SALT LAKE CITY — “I spent a lot of time trying to resolve this problem,” said James Pearl, who ordered $ 1,000 worth of gift cards online that never showed up. The packaging didn’t vanish though, just the cards.

“FedEx said when the package arrived to them, the weight was not correct. And they opened it up … there are no cards in the package.”

No cards: zip, zero, zilch, nada. Pearl said they were bought directly from American Express, as Christmas gifts for his kids.

“It was real money to us. I couldn’t have another $1,000 to give them,” he said.

Pearl said anytime he calls American Express, he is put on hold for at least a half hour but often longer only to get passed from department to department and supervisor to supervisor.

“They are not responsive and won’t do anything and keep making promises they never fulfill.”

He wondered if it is a tactic to stall out consumers to the point where they give up on fixing their issues.

“They stonewall everything you do.”

Not wanting to give up, Pearl contacted the KSL Investigators.

So, we contacted a different department in American Express, their communications team, to ask what happened with the gift cards. We also asked about his concern that the long hold times and getting passed around is a strategy to fob off consumers too exhausted to pursue resolutions.

We didn’t get an answer to the second question, but in a statement, we were told this:

While our policy and privacy restrictions prevent us from commenting on individual customer situations, we can share that we were able to get touch with the Pearls to resolve their case.

And indeed, Pearl was finally refunded for those missing gift cards.

“I have never been treated this way before,” he said.

If you ordered something that didn’t arrive, even if the company won’t refund your money, dispute the charges. Federal law says you are not legally obligated to pay for it.