Tuesday, March 8, 2011

American Express Publishing Corporation is trying to scam me!

A while back, I received an envelope about ordering the AmEx Appointment Book and/or Pocket Diary. This happens every year, and every year I'm not interested, so without opening the envelope, I just immediately tore it in half and tossed it in the trash.

Imagine my surprise when I recieved the darn thing in the mail! I called customer service and explain that I never requested this product. The rep says that she can see a scanned file on my account that says otherwise. I asked if she could read if my name was on the form, and she replied that it's just the bottom of the letter that you mail in, so no name on it. Hmm... so is there some magical code that connects it to my account? I asked to be sent a copy of said form. We shall see what comes of that.

Anyhoo, she went ahead and credited the amount for shipping and handling, and when I asked how to send the stuff back, she said I could keep the planner and diary. Uhh... still don't want it! But at least the situation is resolved for now.

My next concern is when reading the fine print, it says if I keep the product, I am now in a subscription program where I will receive this every year unless I notify AmEx in writing that I want to cancel. I guess I could play the redundant route and write a letter. I mean, I can't assume talking to a customer service rep to credit my account also means that I am not enrolled in a subscription program as well.

I guess they are not actually scamming me. It could have been some innocent data entry mistake. On the other hand, it could actually be a ploy to scam millions of people out of $4.94 in a desperate attempt to make money. Oh if that's true, I would have to say, AmEx, I thought you were classier than that.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just got one of these in the mail too -- I was thinking of actually getting the pocket book until I noticed the fine print saying that I'll be billed for next years' book (at what looks like $43 + $7 shipping and handling). As with almost anything else in life, if the initial "deal" looks too good to be true, it probably is.

(Not to mention the obfuscated way in which the fine print was written required me to review it no fewer than 3 times.)

Does a major credit card company like Amex with billions of dollars in revenue and widespread international acceptance really need to stoop to this level of predatory marketing? Or their obvious attempt to take advantage of the average American's stupidity? Because that is CLEARLY what they are trying to do here. It's the same operating model as a mail-in-rebate -- statistically over 60% of people simply forget to mail it in! Except here you're essentially locked into making future payments unless you opt out in the future, which I'm sure few people will remember to do.