American Express Card Forum 

 

We'd like to know what YOU think about American Express Cards. Please leave your comments in this public discussion, feedback, free speech area, so we can share your thoughts with other American Express card users or prospective users. Amex themselves do not provide this service, and wished to stop us doing so. To see why, click  Amex why.

We believe there should be the freedom to say what our experiences are, as long as they are true and non abusive, so please, keep it clean and keep it honest.

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Most recent posts are at the bottom of the page; as we post in batches the dates may not be 100% accurate.

Click to access The pre 2008 American Express Card Archive   -  Newer posts are at the bottom of the page.


 

 

Date:   23/01/2008

 

I have been a member for 24 years and never had a problem.
 


 

Date: 23/01/2008

 

I recently looked at my American Express bill online and noticed that AMEX was charging outrageous late fees and additional charges. Some charges were the same day!! I contacted AMEX and explained that on a $5,000 credit limit - over $1,200 came from fees. I was extremely upset and asked if I could do anything. I was told that I should have "done a better job looking at" my bill. I work 2 jobs and go to school - all my billing is done online. I never received a phone call regarding my account.

What I am most upset about is that I have *NEVER* missed a payment. My mistake was that it was delivered on the wrong date. I have pleaded and pleaded with AMEX to please waive some of the fees in November and December of 2007 the fees were over $500. I haven't used my AMEX card in months.

I'm looking at having to take out a personal loan now because of this mess. The interest rate is 30%!! No one will work with me at AMEX to help alleviate the situation. I could understand if I were skipping payments or not making full payments, but this is clearly a case of ensuring that payments are received on the correct day. An HONEST error!!
 


 

Date: 23/01/2008

 

I have worked for amex and have their card and I can tell you now that they suck. You go to pay the bill online to pay it off after knowing you have made charges on the card. Not only does it over 24 hours and sometimes days to show up as an outstanding balance on the online statement but where is says balance or payment due it says $0 and is meant to trick people to thinking they don't have anything to pay. tsk tsk.
 



Date: 23/01/2008

 

I'm 19, and have had credit cards for the past 13 months. I started out with $2,500 in collective credit, and in the past year I have almost $10,000 in credit and a car lease. I've never missed a payment and have charged somewhere in the low five digits on the lives of the credit limits.

Now, I finally have my AMEX Gold Card. Here's the funny thing. I'm freshman in college with just $3,500/mo in parental support, and I can manage an AMEX Card without bitching and moaning.

Pay it off, don't overspend based on your income, and get over yourselves!

Half this site is lies, and the other half is bitter complaining from people whose credit score is lower than their IQ.

Shut up and deal with a Visa.

 


Date: 08/02/2008

 

They suck, We did a balance transfer at a low rate and in 3 months they jacked the interest rate up, when we asked about it they something about reading the fine print. That is BS they knew what they where doing.
 


Date: 08/02/2008

 

 

I had an 8,000 dollar AMEX Delta Gold card sent to me in 2004-2005. I used it fairly often and kept a balance of around 1500-3000 dollars with regular payments made slightly above minimum. I do work overseas so occasionally I would miss a payment and double up the next month. But I would also occasionally make a much larger payment to reduce my overall debt.
This seemed to be agreeable because between Jan 2005 and May 2006 AMEX raised my limit four times without my request, eventually reaching 32,000.
What luck I thought!!!...when chances to invest in a project and then buy a house came along I used it to help cover expenses based upon being able to afford the minimum payment at around 12-15% interest. In late 2006, AMEX raised their minimum payments significantly, which made it just a bit harder to pay but not impossible. I still occasionally missed a payment but was not a huge abuser. In May 2007, I made a 4000 dollar payment all at once to reduce my debt. I then missed my June payment because of travel (not an excuse just what was going on). Around then, AMEX kicked in a punitive 28% rate on me...and then, with the dollar exchange rate dropping in Europe I found myself unable to always eat, pay for my house in the UK and pay that damn bill! A few months passed, they were still getting paid but I was late a bit more so they canceled my account with the reason that they "could not verify my account or contact me." This was a lie as they previously had called me at home here in the UK and they even had my email address...no sign they ever tried to contact. In November 2007 they sent my account to an independent collection agency while still sending me bills--only complicating the issue as the collection company implied I could only pay them. I made arrangements--they took almost three weeks to forward each payment to AMEX making me even more late (min payment 900 earning 28%). I am now within 600 of being caught up so a payment this month for 1500 (directly to AMEX) should get me there. Here's my advice: 1. Stay away from ALL credit cards (use debit), they are EVIL 2. If you must have them, stay away from AMEX! 3. If you have AMEX, don't accept the credit increases, they are a trap 4. If you get into trouble with AMEX try and talk to them and don't EVER send your money to an outside collection agency 5. Thought for the day: during Medieval times they allowed torture, slavery, and religious intolerance...but at least THEY would never allow a banker to loan money at 28 PERCENT!


Date: 09/04/2008

American Express sucks! I tried to be very calm when dealing with American Express, but they simply drive me crazy. I applied for American Express Corporate card and it took 3 months and 3 credit cards for them to get it right what was worst... I was an former American Express employee, and they can not even deliver the card correctly to the American Express Headquarter. Now that I am at a new company, I applied for American Express Corporate Card and again, they did not get it right. When will they get it right?


Date:  09/04/2008

What nonsense...I've been an AMEX member for 26 years. Sure I've had the occasional problem with a vendor, but AMEX promptly took care of it. This garbage of AMEX supposedly suspending your account because the payment was not received by the due date is a partial truth. If you demonstrate in increasing pattern of late pays AMEX will ultimately terminate your ass.


Date: 09/04/2008

 

My brother and I are internet marketers our company is RoMac Marketing Group working with The Rainmakers) and spend frequently on advertising for our website, to spread the word about our amazing product My Internet Business (shameless plug I know :-)), and we used to use American Express for a lot of our transactions. We paid our bills on time and usually paid just under the entire amount due each month. Well they cancelled our card because of our perfect credit history with no warning! I guess doing the right thing and making enough money to pay all your bills is something American Express feels they should punish you for! NEVER again will we use their services, especially for business purposes!!


Date: 09/04/2008

 

This is a copy of letter I sent to American express recently.

"I do not know who you are but you must be some one important at Amrerican Express. If you are not, forward this to some one who is. I am a customer of American express for last 25 years. First I had a regular card, then a gold and now a Platinum. I have always paid my bills on time. I have a credit score above most people.

I am about to cancel my card. I recently tried to make a purchase from apple computer, to be delivered to my office address (that I have had for last 13 years). Card got declined for "security reasons". Since that time I have made FOUR phone calls. Last time I was on phone for 31 minutes. I got some Chinese person who kept saying "I understand your problem (which they did not) and I am sorry you had a problem (which they were not)". I have no problem with the Chinese and I think they are great people, but they had no ability to make any type of decision as they appeared to be some low level call center people. I still have not been able to resolve the problem even though I assured them that I did order the product from Apple. I asked to talk to a supervisor and sent an e mail to that effect. So far no response.

Let me help you understand what this means in real business terms. I have ordered several computers from Dell. The apple was going to be part of the net work. I am a busy physician with staff of six. I had to change my installation schedule because of incompetence of Amreican Express people who still have not resolved my problem. Tomorow I will use my Visa or Discover to get this thing taken care of. I cannot cancel my American Express as I have important trips in April and may (Hyatt Regency Chicago booking can be viewed on my account along with American Airlines tickets for April 18, Holiday Inn Boston two suites May 18 for my daughter's graduation), but rest assure that I will not be a sucker and pay for this expensive card for less than average service after that. Hence forth I will never use my card unless it is for incidental expenses.

I wish I can pass this to the Chairman of your company, but not having their E mail, I thought I would write to you. I will bring up this matter on any blogs, discussion boards etc. to educate people about the potential misfortune of having a Platinum card from your company. I am angry and helpless but I can help others from not being in my predicament.

So far the Chinese phone operators have not been able to get me any one who can give me a straight answer."


Date: 09/04/2008

They stiffed me by sending a balance xfer offer at 4.99 percent for life of balance. I signed up. The first statement shows up charging 14.99%. I call and I am told you missed the deadline for transfer by 2 days. In protest I questioned why the transfer was effected at this higher rate without any contact or consent from me. I get the "oh well we can't do anything about it, but offer 9% cards if you like. I did better and transferred it right the hell out of their greedy lil hands. They could have made a nice profit if they were reasonable. Since they were not I had the option to take it away and did. All this after they have been pestering me to re-open an account after leaving them for over six years. They remind me of Bank of America another den of thieves.


Date: 09/04/2008

They lowered my credit to 500.00 because of an error on my credit report, which has since been corrected now amex refuses to restore my credit to its prior useable level unless I pay for a FICO report and send it to them

I've never missed a payment or been late and pay my balance in full every month
Being treated like trash and I don't like it

Customer service tells me something different every time I speak to them


Date: 09/04/2008

I had an Amex card for over 5 years. I started out with a green card, got updated to a gold card, and was offered platinum but declined because I saw no benefit and didn't want to pay the increased annual fee.

I used it often, had things like my EZPass linked to it, etc. I paid it in full every month like you are supposed to. One day, I went to use it at a store I regularly shop at. It came up declined. They tried it 2x. I assumed it was some problem with their credit system so I paid cash I thought nothing of it, until I tried to use the card again a few days later someplace else and the same thing happened.

