Amex canceling Secure Messaging

[09Lexie]

I logged on to send a message this morning and was greeted with this :

In order to better serve you, we now offer Live Chat with a Customer Care Professional as an alternative to Email. If you send us an email between now and August 30, it may take up to 72 hours for you to receive a reply. After August 30, the option to Email Us will no longer be offered.

Just a heads up.

[myjourney]

Thanks for the heads up ...Interesting indeed

[ibmrad7]

It's better I guess. I used to miss Live Chat on AMEX. They are little late to the party...

[longtimelurker]

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@09Lexie wrote:
I logged on to send a message this morning and was greeted with this :

In order to better serve you, we now offer Live Chat with a Customer Care Professional as an alternative to Email. If you send us an email between now and August 30, it may take up to 72 hours for you to receive a reply. After August 30, the option to Email Us will no longer be offered.

Just a heads up.

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Interesting!   I don't think Chat is a great substitute.  I use secure email where maybe I don't have time to talk (either via chat or on the phone), for stuff that isn't time critical.  Not sure of the rationale, my employer encourages customers to use chat as it is cheaper than handling phone calls (a CSR can multi-task between 5 chats, whereas a customer on the phone might complain about a CSR switching between 5 calls!), but email, with no real-time requirement, is the cheapest.

[thom02099]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@09Lexie wrote:
I logged on to send a message this morning and was greeted with this :

In order to better serve you (Hey AMEX...isn't this an oxymoron??) , we now offer Live Chat with a Customer Care Professional as an alternative to Email. If you send us an email between now and August 30, it may take up to 72 hours for you to receive a reply. After August 30, the option to Email Us will no longer be offered.

Just a heads up.

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Interesting!   I don't think Chat is a great substitute.  I use secure email where maybe I don't have time to talk (either via chat or on the phone), for stuff that isn't time critical.  Not sure of the rationale, my employer encourages customers to use chat as it is cheaper than handling phone calls (a CSR can multi-task between 5 chats, whereas a customer on the phone might complain about a CSR switching between 5 calls!), but email, with no real-time requirement, is the cheapest.

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PLUS 1 ! ! !

On another forum, it was (correctly) pointed out that, with losing email capability, one loses the documentation in writing of a query and response.  It was also pointed out that, when AMEX CSR was confronted by this, their response was that "you can print the chat transcript".  All well and good if you're near a printer.  Not so good if you're using a mobile app at 35,000 feet in a flight across the USofA!! They also admitted that there was no other means to save a chat session provided by them, but that one could "cut and paste" the chat into a word processing document.

Tell me again about AMEX's vaunted customer service????

[scenery_guy]

Meh. I'll call. If it's important I will ask if the line is being recorded. If it's very important I will put it in writing and mail certified with return receipt (RRR or RRE). For almost everything chat is fine. They can multitask and so can I, same with a call as I put them on the Polycon speakerphone and keep doing other stuff. 

[thecentury303]

Thx for the head sup !!

But IMHO, AMEX secure message is nearly useless nowsday. Especially if they start to offer a live chat.

[thom02099]

I just went in to my AMEX on line account, and I'm not getting any prompts or information about live chat. There's still the option to send secure email available.  Is this card specific, perhaps?  Not seeing it with my Gold/Zync/Clear combo. 

EDIT:  Nevermind!  Found it!  Have to open the secure messaging window and click on "ask a question" to get the prompt.  I was looking for something on the home page for chat!

[lhcole77]

Thanks for the heads up!

I'm totally diggin' the live chat though.

[ibmrad7]

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@lhcole77 wrote:

Thanks for the heads up!

I'm totally diggin' the live chat though.

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+ 1