AMEX merchant account weirdness.

April 8, 2013 9:44 PM

After reviewing my bank account activity for the last few days, I noticed a sizable withdrawal that appears to be from AMEX. I'm hoping someone could help me figure out what's going on.

Currently, I do have 2-3 AMEX transactions per month, but when the transaction is deposited, the transaction fee is deducted from the account. This is what typically happens each month.

The transaction in question (well over $400; much, much more than any transaction fee should be) appears in my online banking interface (Bank Of America) as follows:

AMERICAN EXPRESS DES:AXP DISCNT ID:*redacted*
INDN:*companyname**redacted* CO ID:*redacted* CCD

I'm trying to figure out what this could possibly represent. It appears to be a non-scammy transaction (redacted info matches previous deposits, etc). I'll be calling them tomorrow, but I am hoping to have some insight on this first.

posted by chrisfromthelc to Work & Money (4 answers total)

Might it be a chargeback?
posted by Dansaman at 10:35 PM on April 8, 2013

If it's the same amt and same info as a past transaction I'd guess it's a chargeback.
posted by oneear at 11:05 PM on April 8, 2013

You have to defend the charge now. Do you have documentation of the original transaction, anything including a signed receipt from the customer? Because you'll have to submit all evidence supporting the legitimacy of the original transaction to get your money back.
posted by jbenben at 12:48 AM on April 9, 2013 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: It's not a chargeback (nowhere close to the amounts that would normally get run through there, anyhow).

Apparently, the rep I spoke to said that they recently changed the way they handle transaction fees (batching them until the end of the month vs. deducting from the original deposit, even though that's what my statements show). Something still doesn't line up quite right, so it's being escalated.
posted by chrisfromthelc at 11:19 AM on April 9, 2013