So, I called Amex when I got home. They told me they did a "review" and closed my account because I had a delinquency on my credit report (not with them). This delinquency was due to a mistake by another company. They never called me or anything, just shut the card off.

I had paperwork to prove it was a mistake and have even been able to get it expunged from my credit report. I could have gotten my Amex account reinstated but decided it wasn't worth it. I refuse to be embarrassed like that again at a store where I shop regularly. They can go screw.


Date: 09/04/2008

"I'm freshman in college with just $3,500/mo in parental support, and I can manage an AMEX Card without bitching and moaning."

Anyone who lives off the tit of mommy and daddy has no credibility to talk about the finances of others.


Date: 09/04/2008

I use to like AMEX, seriously; I had no trouble with them for 7 years. Suddenly my card was canceled due to a credit snafu from ANOTHER lender (it was the lender's mistake mind you and I got it corrected). Without notice, they cut off my card, told me to repay in full right away or else they would report me to the credit agency's. So I paid off all my debt to AMEX; gathered evidence of my corrected credit and called back for reinstatement. They told me I had to make a new card; No one told me that I had 30 days to spend my points or else I would lose them (I had to discover that on my own). Needless to say; I don't have any rewards points; and I don't have an AMEX now. All I have to say now is, thank god; I'll use Citibank as an alternative -__-.


Date: 09/04/2008

right now, I'm in a dispute. like most of you have been concerning amer express. the guy told me that they can go after my assets (house, car etc.) to reclaim the 3000.00 owed. is this possible??. yes, i did get behind, but they don't want to hear it, pay us total or we will make you pay. i offered 4 installments and they said nope. any help here.?


Date: 18/06/2008

American Express gold I went in to a store to use the card I was told that I could not use the card till I paid my Bill I stated that I paid my last bill They said yes but if I want to use the card I had to pay my bill that they had not sent out yet. I stated that I paid my bill I was told that they have not sent out a bill yet. Send me the bill and I will pay it after 45 min I cancled the card I am just to dum to understand them I will not pay a bill I have not received Never again this card is notfor me My email add is nccr004ATaol.com I would like to know is it just me


Date: 18/06/2008

If my 'circumstances' change, Mr Robert Garinger?
I'll always be black, so I guess I'm screwed!

Thanks for nothing!
John L Hardwick


Date: 18/06/2008

american express owes me 75,000.00 because the routing number to my bank was changed by someone and i have not recieved any payments they say they are responsible for only 90 days  however someone else has got my money  fact is they screw everyone not just the buyer   I hope millions of people read this and if anyone else has  processing problems  with them please lets start a class action suit otherwise american express will continue screwing the people  bastien,s restaurant 3503 east colfax ave, denver co 80206
 


Date: 18/06/2008

i have a bus.no doc unsecured account with amex,so six months later they demand documents from me,i said no so three months later in the middle of march 2008 they gave my account to a collection agency and my payment wasnt due until march 30th and i wasnt behind on my account. also todat june 1st amex collections called me at 8;50am i thought on a sunday the hours of call is 10am to 4pm.
so if i get a lawyer do i have a good case
   


Date: 18/06/2008

Have had a green card, blue card, and business card for about three years. Never paid late. In fact, I usually Pay in full on each card every month. EXCEPT; I just recently brought a house, therefore my credit score dropped about 30 points. I also used about $4250 out of my $10,000 limit blue card in order topay for some maintenance on the new house. I fully planned on running a balance and paying large amounts each month on the $4250 balance. But, while online, as I was getting ready to make my first payment on the $4250, I noticed that AMEX had reduced my credit limit from $10,000 to $4,000. They did this without even telling me. Thank God I noticed before I was embarrassed at a store. What's worse is that they caused additional havoc to my credit score because they reported my $4250 balance with their new $4000 credit limit to the bureaus. So that I look like I spent over my limit. That should be illegal! I paid $1000 immediately, but that won't even post to the credit reports until next month.


Date: 18/06/2008

American Express sucks.
ALWAYS payed my bill ONTIME, ALWAYS more then minimum due, they just cut you off the flexible plan however they feel like it. I payt off my card completly 0 balance, and as soon as I did, on the closing date, they tagged on their outragous member ship fee. They way they handle credit reporting sucks also.
They report your closing date balance. For me closing date is the 4th of each month, but they dont report until the 29th, when the bill is due.
Which would be ok, if they reported the current balance AFTER you payt your bill. The reporting is NEVER accurate that way.
Unfortunatly I can not close my account with them yet, as I dont have to long history, but I will as soon as I can. They truly SUCK


Date: 18/06/2008

Here is my American Express horror story. I started out after I got divorced three years ago with a "blue" card. Having been married 20 years and letting my husband do all the finances you can guess that I quickly racked up debt on this card. When I was aware that it was just too much debt and could not make the min. payments I went to Consumer Credit Counseling Agency of Central Alabama (which is through United Way). I worked out a deal to have my bank account drafted monthly for a settlement in order to repay my debt. It should be known that I have never tried to get out of this debt. I made it and I will pay it. Of course I closed my account but here comes the fun part. After AMEX agreed to the deduction from my checking account to the CCS of AL and then on to AMEX, they sent me a letter from NCO collection services. They said I had not made a payment in two months even though my bank account had been drafted. Working with NCO (believe it or not they were helpful) I found out that CCCS of AL sent my payment to the wrong place. NCO called and worked everything out to fix the situation. So I think I am good to go right? Well not so...I just got a call this week from an attorney's office on behalf of AMEX about my unpaid bill. In the meantime they have tacked on so many charges and interest that even a $400.00 payment would go all towards interest and fees and nothing towards the principle. Now they want me to come up with half the money I owe or a least $1500.00 to put me back on a payment plan that is a higher payment than before!!!! Even though they have gotten my money! What is up with that??? Every time I am assured this is all taken care of, it escalates even more. Now the attorney's office is threatening me with garnishment even though I am paying. I finally had to tell them to bring it on! No judge will garnish me for making the payments that I (and AMEX) had agreed to. I have found NO ONE that has anything good to say about AMEX and I am another one! I tell people to never, never get an AMEX card!!! They will not work with you!
 


Date: 18/06/2008

I have 2 Amex cards -- one we did not use, but used for a company expense and are simply paying off.

Recently I stayed at a hotel and used the Amex card. Several weeks later the hotel called to tell me my card had been declined. So I called Amex to find out why. They said it had NOT been declined (six weeks ago) and said the hotel should run it through again . . .

BUT before they would approve the charge (that they had ALREADY approved 6 weeks ago) trhey wanted me to pay the $980.00 current balance on my card because they think the balance due on the other Amex card (that we don't use) is too high.

ME: What's my credit limit?
THEM: You don't have a credit limit.
ME: But I can't use my card now, correct?
THEM: Correct.
ME: And you won't approve a charge you ALREADY approved until I make a payment that is not due for nearly a month? Correct?
THEM: Correct.
ME: I've had an American Express cards for 35 years. Why don't you want me to use it?
THEM: Or we DO want you to use it.
ME: You're kidding.

I don't want to have a bunch of credit cards and only use this one, but they seem bound and determined to make it impossible.

AND THEN I saw online that the minimum monthly payment on the other card (A Delta Skymiles card) had gone up by a third. So I called to find out why.

THEM: You interest rate was increased.
ME: To what?
THEM: I don't know.
ME: You don't KNOW? Why? I always pay this card on time and don't even USE it. Why?
THEM: I don't know. But I can find out.
ME: Please do.
THEM (eventually) We changed your interest rate back to what it was.
ME: Thank you.

These guys are criminals.
 


Date: 18/06/2008

They keep declining charges to the point that the card is useless. The only reason given is that it is their policy to flag questionable charges. The most recent declines were to Holiday Inn and Garmin International , two highly reputable corporations. They claim they can do nothing except cancel my account. They say security is handled by computers over which they have no control.


Date: 18/06/2008

I have been a loyal customer for 15 years.  Spend over $35,000 per year, but have a balance of $50K among all AMEX cards.  Never missed a payment have a 695 score because AMEX slashed my credit line to just above my balance.  Every time I make a payment they cut my credit.  Told them I need 5 more points on my credit score to buy a house a better rate and to restore a portion of my credit line and they refused.  I JUST CUT UP MY CARDS AND WILL NEVER USE AGAIN.  I blame the loser CEO, but you can't criticize a minority for being a moron, just let them destroy your company. 


Date: 18/06/2008

Take this then ...

Upgrade an AMEX from GOLDEN to PLATINUM, the software will automatically cancel the Golden one if you have no debts and that's all. They didn't re-compensate back the money you already paid at the beginning of the year. In my case I paid in July 2007 130 for Golden Amex ( one year fee), in Jan 2008 I applied for Platinum based on the forms they send me , I never used Golden but only today May 3-rd 2008 and to discover that the payment was refused , I payed by debit card and when I get back home I called them and find out what is wrong with the card. I ask them WHEN and WHO canceled the card .. THEY DID , WHEN they canceled ? .. IN JANUARY, it means that I paid 130 for a year they own back me the amount between Jan and Jul ( around 65$ half of the year). In the phone conversation I get the money with no resistance from AMEX which proves that they recognize their mistake, but my next question was why your software didn't do that automatically ... Hm it is easy because foolish my loss and them win free money. .... ok but how much per year , If a million switch a year they win in average 65 millions, ( I consider that some might do that at the begging of the period some at the end so it is and average).

