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

[iluv2travel]

No I didn't mistype my email - the proof being that I actually just received and email with the claims docs from them a few minutes ago and came here to report just that.  It's very odd that it took this long, but it is what it is.

I also received the exact same claim docs by snail mail today and noticed they were dated 5/9 while the attachments from the email had no date. It came along with a postage paid envelope but since I already filled out the form and uploaded it along with the receipt online I'm not going to physically send it in again.

[jl75]

I also received the exact same claim docs by snail mail today and noticed they were dated 5/9 while the attachments from the email had no date. It came along with a postage paid envelope but since I already filled out the form and uploaded it along with the receipt online I'm not going to physically send it in again.

Definitely some glitches in their system on top of the delays that started worsening around the time of the L.A. fires. A claim of mine has been approved and the reimbursement was credited to my account on the 16th (21 days after I submitted the claims documents, a week faster than the 29 days it took the last one to get approved!) but I haven't received the e-mail yet notifying me of the approval, even though that usually comes a day or two before the credit posts to my account. But at least now it looks like they might slowly but surely be reducing the amount of time that it takes them to approve the claims once they have our documents.

[FlyingBoat]

Just got denied for a claim "Purchases must be made in
the United States".

Bought the item in the US from a website.

Looking at the purchase details on Amex account, I see the merchant address is "19H MAXGRAND PLAZA

HK"

They have US Retailers. Can even buy on Amazon.

I bought directly from the company website. This is a repair part. which may be why it shows the HK company instead of a US address?

[kickballrubber]

Just got denied for a claim "Purchases must be made in
the United States".

Bought the item in the US from a website.

Looking at the purchase details on Amex account, I see the merchant address is "19H MAXGRAND PLAZA

HK"

They have US Retailers. Can even buy on Amazon.

I bought directly from the company website. This is a repair part. which may be why it shows the HK company instead of a US address?

Appeal with those screenshots showing company’s retail spaces being in USA. You should be good.

[iluv2travel]

Definitely some glitches in their system on top of the delays that started worsening around the time of the L.A. fires. A claim of mine has been approved and the reimbursement was credited to my account on the 16th (21 days after I submitted the claims documents, a week faster than the 29 days it took the last one to get approved!) but I haven't received the e-mail yet notifying me of the approval, even though that usually comes a day or two before the credit posts to my account. But at least now it looks like they might slowly but surely be reducing the amount of time that it takes them to approve the claims once they have our documents.

So 5/16 was 21 days from the date they showed you submitted the documents?  How many days in total from the time you filed the claim?

As I mentioned upthread my claim was filed on 5/4.  I didn't receive an email with the claim docs until 5/15 and I took care of it right away.  The site is showing that claim docs were last received on 5/16.  So I just want to know if I'm going to need to wait 3 weeks from then to get this thing approved which would make it about 5 weeks in total from when I submitted the claim. It's annoying because I just want the credit to post before my next payment is due which is going to cut it close but I'll wait and see what happens.

[jl75]

So 5/16 was 21 days from the date they showed you submitted the documents?  How many days in total from the time you filed the claim?

As I mentioned upthread my claim was filed on 5/4.  I didn't receive an email with the claim docs until 5/15 and I took care of it right away.  The site is showing that claim docs were last received on 5/16.  So I just want to know if I'm going to need to wait 3 weeks from then to get this thing approved which would make it about 5 weeks in total from when I submitted the claim. It's annoying because I just want the credit to post before my next payment is due which is going to cut it close but I'll wait and see what happens.

Yes, 5/16 was 21 days from the date that I submitted the documents. I had filed that claim on 3/16, and (part of) the reason why it took two months total to get approved was because they wrote back asking for additional evidence. Here's the timeline:

3/16 - filed claim
3/18 - received confirmation e-mail
3/25 - received PDF claims docs incl. request for "no-returns screenshot" from Amazon account
4/19 - received PDF letter asking for additional evidence (which was just a blank bulletpoint)
4/24 - received another e-mail w/ exact same defective PDF letter as on 4/19
4/25 - submitted photos (I assumed they had meant to ask for photos in their blank line)
5/16 - reimbursement posted to account
5/21 - received PDF approval letter

So that was two months total from filing claim to receiving letter, including the original 9-day delay from the day I filed the claim until they sent me the claims docs, and a six-day delay in me sending in photos after they sent me the defective follow-up letter asking for additional evidence but not specifying what evidence they wanted.

I also had a more recent claim approved the same week:

4/26 - filed claim
4/27 - received confirmation e-mail
4/29 - received PDF claims docs incl. request for photos & tracking info
5/21 - claim approved

Both claims were approved about 21 days after I submitted the most recent batch of evidence requested, and the most recent claim may have gone faster since they asked for the whole lot of evidence from the get-go instead of waiting a month and saying, "we'd like photos, too". But the point is that it seems like the final countdown to approval starts once they've received the last bit of evidence that they request from you. Hopefully you'll get lucky and it'll go even faster for you, though, and it does seem that they're slowly-but-surely catching up (they were taking a full 30 days at one point, then down to about 25, and now it looks like they're getting things done in 20-21 days).

