AMEX Return Protection: Did They Make You Return The Item?

[jl75]

I filed a claim earlier this week and received the digital document request within 24 hours via email. So maybe the paper mail ones were sent when people here said there were issues with the document upload site?

Looks like you were right. I just filed another claim last night, and while the documents for my claim three weeks ago (around the time that people were having trouble uploading documents) was sent by mail, the digital document request for this later claim just arrived in my inbox, so +/- 24 hours, just like what you reported. So considering the timing, it really does look like the mailing of documents a couple weeks ago was entirely due to them having computer problems, and not some kind of targeted attempt at delaying some of our claims.

Also, anyone has filed a claim recently and gotten it approved, how long did it take for your claim to be approved after you submitted all the requested documentation?

For the claim a few weeks ago where they mailed me the documents instead of e-mailing them, I just uploaded the documents last night, so I'll let you know as soon as it's approved. The strange thing is that even though their website gave me the message that my upload was successful, it's still blank (no date showing) when I look at the claims homepage. Has anyone else experienced that (especially for those who also received their documents request by postal mail a week or two ago)?

[Joeymc]

I filed a claim last week. When I submitted it said an error occurred and I should try again later. I filed the claim a second time and got the same error.

The next day I logged in to try again and it had the claim pending with a claim number.

2 days later I got the email and the credit, no documents needed

[etech0]

I paid for something via paypal and they used my paypal balance (a few dollars) and then the rest went on my amex. Would amex allow me to use return protection for that purchase?

[jl75]

I paid for something via paypal and they used my paypal balance (a few dollars) and then the rest went on my amex. Would amex allow me to use return protection for that purchase?

According to the Terms & Conditions, apparently not, because 100% of the final total price has to be charged on your AmEx card (It's a different story when you receive a discount that's factored into the subtotal or before the final price including tax and shipping). But we've seen situations where what's in the T&C differs from what AmEx Assurance actually does in practice. You could try calling them to ask, or simply try to submit the claim and see if it gets approved (which would be a great data point for us to have), or if they reject it for the aforementioned reason. Doesn't hurt to try, though! :-)

[jl75]

Also, anyone has filed a claim recently and gotten it approved, how long did it take for your claim to be approved after you submitted all the requested documentation?

The claim I submitted on 9/29 just got approved. They did e-mail me the documents to fill out. So that was a total 72-hour turn-around from start to finish.

As for the claim I filed last month for which they sent me the letter and documents in the mail, they didn't approve it yet, and even though it said that my upload was successful when I uploaded the documents and receipt, no date was showing on the Claims website for "Documents Last Received". So I just tried to upload them again, and now it's showing today's date. I've noticed that it always seems to be a Wednesday when they approve claims, so I assume I'll now have to wait another week to get this earlier claim approved. But at least the online system now seems to be working fine, and their turnaround time was much better than the last time I submitted a claim in early 2024.

[etech0]

I'm unable to submit a claim, it says that the system is currently not responding and please try again later. Anyone else have this recently?

We're Sorry.
Sorry, our system is not responding. Please try your request again later.

[shulem92]

I'm unable to submit a claim, it says that the system is currently not responding and please try again later. Anyone else have this recently?

sometimes that message is truly from their system. More often than not it’s a cookie issue. So much so that I started filing return protections exclusively in an incognito browser

[etech0]

sometimes that message is truly from their system. More often than not it’s a cookie issue. So much so that I started filing return protections exclusively in an incognito browser

Interesting! Will try that, thanks.

[etech0]

Yikes, same error in incognito!
Oh well

[etech0]

Well, guess if I got four emails confirming that my claim was created 

(I'm sure I tried more than four times!)

[jl75]

Well, guess if I got four emails confirming that my claim was created 

(I'm sure I tried more than four times!)