I do not think this is fair either. .... and the authorities should force them to refund the money back.


Date: 18/06/2008

I had 5 amex cards and cancelled every last one.  AMEX misapplied payments for 3 consecutive months of one of my cards to the wrong account.  When I called to correct the issue by applying the negative balance I had on the account to the only card that I had with a balance - they assured me that it was done.  Low and behold, it wasn't and they dropped all of my limits as I was received as a bad credit risk by their system.  They didn't give a crap that it was THEIR fault.  Done, finished, good night - I am never using their cards again.


Date: 18/06/2008

I want to complain about the rude service I received this morning from Israel Troncoso through your Spanish service on your 24 hour customer service number 1-800-555-4313. I called to activate my card, was asked my name and after his checking of the account, I was asked again my name. He requested my last four social security number digits, which I gave him. He then asked what was the amount of my last payment. I told him that I did not have easily available my checkbook but I have called yesterday and my account had been credited $45 fot its annual fee. He insisted and I told him that it must have been a payment by check and another online but I was actually connected to your website and I would have to open my last statement. As soon as my statement opened and I told him the specific amounts, he then asked which was my last charge. Obviously uncomfortable already, I told him I could give him my birth date, my address or any other information but that I believe he was stretching unreasonably this inquiry. I complied about the last charge question and he then asked my name for a third time. Please tell me if you are going to take any action about this incident. 
 

Mistresses Comment: Just to make this clear - we are not American Express - we are not going to take any action about any incident. We are purely providing a service that we think Amex themselves should provide but don't. i.e. publishing peoples opinions, whether good or bad. You need to take action if you feel agreived.


Date: 18/06/2008

Have had a green card, blue card, and business card for about three years. Never paid late. In fact, I usually Pay in full on each card every month. EXCEPT; I just recently brought a house, therefore my credit score dropped about 30 points. I also used about $4250 out of my $10,000 limit blue card in order topay for some maintenance on the new house. I fully planned on running a balance and paying large amounts each month on the $4250 balance. But, while online, as I was getting ready to make my first payment on the $4250, I noticed that AMEX had reduced my credit limit from $10,000 to $4,000. They did this without even telling me. Thank God I noticed before I was embarassed at a store. What's worese is that they caused additional havoc to my credit score because they reported my $4250 balance with their new $4000 credit limit to the bureaus. So that I look like I spent over my limit. That should be illegal! I paid $1000 immediately, but that won't even post to the credit reports until next month.

AMEX is awful! I will be paying them off asap! And I will never charge more than a pack of gum on their credit cards again.


Date: 18/06/2008

I will not ever do business with American Express again.  About 4 years ago I had to file for Chapter 7 because I over extended myself on my credit cards.  Something I wish I never had done and take full responsibility for.  I called them to rebuild my credit history with them.  Though the agent was polite they were not helpful and would not let me speak to with a supervisor or anyone else higher up in the chain of command.  I applied online and was declined based on that my previous accounts have been closed.  The problem that I have is there is no phone number to call to get additional information from American Express.  To me that is very poor customer service.  I now do business with Citibank and they are much better and payments post without any problems. 


Date: 22/07/2008

i think there is a difference between my personal gold card. eg. great, polite, service, etc, i have easily charged ,10,000+ a month or more, for 30 years, and paid every due date in full, as it was not a revolving account, of course....

and the new "business gold card" which seems so nervous when you spend $100, that they almost pee in their pants, then they start phoning constantly, home, work, cell, asking you to pay way before the balance is due, like 3 weeks before! and act like that its a normal and a reasonable request to pay a balance you ran up the day before off NOW ,and have really rude stupid supervisors, who somehow think that they are dealing with someone who doesnt make 10x or more what they do, and has had a relationship with the other am ex for 30 years. AND POSSIBLE IS A RUNNAWAY CONVICT THEY CAN TURN IN AND COLLECT THE $1000 PRIZE.
this group of service individuals and credit team seem like they are privately working for a collection agency, or trying to find what possibly could be wrong with you. Nancy drew and Rockford, look out. Maybe they really work for another bank, or card, and want you to drop your card?
i cant wait til my years is over (that paid for like a fool) so i can resign the "business gold card" and have my credit report not reflect that they rejected me...I REjECTed THEM
what a disappointment, as these employees could not be trained to be polite for many, many years, and i think many people are decdiding to go elsewhere. its like HELLO?, dont you want any business?
oh and did you ever try the prepaid am ex card? ( its been terminated, due to technical problems,)
our daughter had one for travel in europe and it was beyond funny, calling india, and trying to load more money on the card, as promised, BUT they just couldnt get this concept. i feel so bad, i used to like amex, but FORGET IT. ITS A THING OF THE PAST, JuST ASK MY DAUGHTER , NEWLY GRADUATED, WORKING ON WALL STREET, AND HER FRIENDS. THE AM EX IS EXTRREMELY PASSE.


Date: 22/07/2008

After 29 years as an AmExp gold card member, they declined charges on Dec 16, 2007 while trying to pay for a company luncheon. I had NO other card with me. I called and was placed on hold three times and finally disconnected because no one could figure out why the card was being declined; it showed a past amount due but they could not find the amount. They ended up cancelling my account because I was "behind" 9 days??? All this while I have 95000 points in my account. Due to the cash flow problem this caused right at Christmas, I had a very difficult time catching up...I am now happy to be WITHOUT my AE card and I advise everyone to stay away. My husband also cancelled their company use of the cards and switched to Visa.


Date: 22/07/2008

After 15 years of membership I cancelled them last night.  I received two letters in two weeks stating that my charging privileges were suspended because I WAS USING MY CARD TOO MUCH even though I never missed a payment.  After paying $1000 to re-instate my "privileges" the first time, I thought I was okay.  Then I went to apply for a 6 month same as cash credit line and was declined.  That night I got another letter from AMEX stating that my charging privilege had been suspended AGAIN.  I called up and cancelled.  F*** AMEX.  If I ran my business like they run theirs I wouldn't have any customers left.  Good *-in riddance.
 


Date: 22/07/2008

what are the limitations on the free companion fare?
 


Date: 26/07/2008

I'm from the UK and I'd like to point out that the service we get over here is as bad as what you guys seem to get.  I have had my Amex Blue card for years.  Initially I was given a limit of £8000.  I started a job which entailed flying to Orange County every few weeks and staying there for extended periods of time.  The end client hit financial troubles and as a consequence, so did I.  At one point they owed me £30,000 (about $60,000) and all the while I was incurring expenses left right and centre.  Yes I had missed a few payments, but made more than the minimum a day or two later, while incurring their late payment fee.  I managed to get an invoice paid and paid off £2000 from my Amex card.  On the way back to LAX I had to refill the car and my card was declined.  I was told that they had sent me a letter (to the uk) telling me this.  Also while they had taken the £2000, they had not used it as payment against my minimum owed that month and wanted another £350 there and then.

4 Months after I had stopped working for the US client I eventually got paid in full.  I paid another £2000 off my card and then got another letter saying how they had decided to drop my limit, again to the amount outstanding.

This has happened pretty much each time I have paid off a chunk of my outstanding balance.  This week I got a letter stating that my balance was now set to £1800 and this was because they didn't want customers taking on debt which they couldn't afford.  The fact that I earn £70,000 seems to be beyond them.  To me it is a choice as to when I pay off the card.  If I choose to take longer about it, then Amex still earn more.

I called customer services and was told that this had not happened - it has and after ringing the number of the letter informing me of this I got a recorded message telling me that the offices closed at 5pm - although their own letter states it is open to 8pm.  They are a totally useless company and one I'll be happy not to deal with again.
 


Date: 26/07/2008

I could just copy the last guys note.  Same situation and I know another friend same thing.  I just cancelled my card after 30 years with them
 


Date: 26/07/2008

This site is amazing!  Everyone is saying the same thing.  Same situation as me.  Amex has a major problem on their hands and it is now showing up in their earnings.  The company is in free fall.  Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys


Date: 20/08/2008

Amex sucks donkeys, I just won a law suit against them for cancelling my card and taking my points. I had a total of 340,000 points and they cancelled my card for no reason. my bill was always paid on time and was over 40,000 a month through my business. They cancelled my card and took my points sating that I broke the rules of amex. Though they could give me no further explanation and would let me back as a member with my financials for 4 years. Yeah right and I don't get my points. I sued them in contract court in Ohio and won the total value of my points on the market. Asswipes I have a MC platinum and love it cause I have never heard I don't take that card. And now to hear they are not doing well, I wonder why!!!!!!!!!
 


Date: 20/08/2008

The employees were rather unhappy as all of their personal data was breached at the Towers Perrin incident (see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116829611935870675.html?mod=home_whats_news_us ). All that was offered was a 2-year monitoring and "we're sorry".  Whereas it is touted as SECURE - could not be further from the truth.  There are many good workers but an elite few have caused a brutal mess in the IT arena since Salow left.  Drinking lunches and pizza parties.  Guess who ends up paying for all of that, folks?


