Everyone was talking about American Express’ Buyer’s Assurance program last week, and how AMEX will actually credit your card the $200 price difference as long as the full purchase was on said card. This is 100% not the case. Some people might have slipped through the cracks the very first day, but all CSR reps are aware of the iPhone debacle and 9 times out of 10 they will refer you to a special Apple Customer Service number. To be clear — you will NOT get a credit with AMEX — their Buyer’s Assurance program stopped almost a year ago, and it makes no difference what sort of card you have. Again, to sum this up…a Platinum personal American Express will not get you your $200 back. A Platinum Business American Express will not get you your $200 back. A Centurion personal American Express will not get you your money back. A Centurion Business American Express will not get you your $200 back (yeah, we bothered the crap out of AMEX and tried all those cards). Visa and MasterCard might have different programs but at this time, we all need to take a deep breath, and just chill. It’s $200, which isn’t a small amount but, if you couldn’t afford the darn thing in the first place, you shouldn’t have bought it. We could make this argument for almost any sort of product, and as El Jobso said before he crumbled under the endless whining and bitching, “tough s***.”
UPDATE: We reached out to American Express to try and get an official statement on what’s going with the iPhone, and how they are dealing with it. Previously, we had called in and got transfered to Apple’s customer service line all 6 times. A company spokesperson told us, that while American Express does not have a price matching program (their Best Price Value Guarantee program stopped last year), they do offer a number of buyer protection programs like Return Protection, and Purchase protection. Return Protection won’t help much with the iPhone since it is for items $300 or less. The interesting part, is that we were told, “while the iPhone does not fit within those programs, Cardmembers concerned about their iPhone purchases should call in, file a claim, and American Express will be reviewing these claims on a case-by-case basis.” There is no special number to call to file a claim, just call the number on the back of your card. We were also told that “most” American Express cards are eligible, although we didn’t get into the specific cards. There you have it, guys! American Express, we love you!