All showing the same claim number, or four different claim numbers? A good idea when you get error messages after hitting "submit" is to check the claims homepage first (after waiting a minute or so for their system to update) to see whether there's a new claim number listed. I've had it happen several times in the past where I thought my claim hadn't gotten submitted due to the confirmation page not showing up, but when I checked the claims homepage, sure enough there was a new row in the table showing the claim number for the new claim.

[etech0]

All showing the same claim number, or four different claim numbers? A good idea when you get error messages after hitting "submit" is to check the claims homepage first (after waiting a minute or so for their system to update) to see whether there's a new claim number listed. I've had it happen several times in the past where I thought my claim hadn't gotten submitted due to the confirmation page not showing up, but when I checked the claims homepage, sure enough there was a new row in the table showing the claim number for the new claim.

4 different claim numbers. Good idea, thanks!

[jl75]

4 different claim numbers. Good idea, thanks!

My guess is that it'd be best to be proactive and call them and ask them to close three of the four claims (if I'm understanding correctly that you were claiming one item but accidentally submitted it four times). Otherwise, you could always just ignore the documents requests for the three duplicate claims, but I've seen them still go on to approve a claim even before I'd gotten around to submitting the documents...meaning that they might still investigate all four of your duplicate claims, and they might think you were trying to dupe them for multiple reimbursements. Anyhow, I couldn't get AmEx chat to open the same day that everyone was having problems submitting claims, so it may have been another system-wide AmEx outage. Chat's working fine now, so maybe the claims website is, too?

[BoratMD]

Data point re AU (authorized user) cards.
This may be old news but I was not able to definitively determine it based on initial skim of the thread so figured I'd share.

AMEX Plat - maxed out my $1000 for the year on the main card
Plat AU #1 (gold/white card, no AF) - successful $200+ RP credit for final sale purchase made on AU card

The above supports the theory that the $1000 cap applies to each card on the account, not the overall card account (eg. $2000 total for main and 1 AU, not $1000 total for Plat split between the 2 cards). These buckets do not overlap of course, that is you could not open an AU card then go claim another $1000 on your main plat card. Charges must be on the AU card to utilize the additional $1000 allocated to it

Not sure if it matters, but I made the purchase in the AU's name on the website so receipt matched name on the card (we share billing/shipping address as we live together). When filling out the claim I used the AU's name, but input my personal email/cell (which are associated with the main plat card). Thus, my takeaway here is that it does not matter which info you put in the order and claim form (main cardholder or AU name/contact info) but I personally would still do the AU's info for the order and claim name at very least.

Hope it helps!

[eternity88a]

I filed a claim and submitted the docs they needed then a few days later they wrote

"Please call our office for further evaluation of your claim"
Anyone ever got this message before?

[BoratMD]

I've had the opposite, where they cold called me to discuss - it was pretty benign, a very nice representative just needed to clarify a discrepancy on the documents I submitted (something related to a price/discount that wasn't super transparent just looking at it without knowing i'd used a coupon or something)

You're probably fine, but obviously look over everything ahead of time and have a consistent story before calling just in case they grill you

[noturbizniss]

Anyone else finding claims have gotten very slow? Claim submitted 10/21 and have bot received email requesting documents. I got initial email. Of claim opening but nothing else.

[bmw]

Anyone else finding claims have gotten very slow? Claim submitted 10/21 and have bot received email requesting documents. I got initial email. Of claim opening but nothing else.

yes

[jl75]

Anyone else finding claims have gotten very slow? Claim submitted 10/21 and have bot received email requesting documents. I got initial email. Of claim opening but nothing else.

Yeah, same thing here. Submitted claim on 10/20, got e-mail confirmation on 10/21, and haven't heard anything from them since. Still says "open" on the claims website. Thanks for sharing that you're having the same issue, as I was starting to think that there was a problem with my claim!

[FlyingBoat]

Same with me, regarding long time. They also called regarding further information on a $22 item. Why shipping and billing addresses were different? (I have summer and winter house) .
And further pictures of the items bottom. I had already sent other pictures per their request.