Date: 20/08/2008

Amex is aggressively alienating a customer heretofore thought of as a "prime" cardholder.  Apparently, Amex overextended themselves in extending large credit limits and has been scaling back credit lines with a blunt instrument - bashing cardholders, like me, with high incomes, and no late payments on credit reports.  Kenneth I. Chenault is walking the tightrope between reducing overall exposure and damaging his brand beyond repair.  A number of publications, including the Wall Street Journal have begun to report upon this damage.  i for one am a very unhappy customer and will be taking my business elsewhere.
 


Date: 20/08/2008

Never had a problem with AMEX, they were very good to me, but I was one day late with my payment, its the cheap clear blue plastic card, embarrassing even to use it - and they jacked up my interest rate to 27%!!!!  I explained that I was never late, only a couple of times and only by one day, and that I always paid my minimum, and never went above my limit so they lowered my limit so that I was over it, and jacked up my interest.  I told them that if they wanted me to pay my bill, why make it MORE difficult?  I don't understand the logic.  I'm not one of those rich people, this is a charge card and I was glad to get it, but now I have been reduced to an indentured servant.  I am furious and disappointed with them. 
 


Date: 21/08/2008

I only use my AMEX card for Costco purchases because they only accept AMEX for credit card purchases.  I paid my bill through online banking before the due date.  I have never carried over any balance nor have paid late.  The payment was never posted to my account.  I contacted my online banking center and they have been working with me trying to resolve the issue. 

After my bank had faxed over proof of the payment being sent, American Express acknowledged receiving the payment.  But because they don't know where internally my payment was sent they won't credit my account for it.  They have now suspended my account and want me to make another payment to reinstate the account.  They have already lost the original payment and want me to give them more money??

The original payment was made over a month ago and they received the fax documents from my bank over two weeks ago and still cannot track where the payment went!

One department doesn't know what the other departments are doing.  I have requested speaking to a supervisor and am told that someone will return my call.  I am still waiting. 

I am angry with AMEX and also with Costco for making this their 'preferred' provider.  I will be cancelling my AMEX account.  They Suck!


Date: 07/09/2008

Loyal cardmember for years, always pay on time, now they cut my credit by 60%. One one card, they lower it below the current charges, charge overlimit, and demand to pay overage otherwise overlimit fees persist. Loan sharks!!!

Date: 07/09/2008

american express really sucks first they tell me that i dont have spending limit then they just bloked my card and they say that i only have 1300 at that time i already had 2200 balance due not serious company dont have deal with them


Date: 07/09/2008

All i wanted to do was check th-e amount available on my gift card. Their stupid slow website had me going in circles and jumping through hoops. i entered my information accurately and they rejected it. Then they told me my session was expired--due to their slowness!


Date: 07/09/2008

I absolutely agree with all of these comments - AMEX is the WORST card to have - will change your limits without notice - will stop transactions - will bounce credit checks - they only want $$$$$ - they care about nothing else - but if you know that goign in - you will be fine - good luck and beware!


Date: 07/09/2008

Just to let all of you know that AMEX could loose EVERY SINGLE personal card holder and still make money. Its all about the corporate accounts bitches!


Date: 07/09/2008

American Express is one of the worst companies on the planet. Their tactics are criminal and using an AMEX card compares to taking out a loan from a loan shark. They criminally tack on fee's and interest charges without notice and close accounts when the reward points are high so they don't have to honor them. How go they get away with this!!!!


Date: 07/09/2008

Been a AMEX card holder for years. Never a problem, even when a day late on a payment (pay by phone). Best interest rate, and it has never been refused anywhere overseas or in the states. And I am running a 14K balance due to paying off daughter's education. Guess I should knock on wood. Maybe the only difference is that I carry the fraud insurance for the card.


Date: 08/09/2008

American Express is an abusive corporate financial thug. I know as I had an American Express Card from 1971 until 1998. Their discount rate is outrageous!!

Also, their customer service is abusive.

My wife and I are in healthcare and we have a substantial income and have for years. We are not deadbeats.

Recently my wife wrote an Optima check and AMEX dishonored it without telling us in advance in any way. The notice came in a letter that infuriated both of us. I wrote the president of AMEX a very nasty letter telling him what I thought of them in general and how every time I went to the operating room I made it a point to tell every nurse, doctor, technician in the OR what a piece of garbage AMEX is. I will do it to the day I die.

There is no telling how much I have hurt these thugs by spreading doom for them in the medical and dental professions.

Sincerely,

John Harden, D.M.D.
Atlanta, GA


Date: 29/10/2008

I received an Amex card a year ago or so.. Credit limit was 3k...... charged 750.00 on a recent vacation to Australia.... went online to pay statement and my limit was lowered to 500.00. I questioned, and was told Amex does this from time to time, and it was a normal business practice... Paid balance and closed account..... Needless to say they SUCK...... 
 


Date: 29/10/2008

I have to tell what happened to me. I am a American express business card caring member until today.
I have carried this card for about 1 and a half years. I have never used this card until 3 days ago. I got this card which they tell U has no limit which is a joke. I used my American express card and charged about 2800.00 or a little less REMBER 3 days ago. Here it is a nice Sunday afternoon and I am driving home from the families house and my cell phone rings. American express representative calling me wanting a payment over the phone no I am not joking. I could not believe it unreal. I was treated so rude and bad by them I am still in shock . I then return to my home and play my answering machine and there is a very important call from American express I must call them immediately . I have NEVER been treated like this from and company whatsoever.          NEVER AGAIN WILL I DO BUSINESS WITH AMERICAN EXPRESS


Sincerely  
Pat wickliffe Springfield Ohio
 


Date: 29/10/2008

amex gift cards are totally bologna.

okay so i put 100 dollars on one (they already have my money), and a transaction of 75 dollars was declined, but the balance indicated it went through. so suddenly 75 dollars is missing and nobody has it. i called them and they told me the transaction was still pending (even though it was denied) and it takes 7 full days for my money to return to the card. what other credit card company does that? i've never heard of that. i'm never using their cards again. there should be no waiting period on money that i have already paid them (prepaid). am i right?


Date: 29/10/2008

Well I feel like a fool! Thank god I found this site. For years I was a loyal gold card holder- never really had any problem except that they once credit me $1000 for a payment that should have been $200.

Two years ago I started a business and AMEX couldn't have been quicker to give me two blue cards with v nice credit lines. I used the cards a bit, didn't run up any balances and then low and behold one day I received a letter that they had reduced the balances and frozen the accts based on "credit". Well, none of my credit had changed so it was complete BS - they also raised my apr to the ceiling. I WISH I'd have paid off the cards then but as with many small, new businesses, I was concerned w/ cash flow.

Well, I just received in the mail a notice from a collection agency for the full balance! I looked at my records and saw that I paid $20 less than I should have last month in error. Yes - $20. I am struggling as it is with reduced cash flow and business credit in this economy and now this! I NEVER even received a late notice from them at all - nothing. This is unbelieveable!

They are obviously arbitrarily raising interest rates and demanding payment for no good reason. Now- I am going to have to hire an attorney, which I can ill afford at the moment.

I am almost in shock at what a horribly unethical company this is. CitiBank is another. I plan to pay all the evil credit card issuers off as soon as possible and build credit lines only through my business with reputable banks (or is that a complete joke these days).


Date: 29/10/2008

American express commercial with the cartoon character ( the flash) image on a credit card, with Germans laughing at us. Is ANTI-AMERICAN. Another attempt at warping minds. 


Date: 29/10/2008

they suck. all they want is their g*****m money and they will get it in any way. BOA is complicit in this. NEVER applie for an Amex card. put they out of business. they are snobs and discriminatory!!!


Date: 29/10/2008

They are cutting credit limit. to almost exactly where your balance is. very sleazy people no wonder why establishments shun away from them


Date: 29/10/2008

I just cut up my gold amex cards after being a member since 1982.  I had an arbitrary limit of $ 1900 imposed on my account the other day without being notifed. How did I find out.  I went out to dinner by myself and was attempting to charge $ 20.00, yes 20 buck and it was declined.  Over the years I have charge over 5 million dollars to my business account and this is how I'm treated.  DONE.


Date: 29/10/2008

member for 4 years. 2 platinum cards. never late. spend over 150k a year on both. my score dropped to 717 and they closed both my cards. didn't have the courtesy to tell me. when i called, i was kept on hold for 20 mins and the nimrod who finally came on the line must have been specially selected to deal with people like me. i give up. what a way to end.


Date: 29/10/2008

AX reduced my credit limit by $15k and gave me nothing but BS as to why. They want back to a missed payment 7 years ago to say that I had serious delinquency! The BS in the leter is amazing! They said that "please know that we understand that this decision may cause you difficulties..." RIGHT!!! Like they really care. I've had an AX account for 12 years, don't have a subprime mortgage and have been employed by the same company for 4 years. AX SUCKS BIG TIME!!


Date: 29/10/2008

I had like 5000 dollars in my account, and they froze it after one day after notice. I swear if I could I'd sue em.


Date: 29/10/2008

I have two AMEX cards, always paid on time. They dishonoured my last payment, blocked my account and now they are requesting my financial information. I called and got on the phone with the most discourteous person I have ever talked to on a customer service department, Sergio Damián. I am cancelling both cards and I hope everybody who reads the comments on this site (or similar sites) will add their experience and cancel their AMEX cards.


