TonyHancock
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2010
- Posts
- 5,673
- Qantas
- LT Gold
- Oneworld
- Emerald
Well that was thirty minutes of my life I won't get back.
Five days ago I called up Amex and requested a new chip and pin Amex Plat Charge Card. It was a painless exercise, and very clear that this was becoming a common request from those traveling overseas, particularly Europe. I had chosen this week to make the request because I had a two week window of opportunity between overseas jaunts.
The shiny new card, complete with chip, arrived within five days. I was impressed.......but then it all started to fall apart.
I decided to pursue the activation process online and it was going well my card was activated quickly.........but there had been no opportunity to create a PIN. I called the activation number and went through the process with the automated system. My card was already activated apparently, and no opportunity was given to create a PIN. Not overly surprising since I had received that message online.
OK time to call the customer service number. (Which from experience is usually answered pretty quickly and the call centre does not appear to be in Manila.
) Customer Service rep number one quickly identified that I needed to go through to card activation and lost no time putting me through to the process I had just been through. 
After four minutes I was with customer service rep number two, he stayed on the line and took me to the activation line again and entered the information himself. The result, exactly the same as before, he found a touch confusing and placed me on hold. That popped me back into the system again and I got to speak to customer service rep number three. I had just got through explaining everything again when customer service rep two came back.
Apparently the new chip and pin card had been set up for permanent signature only and this could not be reversed. So I now had a new card with a new number with exactly the same capability as my previous card. :evil: What joy.
I politely requested the opportunity to speak to someone a little more senior, whilst thanking the rep for the help he had given. I have to say the reps were very professional and as helpful as they could be.
The team leader introduced himself and was already well briefed. He explained that it had been a mistake at the Amex end and they would get a new card to me in six days. (This included the weekend of course, so four working days) MMMMM I thought, so Amex cough up and then rectify the mistake in the same standard time they had originally delivered the card.....and I get to pay $900 a year for this service.
I expressed my surprise at the timescale, making it quite clear that my timescale was somewhat different. My expectation related to what hour the card would be delivered within four days, including the weekend. To be fair the team leader handled it all very well. He obviously could not commit until the peeps he need to speak to were in on Monday and was absolutely honest about this.
It seemed like a good opportunity to express my dissatisfaction with the changes to rounding down points, insurance downgrades and the complete worthlessness of Priority Pass in Australia. He took note of this and agreed to pursue this further with his superior.
If you do need to get an Amex card with a chip and PIN my advice is to make it very clear you want the ability to us the PIN. Once you have done this reiterate it....and then again!
This process has been a pain for me. Fortunately my old card will be honoured on direct debits for 30 days. In the meantime I now have to use my new card for hotel and flight bookings that I need to make on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday I will have the third Amex card number in less than a week.
I expect better for $900 a year and have expressed that politely to Amex. :-| Sadly I think the Amex Plat Charge Card will be disappearing from my wallet shortly.
Five days ago I called up Amex and requested a new chip and pin Amex Plat Charge Card. It was a painless exercise, and very clear that this was becoming a common request from those traveling overseas, particularly Europe. I had chosen this week to make the request because I had a two week window of opportunity between overseas jaunts.
The shiny new card, complete with chip, arrived within five days. I was impressed.......but then it all started to fall apart.
I decided to pursue the activation process online and it was going well my card was activated quickly.........but there had been no opportunity to create a PIN. I called the activation number and went through the process with the automated system. My card was already activated apparently, and no opportunity was given to create a PIN. Not overly surprising since I had received that message online.
OK time to call the customer service number. (Which from experience is usually answered pretty quickly and the call centre does not appear to be in Manila.
) Customer Service rep number one quickly identified that I needed to go through to card activation and lost no time putting me through to the process I had just been through. After four minutes I was with customer service rep number two, he stayed on the line and took me to the activation line again and entered the information himself. The result, exactly the same as before, he found a touch confusing and placed me on hold. That popped me back into the system again and I got to speak to customer service rep number three. I had just got through explaining everything again when customer service rep two came back.
Apparently the new chip and pin card had been set up for permanent signature only and this could not be reversed. So I now had a new card with a new number with exactly the same capability as my previous card. :evil: What joy.
I politely requested the opportunity to speak to someone a little more senior, whilst thanking the rep for the help he had given. I have to say the reps were very professional and as helpful as they could be.
The team leader introduced himself and was already well briefed. He explained that it had been a mistake at the Amex end and they would get a new card to me in six days. (This included the weekend of course, so four working days) MMMMM I thought, so Amex cough up and then rectify the mistake in the same standard time they had originally delivered the card.....and I get to pay $900 a year for this service.
I expressed my surprise at the timescale, making it quite clear that my timescale was somewhat different. My expectation related to what hour the card would be delivered within four days, including the weekend. To be fair the team leader handled it all very well. He obviously could not commit until the peeps he need to speak to were in on Monday and was absolutely honest about this.
It seemed like a good opportunity to express my dissatisfaction with the changes to rounding down points, insurance downgrades and the complete worthlessness of Priority Pass in Australia. He took note of this and agreed to pursue this further with his superior.
If you do need to get an Amex card with a chip and PIN my advice is to make it very clear you want the ability to us the PIN. Once you have done this reiterate it....and then again!
This process has been a pain for me. Fortunately my old card will be honoured on direct debits for 30 days. In the meantime I now have to use my new card for hotel and flight bookings that I need to make on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday I will have the third Amex card number in less than a week.
I expect better for $900 a year and have expressed that politely to Amex. :-| Sadly I think the Amex Plat Charge Card will be disappearing from my wallet shortly.