[FlyingBoat]

Appeal with those screenshots showing company’s retail spaces being in USA. You should be good.

Yup, that is what I did and was approved within a couple of days.

[joe1234]

I bought a few pieces of clothing in one purchase from a local Lakewood store. I see on the receipt that $8 store credit which I had on my account was used for this purchase, and it shows as a gift card was used. I'm keeping one of the items which costs more than the $8. Will I still be eligible? I just tried to file, and they are now asking for me to fill out the form and include a picture of the receipt....

I got approved.
 I would imagine that had I applied for all the items on the receipt, then I would have been denied. Since I left out 1 item, the asking amount was less then what was used on the credit card. The uploaded picture of the receipt clearly shows that $8 was used with a gift card, but could be this was overlooked or that was accounted for that last item...

[aryeh1]

Has been about a week so far, seems claims taking longer lately

[tzee23]

And they can ask back the item also? Or since they are only paying partial amount the item has to stay with me?

Do they ever still ask for this ?

I've personally never had it happen.

Also wondering in the terms, even back when they used to apparently. People said they would ask for the item back. Which is what I figured they could do because you're wanting to return it. So if the original seller doesn't take it anymore. Amex could credit/pay if eligible up to 300 within 90 days, and ask for the item returned to them. Makes sense. Return protection.

However. In the terms from the current ones and all previous ones. It does technically say
"you may be instructed to send the item to us within 30 days for further evaluation"

To me that sounds ambiguous no? "further evaluation", I guess I thought maybe that means they would evaluate it, but on second hand, it does seem like it just says to send the item to them, and nothing specifically about keeping it.

Anyways. Is there perhaps a note or recorded time in this thread for when they stopped asking for items back if so?
it's still in the terms, but someone said they haven't asked it for years.

For those they think might be committing fraud, and or for amex's more stringent checks, I have seen now that they can ask for much more proof, pictures, tracking, video calls, and even G4s investigators to come apparently.

But do they ever ask anymore to send it back? I'm curious when the last instance of that was in this thread. Or if anyone has any experience.

[eternity88a]

What is new returns screenshot on amazon mean? Doesn't the reciept shows if you returned item or not?

[jl75]

What is new returns screenshot on amazon mean? Doesn't the reciept shows if you returned item or not?

The answer to your second question is "yes", but that's irrelevant (unless you're going to write them a letter of explanation) because they're asking for something specific, so you should probably send them what they're asking for. Regarding your first question, it's been multiple people's experience here that a "no returns screenshot" means that you go to your "Your Orders" page and you take a screenshot of the order for that item directly from that page (i.e., not from the "Invoice" or "Order Details" pages). I guess the rationale is that if you had returned the item or received any type of refund for it, then the amount under "TOTAL" (listed above the name of the item that you purchased, and to the right of the words "ORDER PLACED") would reflect that refund, or would simply state "$0.00" if you had received a full refund. Anyhow, that's worked for me multiple times, so it should hopefully work for you.

[iluv2travel]

Yes, 5/16 was 21 days from the date that I submitted the documents. ....

I also had a more recent claim approved the same week:

4/26 - filed claim
4/27 - received confirmation e-mail
4/29 - received PDF claims docs incl. request for photos & tracking info
5/21 - claim approved

Both claims were approved about 21 days after I submitted the most recent batch of evidence requested, and the most recent claim may have gone faster since they asked for the whole lot of evidence from the get-go instead of waiting a month and saying, "we'd like photos, too". But the point is that it seems like the final countdown to approval starts once they've received the last bit of evidence that they request from you. Hopefully you'll get lucky and it'll go even faster for you, though, and it does seem that they're slowly-but-surely catching up (they were taking a full 30 days at one point, then down to about 25, and now it looks like they're getting things done in 20-21 days).

My 5/4 claim was finally approved yesterday so for me the timeline definitely was not reduced. 37 days from when I opened the claim until approved/25 days after claim docs were submitted.

[shapsam]

Do they cover bicycles?

[6girls]

Do they cover bicycles?

Yes. Why not?

[shapsam]

Yes. Why not?

Just making sure as I remembered some random exclusions

[bmw]

My 5/4 claim was finally approved yesterday so for me the timeline definitely was not reduced. 37 days from when I opened the claim until approved/25 days after claim docs were submitted.

my claims getting same day auto approval

[iluv2travel]

my claims getting same day auto approval

How many claims? What amount per claim?

[bmw]

How many claims? What amount per claim?

120 - 150  quite a few

[aryeh1]

I filled a claim in May and just received "We are in the process of reviewing your claim".

Is this typical?