Date: 08/12/2008

I have been paying my balance in full before the 1st of the month for almost a year. I'm going to purposely delay my payment until the 14th of the following month to see what, if anything, Amex will do.  I suspect they will call me to ask where my payment is.  They are experiencing the highest default rate ever recorded in history this month.  This should be interesting.


Date: 08/12/2008

Stay away from AMEX. 2008 was horrible. High gas, hurricanes yet I was late only one time and I paid it out. I went to make a purchase to find my card had been cancelled. I will never deal with AMEX again. Thank God for Visa and MC


Date: 08/12/2008

Amex offered me a rate of 1.99% to transfer my balances (which I did)  After paying my bill ON TIME each month for about a year, they lowered the credit limit and increased my APR to 28.99%.  This should be illegal!!!


Date: 08/12/2008

As a business, American Express is a bunch of idiots.  They just reduced my credit line but, get this, they run ads in the media to get more people to sign up.  WTF.  The business rule of thumb is this:  It's cheaper to keep the customers you have than to try to get new business.  DUH.  They just don't get it. We already have plenty of financial institutions that offer credit cards.  Let this one go under and go out of business.


Date: 08/12/2008

They suck! I applied online they gave me credit line of 10,000.00.got my card used it for a month and then they closed my account with out notifying me. When i called and asked they said they sometimes do an evaluation and i had something delinquent on my credit report, which to this day i can not find anything delinquent. anyhow it was a 0% intro apr for 1 year and after they closed my account they changed that to really high apr, and because they closed it and not me it even makes my credit look worse (which was good until them). long story short they screwed my credit all up i even made my one payment on time- paid complete balance and everything!
 


Date: 08/12/2008

Amex Sucks Hard. Been a member for years, one late payment after using stupid auto pay and the interest rate went up to 26% nothing they can do about it. Try and pay on time for 6 months and we will see. "KMA" Called numerous times all liars on the phone. Got a letter last week closing my account and demanding full payment with National Credit Incorpoated as the new owner of the account. Make them mad and they sell you out to collections. The money the lost on the account sale was far more than the disputed amount. What moron thinks this is a good business decision at AMEX no wonder they need a bailout.


Date: 08/12/2008

"Don't leave home with American Express Card". This should be their true logan for AMEX ads. I just got one card for less than a week. And it was declined for no reason. When I called, I was told bluntly that that's how their "perfection" system works. It will be declined randomly. What kind of credit card is that! What dumb asses work at AMEX ? And they insult the word "Perfection"
 


Date: 16/12/2008

I had a mere $1,000 credit line on the Hilton Honors card from Amex. However, when my outstanding balance rose to $800, my card was cancelled overnight and the rep I spoke to the next day told me that I had "maxed" my card and they were afraid I was not able to pay off the balance as I had de-frauded other cards.  This was absolutely untrue.  I have NEVER de-frauded anyone in my life.  Where they got their information from is beyond my comprehension!  The rep additionally told me that there was nothing he could do about it.  I wanted to say bad things to him, but I didn't.  The only conclusion I can come to is that some computer kicked out erroneous information about me.  I know what my credit score is and it is well beyond deserving only $1000 and having my card cancelled overnight when it was well below my credit limit.  I am completely disgusted and I told the rep that.  No more American Express cards for me!
 


Date: 16/12/2008

Well, I guess I can say it's sort of a relief to know that I wasn't the only one being treated very poorly by American Express .. seems like there are a lot of unhappy customers.
I have held two Amex Cards for years now. They sent me an email on a Sunday just about a month ago to say that they are reducing my credit limit on one of my cards- when I called them to ask why the reasons didn't make sense, so I chose to close the account.
My second card was a gold card with no credit limit. I didn't use it very much and I just owed $300 on it which would have been paid off by the end of the month.
I opened another mail from them yesterday saying that they tried to contact my home number and since they couldn't connect with me they would have to cancel the whole account! Not reduce limit, not change APR...CANCEL THE ACCOUNT!
WHY?
After being transfered from department to department and talking to customer service reps with attitude, and being on hold for a long time-  I was told there was nothing that can be done. My card cannot be reinstated because it was cancelled by them and I would have to reapply for a new card!
That is so ridiculous!
I wouldn't want to carry their card ever again.
My worry is this will reflect negatively on my credit report. .My FICO score is 750 and I would be unfair and upsetting if this incident lowers my FICO. I bet it would!
I hate AMEX. They need to clean up their act and start treating their customers with respect.
 


Date: 20/12/2008

American Express is not for dead beats. It is for those individuals who pay their bills on time. If you cant afford the fees then dont get a Amex card. Idiots
 


Date: 20/12/2008

I have had a Gold card for 17 years and was just recently canceled for no apparent reason except for the fact that I was attempting to redeem my 354,000 reward points and that I haven't been using the card heavily the last few months ($300 to $400 per month).  Of course your points are void as soon as you are cancelled so after earning points for 17 years with Amex I never had the chance to use them.  If you have ANY reward points at all redeem them immediately before Amex cancels you.
 


Date: 20/12/2008

AMEX SUCKS!  I WAS A "MEMBER" FOR OVER 22 YEARS.. I HAD A DEATH IN MY FAMILY AND WAS UNABLE TO MAKE MY PAYMENT FOR 2 CYCLES. . I THEN PAID EVERYTHING IN FULL OVER 15,000.  THEY CANCELLED MY CARD . . TOOK ALL MY REWARD POINTS 40,000 AND KILLED MY CREDIT RATING.  THEY WERE NOT WILLING TO WORK WITH ME.  QUITE RUDE CONSIDERING THE MONEY THEY MADE OFF OF ME.  I TOLD THEM I WOULD NEVER EVER CARRY THEIR CARD AGAIN AND WOULD SPREAD MY MESSAGE OF "LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT" TO EVERYONE I KNOW. 
 


Date: 26/12/2008

We used an American Express card for purchases.  We didn't need the money, we enjoyed the 1% cash back.  Because of the low credit limit, we paid the card in full 5 times per month, charging as much as $70,000 per month.
Amex then suggests we get a Plum card (2% cash back if we spend $5,000/month).  We do.  We then spend a few days switching our vendors and utilities to automated charging to the Plum card.  Amex stopped the card at $30,000.  They inform us that they want to receive financials so they can increase our limit.  We send the financials; proper/good financials with a one page discussion included.
Amex notes that our sales declined 10% and sets a limit of $5,000 per month for the card.   They ignored the fact that we had spent $250,000 with them in the previous 4 months.  They ignored the fact that our profits had increased and that this was due to shutting down an unprofitable portion of our business (the 10% sales decline).  They stated that they do not read attached notes with financials.  (As an accountant, I can state that this is beyond stupid).

It is interesting to note that the $5,000 limit is at the level where we will receive no cash back.  We have no use for this card.   The problems we have had with declined charges from this with utilities and vendors is enough to not risk doing business with Amex.
 


Date: 26/12/2008

I'll keep this simple. I had and AMEX with a $16,000.00 credit limit. Had the card since 1996 No late payments in the last three years and prior to that never for longer than 30 days. I paid my balances in full at the end of every month even though I could have carried the balance. I received a letter stating they had reduced my credit limit to $500 I thought it was a simple mistake since I consider myself an awesome client with a 740+ credit score. I called AMEX and spoke with a rep that could not explain the sudden decrease and after several transfers and finally speaking to a supervisor it boils down to some secret formula that they have to determine who is good for credit and who isn't and my score, zero balance, and excellent credit history are not part of that equation. I can't cancel the card since I want to keep my credit score. But I'll be damned if I EVER use that card again. I think AMEX has gotten too big for their own good. All I can recommend to those of us abused by AMEX is do not be seduced when they come grovelling back for our business, hold the line, make them understand that what a knuckle head mistake they made.
 


Date: 26/12/2008

I was a member for 28 years and they cancelled me this month. They stated some late charges or some crap reported by Expierian credit bureau that were not related to AMX. Never heard of them.

They did this even though I don't have any other credit cards. I was late with my AMX payment last month that was paid in full. I'm guess they are looking for excuses to drop people.

Good for them, I don't want their card anyway.
 

( Experian is most likely the credit agency you mean )


Date: 26/12/2008

If any readers out there just happen to still own AMEX stock i'd advise you to sell - and sell quick.  These guys are brain dead when it comes to business sense.
   I've had an Amex Blue card for over 10 years at a 9.99% interest rate and for the past several years used it as my primary card (especially for world travel, cruises etc.)  Then, about two months ago I noticed a small note enclosed with my monthly statement saying that as of a specific future date they were raising my interest rate to 12.99% - a 30% increase at a time that the prime rate was lower than it had been in years.  I am not financially illiterate and called to have the rate rolled back or the card cancelled.
    I was amazed!  Their only response was that they were raising rates on "a lot of cards".  There was no attempt made to keep me as a customer and no other explanation offered for the rate increase.  Just to be sure I called back again to be absolutely sure I had heard right.  The response was the same and I immediately closed the account.  As I said before I'm not financially illiterate - Amex just walked a customer with an $8,000 revolving credit line( against a $20,000 limit) and credit scores of over 800 from all three agencies!  The balance will be paid off by Jan. 31.
    like I said, these guys are on life support - if you don't believe me then believe the latest headlines.  Any outfit that needs government bailouts to survive and at the same time thinks it can make money by mistreating its best customers is in a power dive for the drain.


