that I was not eligible for this flight, only the cheap one.
Yes, that's a total of over 8 correspondences over 2 years to simply arrange a flight I was entitled to all along. FYI after the flight was booked the AMEX team were simply non-responsive & un helpful in helping me plan sights, wineries etc, in my last correspondence I was told to 'Check Google' – is this a joke????
3. Prior to this inconvenience I made 3 bookings, 2 for 'The Den' at the Ivy establishment, and one at "Café Sydney' for my mothers birthday. Both occasions on turning up to 'The Den' I was told I had no reservation, one time I was even told that Ivy had no affiliation with American Express and left out in the street with 8 guests. Your brochure is straight out misleading.
Once again neither an apology, or rectification was offered, world class.
The 3rd booking with Café Sydney was not available, because the restaurant was full, I never received a call back – or alternate suggestions as I had requested.
The resolution was I was left to make my own calls where I actually got in to Café Sydney after some pleading. Far from gaining 'access to the inaccessible' as your brochure states.
4. After requesting a new iPhone 5 through Shunali late last year it was promptly set up with Optus, however on my first bill I received a text message notification 'Your service will be cut off tomorrow due to an unpaid bill' – I was boarding a plane in Shanghai to Sydney via Tokyo & Bangkok at the time, hence a short email to Shunali stated 'Shunali can you please call Optus & advise them I am in transit & I will make touch with Optus in 48 hours when I land and resolve'.
Sure enough, nil effort was made, in fact when I spoke to Shunali from Bangkok 24 hours later her response was along the lines of 'Oh no I didn't call Optus, they wouldn't have spoken to me it would have been a waste of time?' – really???
After persuading Shunali to 'try her best' she did in fact call, left a note (to which they couldn't verify was passed on of course). The phone was not cut off, due to that call, largely thanks to my efforts in motivating Shunali.
5. Last week I attempted to arrange a birthday dinner for Mr. Daniel ****** – a fellow Centurion member, who I happen to live with, and who also happens to use Shunali, I have cc'd him.
After introducing Shunali to Daniels girlfriend, Bianca, in the hope of arranging a surprise dinner for the 2 of them, Shunali simply responded that she could not help due to 'restaurant policy', she told us that the restaurant would refuse to take any other payment other than Daniel's Centurion card, if the booking was made through that. She actually called him 'David' suggested the reading of my email had been as half-assed as the effort.
Firstly let me say, that is pathetic, far beyond 'world class service', secondly that is illegal payment can be legally made in any form, including cash. The day Ucello sue someone for booking with an AMEX card, and paying with cash, and win, pigs will fly.
When I suggested 'put it on my card' she replied along the lines of 'Oh, Ok that could work, but it is risky are you sure you want me to try that?'
She later responded again along the lines of 'We can do this but Daniel will have to pay the bill on the night'. At this point I had simply called & made the booking myself in 30 seconds. WHY DO YOU MAKE SIMPLE THINGS SO DIFFICULT??????????
Why couldn't a solution be provided up front, in all cases, as opposed to a simple 'it can't be done'. In all cases it was done, with a considerable amount of time and effort on my behalf, and often in the end directly with a simple call outside of Amex.
The above 5 examples should be published by the end of this week if there is no resolution to the above. There is just nil effort put in to any of the above. Too often your team are more interested in performing the 'black & white' tasks such as making the call, or scheduling the appointment, as opposed to dealing with the loose ends around them – such as suggesting another time when a restaurant is full, or another restaurant; rectifying an Ivy issue at the time as opposed to passing it on via email; rectifying the flight situation after a client has been through a 2 year saga, finding a solution to booking that surprise birthday for a centurion guest, or trying their best to contact Optus without spending more time explaining why their phone call is irrelevant, or justifying why they shouldn't 'try'
Why do your staff justify reasons as to why they shouldn't 'try'?
The bottom line is if you don't want to provide a service I will find someone who will. To be honest I'm at the point where I'm 99.9% on cancelling the centurion prior to this coming May, and using the $4,000 to promote the above on a matter of principle. If we get to this point I will also be lodging that submission with Mr Lavarch on the basis that the service promised was never provided, and I'll have our in house PR group ZMM media do so on my behalf.
On that note I'll leave you with a quote – your own – Centurion members are global players who gain truly worldwide access to the inaccessible.
Disappointed,