17/03/09

I recently sent the following message to Dan Heny at fax number 212-640-0123. Send him your faxes directly so he and his staff have to deal with them and hopefully get bombarded with complaints. Better yet, vote by getting rid of AMEX altogether. That's what I am doing.

I just wanted to give you a taste of the kind of negative research that will be rolled out in the next months if American Express does not stop its unprofessional and predatory practices of lowering the credit lines for its core market, the affluent consumer segment using financial credit cards (please see the attached part of the presentation).
In particular, my credit report was reviewed on 11/1 and again on 11/3 when I made half of the payment of my balance on the credit card. The main reason given was a $250 collections charge on my credit report. The same charge that had been on the account for four years was obviously not taken into account when AMEX decided to increase my credit limit to $13,000. However, it was given as the main reason why my credit limit was reduced to $5,500 after I had paid of half of the balance in November.
Yesterday, my available credit was further reduced to $3,500 and again the $250 owed to a collections company that I cannot even reach because the credit report does not provide a phone number of contact information was given as the main reason for the further reduction.
If the market segments that you are targeting are the affluent account holders, I can assure you that with that my current income exceeding $170,000 a year you have lost a customer forever with an estimated conservative estimate of about $50,000 during the life cycle of the cardholder. I have heard from many sources that AMEX is practicing this unprofessional and almost predatory squeeze not only on me, but also on other customers and merchants who are part of the affluent segment that AMEX is targeting.
As a Doctor of Business Administration who gives speeches on the strategic implications of relationship marketing, I also want to put you on alert, that going forward, I will use every speaking engagement to showcase American Express as a company that according to my own and other’s research used to be best-in-class in regards to trust, satisfaction, recommendation to others and value satisfaction vis-à-vis Master Card or Visa Cards offered by such companies as Bank of America and other banks. The unnecessary squeeze in credit line also does not boad well with AMEX’s attempt to enter the banking sector. The trust is simply eroding!
I have attached a sample of a speech that will kick-off the public discussion of your recent practices in order to ensure that consumers are aware of the practices of AMEX and will use the forums to denounce these practices in both my speeches and in future academic and trade publications.
As they say: Enough is enough! AMEX has crossed the line of losing the most valuable assets it has: trust and goodwill with its customers and merchants. In the past, I used to highlight AMEX as an exemplary case for value, service quality, satisfaction and trust. All of these non-tangible assets have eroded over the past three months. As an example for my next speech held in February, I have attached the pages that outline to what degree AMEX has moved from the top to the bottom of the list in value satisfaction and recommendation the best indicators of loyalty and market share growth.
Furthermore, I am learning of more and more anecdotal evidence that the AMEX brand is quickly losing its superior qualities and that customers and merchants alike refuse to pay with American Express Cards. You may be careful not to fall into the trap of the Discovery Card disaster and confuse “relationship marketing” on a strategic level with the long-term goals of the organization. The practices outlined are particular outraging given that AMEX recently received a $3.39 Billion chunk of the $750 Billion bailout package for the financial services disaster.


04/04/09

They suck!! Period. They have the worst customer service of all the major credit card companies. I just talked to them right now, and got the worst service. I am filing a complaint with Costco, since it is through them.


04/04/09

I have had an American Express platinum for years.  Countyrwide make a mistake and checked my credit 4 times in a month for a business loan.  Countywide is in the process of crearing that up.  However Am experess cancled my card.  I have never been late, always paid my balance on time.  I had a 25K limit.  I run a large ski resort.  We are going to stop taking Am Express.  That will cost them a bunch. 

This is not a lie and not a half truth.  to the freshmam in college and the others that do not have a problem with American Express -- WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THIS SITE?? ARE YOU AMERICAN EXPRESS TRYING TO MIDIGATE THE EFECTIVENESS OF THIS WEB SITE? WHY ARE YOU HERE??


04/04/09

I have had my american express card for at least 10 years.  I have never bee late with a payment and this is the only card I use for purchases.  American Express lowered my credit limit on month almost to my balance and the next month invreased my fixed intrest rate by 50%.  when I call an asked why, I was told that this was an across the board hike because of the economic situation.  I think it is outrageous that American Express can change the terms of the agreement without any cause or explination beyond economic situation.  I have an ecomonic situation myself and must still make payments.  The have lost a customer.


04/04/09

I have been with Amex for 20 years. (I guess I'm a little slow) I called this morning to make sure my Platinum card was activated before I go out a make a business purchase. Amex confirmed the account is active but they reduced my limit from $20,000.00 to $2,700.00 just recently. Whatever. I was only going to make a $1900.00 purchase but when my card wouldn't go through, I called only to find out they reduced my credit limit to $1000.00 right before I got to the store! March 9th 2009 is the beginning of my new life without that awful company. My words were not as pleasant earlier.


04/04/09

American express cards-accepted by my office shredder.  I had a card for 7 years-never late, paid on time, etc.  I filled up my car with gas-no problems with the car.  I drove to Savannah to take my in-laws to a fancy place to eat.  In the two hours it took us to reach Savannah Amex had put a freeze on my card.  There are other ways to pay for things besides American Express, of course, so I paid and figured it was some error.  After about 2 days of calling ("I'm sorry sir, our computers are down and we can't tell you why your card was frozen...") I finally got through to "Mujabar."  All Americans know Mujabar-he's in Bombay and speaks pidgen English.  Mujabar explained to me that "you card froze 'cause you have bad debt somewhere, but we can unfreeze to pay it and dat unfreeze card."  Mujabar couldn't tell me who claimed a debt was owed or in what amount.  I didn't know that Amex thought it was authorized to be a debt collector for other's debts, real or imagined.  Incidentally, Amex STILL can't tell me who they think has claimed I owe them money. 
   Amex the contacted me and said that they had put a cap of $5,000 on my card.  Very well, but since my debt to them was under $3,000 at the time, why wasn't the card honored?  "I'm sorry sir, our computers are down..."  I told Amex to cancel my card immediately and paid them off. 
    Within a week Amex sent me a new card with an excited note attached.  "Activate your new card immediately!  We'll bill the $150.00 fee to your next payment!"  Wait a minute, first, who is going to pay to activate a card, the account of which you've already frozen?  Second, how can you put $150.00 on my bill when you've already frozen my account entirely? 
    Does Amex think that unilaterally freezing someone's card, with no prior warning, is a good business practice which will inspire brand loyality?  Does Amex think that someone will pay $150.00 for the "privilege" of carrying one of their multi-colored ice scrappers? 
    Yep, A M E X spells "S U X" to me. 


04/04/09

Only one word "sucks". Why? They cancel my account without any notification. And I keep paying my bill on time. Because I have few loans on hand,they think I am potential to become a bad payer.nevermind, Amex keep looking down of those people who struggling for life, they will pay back one day. Guys, let work together and say NO to Amex for the rest of your life.


04/04/09

Evil Card - I have 30 years of absolutly clean credit records. A couple months ago my $20,000 limit was cut back to $12,000 (exactly what I owed). I then paid them $5,000, guess what They immediately cut my credit limit to $7,000. What kind of evil company does this to someone whom has never been late on any payment in 30 plus years and I earn over $100,000. Payed $5,000 and now I have $160 available credit??? I should mention that the card was issued by Costco so therefore I recieved the nontraditional revolving credit. Costco you are great but your partnership with american express now reduces my confidence in your company. American Express is an evil company


04/04/09

AMEX tried to collect 9500.00 from me for unauthorized
fradulent charges made by a former business associate
I have refused to pay the charges and filed 2 police
reports. The account is now in collections. I have
disputed the charges and sent a cease and desist letter to the collection agency. The agency has pulled
my credit report.


04/04/09

I received a credit card with AMEX a few years ago with a credit limit of $5,500. Within six months my credit line was increased to $16,000. In October of 2007, I purchased merchandise in the amount of $10,000 and paid $4,700 the on 11/3. On the same day the company looked up my credit report and reduced my credit line to $5,000. This left an balance of $300 above the new credit line. I was notified via mail a week after the change and contacted AMEX immediately. I was told that if I paid the $300, AMEX would not notify the credit scoring companies of my overdraft.
In November, I made another payment that brought my balance to $3,500. Again, my credit line was reduced to $3,200 which left me with an overdraft of $300. After receiving the letter of the new credit line I made a payment of $500 expecting that I was within the 4 week time period as mentioned before. The practices of AMEX have seriously affected my credit score, and I would like to inform you of this outrages practice. From a consumer point of view a 4 week time limit should be adhered to as discussed with AMEX personal, and AMEX obviously lies about its own practices. Thanks for taking action against this type of deceiving and outright fraudulent activity. I am in the lucky position to pay off my credit card and cancel it within the next two weeks, but the damage was done to my credit score. The Good News: I will get rid of AMEX in 2 weeks altogether.


04/04/09

I recently sent the following mail to the CFO of AMEX. The response that I got was a satisfaction survey with the question: How likely are you to use AMEX in the future? This is a silly company who does not have a clue.

Dear Mr. Henry,
I just wanted to give you a taste of the kind of negative research that will be rolled out in the next months if American Express does not stop its unprofessional and predatory practices of lowering the credit lines for its core market, the affluent consumer segment using financial credit cards (please see the attached part of the presentation).
In particular, my credit report was reviewed on 11/1 and again on 11/3 when I made half of the payment of my balance on the credit card. The main reason given was a $250 collections charge on my credit report. The same charge that had been on the account for four years was obviously not taken into account when AMEX decided to increase my credit limit to $13,000. However, it was given as the main reason why my credit limit was reduced to $5,500 after I had paid of half of the balance in November.
Yesterday, my available credit was further reduced to $3,500 and again the $250 owed to a collections company that I cannot even reach because the credit report does not provide a phone number of contact information was given as the main reason for the further reduction.
If the market segments that you are targeting are the affluent account holders, I can assure you that with my current income exceeding $170,000 a year you have lost a customer forever with an estimated conservative estimate of about $100,000 during the life cycle of the cardholder (20 years). I have heard from many sources that AMEX is practicing this unprofessional and almost predatory squeeze not only on me, but also on other customers and merchants who are part of the affluent segment that AMEX is targeting.
As a Doctor of Business Administration who gives speeches on the strategic implications of relationship marketing, I also want to put you on alert, that going forward, I will use every speaking engagement to showcase American Express as a company that according to my own and other’s research used to be best-in-class in regards to trust, satisfaction, recommendation to others and value satisfaction vis-à-vis Master Card or Visa Cards offered by such companies as Bank of America and other banks. The unnecessary squeeze in credit line also does not boad well with AMEX’s attempt to enter the banking sector. The trust is simply eroding!
I have attached a sample of a speech that will kick-off the public discussion of your recent practices in order to ensure that consumers are aware of the practices of AMEX and will use the forums to denounce these practices in both my speeches and in future academic and trade publications.
As they say: Enough is enough! AMEX has crossed the line of losing the most valuable assets it has: trust and goodwill with its customers and merchants. In the past, I used to highlight AMEX as an exemplary case for value, service quality, satisfaction and trust. All of these non-tangible assets have eroded over the past three months. As an example for my next speech held in February, I have attached the pages that outline to what degree AMEX has moved from the top to the bottom of the list in value satisfaction and recommendation the best indicators of loyalty and market share growth.
Furthermore, I am learning of more and more anecdotal evidence that the AMEX brand is quickly losing its superior qualities and that customers and merchants alike refuse to pay with American Express Cards. You may be careful not to fall into the trap of the Discovery Card disaster and confuse “relationship marketing” on a strategic level with the long-term goals of the organization. The practices outlined are particular outraging given that AMEX recently received a $3.39 Billion chunk of the $750 Billion bailout package for the financial services disaster.


04/04/09

You can send your complaint directly to the CFO of AMEX as follows:

Dan Henry (EVP/CFO AMEX)
Fax number: 212-640-0123

The more complaints Dan Henry gets, the more he and his staff have to actually deal with your issues. So bombard them with your complaints until they drown in their own venom!


04/04/09

i used to have an american express blue card...  accumulated over 5k in debt.  they have cancelled it due to my high debt and my low score.  they did me a favor.  they are agressive in their credit practices.  i needed to have my card shut down as i was overspending.  i do have a couple of visa cards which are still not shut down with a total line of credit of 20k but has racked up 18k... most of these debts are accumulated through designer clothes and vacation trips.  i wish visa would've shut me down when i reached 5k... then i would only be 10k in debt.  i will never use american express again as they should've just suspended my account instead of cancelling it.  but i'm on my way to pay down my debt thanks to them.  i'm also going to cancel my visa cards and not use credit anymore.  i have a debit card from my credit union and whatever i need to buy... i will have to use that... if it doesn't have any more funds... i'm going to sit my broke ass home.  oh yeah.... no interest charged on that debit card as well.


04/04/09

I have been an AMEX customer since 1989 and been a Centurion member since 2000.

I have seen their service fall from year to year. Every time I called their travel service and won't complete my request in a call. They have different people handling the same case but each time they would require you to repeat, repeat and repeat your request. I am not talking about complicated travel request. It's usually just an airline reservation or hotel reservation.

I booked two tickets last night and got a confirmation on the fare and everything. They promised to send me an email confirmation by the middle of the night. But I couldn't find my email confirmation this morning. I called again and another Customer Service Rep took the call. She seems no clue at all and I have to go over the same thing again. She then quoted me another rate which is way higher than the one they gave me last night. Of course I am not happy with this. I requested to talk to a Supervisor but nobody is available. This is outrages consider they are charging Centurion members a ridiculous annual fee.

This is not an exceptional case. I deal with their travel service once every few months and this happened to me all the time since two years ago. I am tired to make complains anymore. May be it's time to quit.

Compare to my experience in dealing with SouthWest Airline, the SWA folks did a much much better job. The Centurion travel service even can't match the quality and experience of a discounted airline. Shame on AMEX!

Centurion is completely a joke! It's not worth the money.

Chan
Member since 89 (Hong Kong)


04/04/09

Why are companies like American Express allowed to damage peoples credit because they were unable to manage their business properly.  1st they lowered my credit to amount owed making my credit score go down.  Then I paid them in full and they cancelled my card cheating me out of $500.00 in travel bonus I was saving for my 50th birthday.  I can understand they are having tough time, some busnesses are but how can they be allowed to damage people unchecked.


04/04/09

they suck! I am having a unlimited AMEX charge card which I have always paid on time, they told me my card have a pre-set limit of 4500 pounds and today they locked my card said I have spent a few hundred pound more than the last month so I have to make a payment before the due date or they will just lock my card althrough my card is a unlimited card, my balance is only up to 2000 pound now and the due date is not till 10 days later,they told me: we are very sorry but this is the way it is. Obviously, they change the rule by themself everyday!!!


04/04/09

I was an American Express card holder for 25 years. The treatment I have gotten over the last few months has been horrible. I will NEVER do business with these people or anyone that partners with them again. I'm stuck right now paying off a balance but I have cancelled my cards. Their CSR's sound like heartless robots programmed to repeat the same thing over and over again.

I became unemployed a few month ago and some how they managed to get wind of it and began calling me day and night about my balances despite the fact that I was not late on any payment. I said why are you calling me when my payment isn't due yet? They said we are just trying to make sure you pay it on time. The next month they began calling my parents even though my payment wasn't due until the next week.

Way to go American Express. Treat customers that have been with you for 25+ years like pond scum.


04/04/09

deceptive assholes. They send pre-approved crap and then when you call to get the card they check your credit and deny you. They  suck.....


04/04/09

I work at american express in NYC. I know the crap that goes on there. I would not apply for a card at all. I know that in the next couple of months AMEX is going to be bought and things are going to get even worse. Stay AWAY


17/04/09

The absolute worst credit card.  No customer service.  I never missed a payment, paid my balance off every month.  My credit limits were cut in half because of an error on my credit report that has since been corrected.

They are jerks.  I closed my accounts.  Will never have another.  I will be one applauding when am ex goes down the tubes.  Arent you sick of getting treated like crap when you are the one making money for them.  Most stores won't even take the card.  Now I understand why. 

They are awful.  Get a discover card.  Much more service oriented.
 


30/04/09

I proudly kept my american express since it was the first credit card I had after graduate school.

They just called and re-paid my great payment and credit history by pulling my credit down.

Needless to say I will always remember and never ever do business with them again!!!


30/04/09

American Express SUCKS!!!  I have been a great customer of theirs, always pay my bill on time and pretty much pay it off each month and they just decided to cancel my account.  BASTARDS! They say my credit score has dropped significantly (10 points max, I just checked).  I can't believe this is how they treat good responsible customers.  I am proud to say that neither my business or my girlfriend's business will be accepting amex cards anymore.  Hopefully other businesses will join in.  F**K Amex, may they rot in hell!


30/04/09

I have an American Express skymiles credit card that I maintain for travel only. I have had the card for years, but seldom use it. I take a trip, then pay off the balance. Recently, I took a trip to Europe. I called American Express about one week in advance to let them know I would be making purchases and ATM withdrawals from that location. Once in Europe, my card stopped working, and I discovered that American Express had sent me an e-mail essentially capping my account balance at the amount already used -- about $200.00 in ATM withdrawals. I was   forced to use another credit card.  If I had not taken a backup card with me, I would have been unable to pay my hotel bills, or obtain cash. I can understand their need to tighten controls, but to make an arbitrary change in the middle of a trip is outragous. It is the second time this has happened. I was once stranded in a foreign country 30 years ago because they had never heard of American Express. It will never happen again, because I'm getting rid of this Albatross.


29/05/09

HOW ABOUT THIS FOR SCUM. I run a successful business employing 32 people some of them working on projects all over the world. On Friday our company card was denied and on speaking to Amex they had halved our credit without letting us know despite the fact we have NEVER missed a payment in 26 years in business. I had to get accounts to pay money outstanding on our card in order reactivate our cards and to pay my staffs hotel bills...AMEX YOU ARE THE WORST KIND OF SCUM...WE ALL UNDERSTAND THE CREDIT CRUNCH BUT TO DO THIS WITHOUT TELLING US IS SICK...I will be taking my business elsewhere as soon as I can...All I can think is no one is lending you money and therefore I would urge shareholders to get out fast before before you loose your shirt


29/05/09

Good Credit Score, No Late Payments, Credit Available High, and they cancelled card with no thought for consumer!!  This could possibly hurt credit score now!! American Express Sucks!! Unreasonable cancellation policy! 
 


29/05/09

Our company has been a member of AMEX for 12 years and I have been a member for 24 years. 

Today American Express decided to cut our corp credit limit and my personal limit by 24K.

What kind of company would have complete disregard for a long standing customer.  After speaking to their Customer care Representative, I am in disbelief at the lack of care and consideration.  We should all cut up our cards and look for alternatives. 

A great one is find a local bank in your community and support them.  Our business certainly will.
 


29/05/09

I googled "american express sucks" after 3 frustrating phone calls andfound soooo many sites.
It was the best thing to bring a smile to my face since the 1st phone call.  They tape everything (accomplishing god only knows what), have the worst website I've encountered for a large company and even the contact line didn't work.  Thanks for the vent platform.  It's the best thing happened to me all day.  Camille Philadephia


29/05/09

OVER 20 YEARS AS A MEMBER & no apparent reason  I'M CANCELLED!

I have been an AMX member since 1986 ... In over 20 years probably charged and PAID over $5 millon dollars worth of merchandise and services ... earning AMX over a quarter million dollars in profits.
AND was planning to use their cards in my new production of a million-dollar reality-series ... AND they CANCEL all the CARDS

Glad I'm not a "share-holder"...  just another Fortune 500 Company NOT PLAYING TO WIN!  management is just trying to hang in there until retirement.  WHAT A BUNCH OF EUNICHS !


29/05/09

I have been a member for 5 years since I have graduated college. I have 1 late payment in the last 5 years and they shut both my Gold Card & my Blue Card off. I get paid once a month by my employer and currently have 10K in debt with both cards. I pay them 5K a mos which I will do again June 1st cutting my debt to 5K. THIS COMPANY SUCKS - the only reason I can attribute them turning my card off is because they are in financial trouble themselves. They have filed for bank status so they can receive bailout money -hmmmmmmmmmmm HELLO VISA you just got another new customer. SCREW AMERICAN EXPRESS!!!


29/05/09

My card has been declined for large purchases as well. My credit score is 700 - I always pay my bills on time. I am taking my business elsewhere, perhaps to Visa or Master Card. Solid business with a fine balance sheet and they do not screw honest customers with good credit scores because they don't want to let the public know their business is on the rocks. They should change their name to "American Repressed - close it out and move on in life without us".
 


29/05/09
 

Today I tried to validate who I was with AMEX.  I applied for a credit card for Sky Miles with Delta.  They had my old phone # attached to a fraud alert that I had set up on my account.  I can find no way to remove it  I have spent the last 2 hours on line and on the phone holding for AMEx, only to be so surprised when someone finally picked up the phone 20 mins later I hung up on them!  (I know I'm a dope). 

I have put in a dispute which will take 45 days to resolve.  I guess I won't get my sky miles after all.  Experian STINKS and so does AMEX for using them and stopping at my pnone # information and not having in their PROCESS a validation methodology that does not allow for some more questions.  Lots of people move and change phone #'s  Wow what a hassle.

Laura Ross
 


29/05/09


So tonight, I got a nice little email from American Express, essentially telling me that they'd reduced my credit limit by several thousand dollars. The new limit is, coincidentally, just a few hundred dollars above my current balance.

This is bad.

I depend on that card to finance stock purchases with six of my seven suppliers. Having $200 available credit doesn't facilitate restocks of anything - plus it's shitty for my credit score (which was 785 when I bought a car last month - as close to perfect as I can get it).

I called AmEx, and they obviously expected the call, because the customer service phonedrone (who barely spoke English) brought it up before I could even do so. She absolutely refused to do anything about it, leading to me demanding someone higher on the food chain than her. I got her "manager", Andrea, who also would do nothing for me - and then launched in to an insulting explanation of why my limit was reduced, using words like "when your payment history improves".

I lost it.

I have never been late with a payment on this account, never been anywhere near the credit limit, and have always paid more than the minimums. I just flipped my lid on her, and when my demand for the next highest person got me an invitation to write a letter (on PAPER, in the MAIL) to her manager, the call abruptly ended with me telling her, and all of AmEx, to go f*** themselves.

So I did some digging.

Based on readings of sites like Planet Feedback and The Consumerist, it looks like AmEx is in financial trouble, and this is their strategy for getting out:

Step 1: Wait for big payment on card balance
Step 2: Immediately slash credit limit to just above new balance
Step 3: ????
Step 4: Profit!

I suppose that, rationally, this is a sound strategy for them. They're waiting for big payments (that's cast on their balance sheet) then quickly slashing the limit on that account (that's less risk on their balance sheet). But man, does this suck for people who depend on an AmEx card for travel or business. Joe Consumer can go without his $3000 plasma TV from Costco, but I can't go without stock for the shop.

Even worse, businesses pay their credit cards down with the understanding that the money they're paying with is essentially still available to them - just with an interest rate from AmEx. But if you make a $5000 payment, that's $5000 of CASH from your bank account, and when AmEx then slashes your credit limit, that money's NOT available. It's like you're throwing it down a black hole, and it's gone forever. At that point, you're not just moving capital around on your balance sheet - you're paying off a liability. This is fine if you're planning to do so, but it's not like they're telling you ahead of time they're going to slash your limit; instead it's like they're doing a back-alley snatch and grab of your cash.

But, nothing can be done except to now pay the absolute minimums on the AmEx, and tell my suppliers to stop using that payment source. I have 0% interest on the AmEx until November, at which time I'll pay it off in full and cancel it.

Until then, I'll use their money for free.

Bastards.

Anyone needs to contact me about this, I'm at hivemind at mvgc.net


29/05/09
 

Thanks for the info
Once I am able to bring my account current, it will be irrelevant as I will cancel the card.
This is due to the incessant calls, threats of collection and general heavy handed approach.
Perhaps you are unaware, but the economy stinks.
I had an AE card 20 yrs ago and experienced the same (lack) of customer service. Told myself never again, yet you solicit me at least 12x per yr. Turns out I was right.
Thanks for nothing.


30/06/09

American express is one of the first to step up and arbitrarily close accounts before legislation deems it illegal -- their customer representatives lie about closing an account with a balance not "affecting customers adversely" but then half of them don't speak English so I am not surprised they don't know what they are saying---if there is litigation and class action suits --count me in !
 


30/06/09

My comments about American Express?  It sucks.  I filled up my car with gas in the morning-no problem with the card.  A few hours later I took my family for a meal in a restaurant.  Between the time of the filling of my gas tank and getting the meal Amex had stopped payment on my card. 
    When I finally got through to Mujabar, one of their semi-English speaking "help" representatives he could only comment that Amex thought I owed money to someone else.  He'd be glad to re-activated the card so long as the re-activation ws used to pay this unknown debt in an unknown amount to an unknown company.  Mujabar learned some new English words that day. 
    A week later Amex wrote me and stated that due to economic conditions my limit had been lowered to $5,000, hence I couldn't use the card at the restaurant.  However, since I only had about $3,000 owed on the card and my meal was somewhat less than $2,000 they were at a loss to explain why I couldn't use the card at all.  THEN, they sent me a new card with the bright lettering boldly claiming "ACTIVATED IMMEDIATELY!"...for only $150.00.  Gee, wouldn't that make me exceed my limit?
    I don't really need to pay $150.00 for the "privilege" of carrying around a multicolored ice scraper so I checked to see if American Express is accepted everywhere.  It is, including the office shredder. 
   Mastercard all the way...


30/06/09

I can't find anyone that is having a problem wit the way they charge interest.  for my other credit cards if I have a 5.99% fixed till paid they take my payment and apply the amount less the current month's finance charge.  That makes sense. On my American Express I have a 4.99% until paid.  I did take some cash advances maybe $700.00.  I didn't make any other purchases.  I have called them and sent them a letter but they say it is the way it should be done.  I have three rates  $7,171.05 at 4.99% $957.96 (Cash Advances) at 21.23%  and $3,490.98 at 12.22%.  The caculated finance charge was $81.25.  They deducted $167.72 from the $7,171.05  which put it down to $7,003.33.  That left a remainder of approx. $53.99 which was the finance charge for the 12.22% and the 21.23%.  What this did was increase those two amounts by $53.99 up to $ 3,526.82 and $975.11.  So instead of applying the difference between the amount I paid and the finance charge they applied part of the money and added the other part to purchase and cash advances.  did anyone ever hear of anything like this?  None of my other credit cards work that way.


30/06/09

Have tried for months to cancel my mothers AMEX card.  She died.  Still getting mail from them and bills with 0 balance and now an autopay offer.  I cancelled my card several months ago.


30/06/09

I am trying to be objective about AMEX, but here are my pros/cons. 

Pro-Great rewards program, great end of year/monthly statements to track usage, and very easy to use charge dispute system.

Cons-Will suspend card without warning for no reason if they feel your spending habits are off. 
Customer service is terrible.  Have cut limits on my revolving credit for no reason.  Also, changed my payment due dates from the 15th of the month to 1st of following month for no reason.  (Although they don't charge penalties or interest, they do threaten to suspend card-even though they tell me I have a "grace period" until the 17th.

Problem for me is, I take a payroll check on the 1st of the month so I have no time to deposit check and make payment on my card.  Have tried to rectify this with American Express, but they have no interest in helping. (i.e.-poor customer service).

Hopefully, this gives fellow/future card holders my positives/negatives on Amex and even though I do like using the card, I'm getting to where I can't use it to pay all of my household expenses because of threats to suspend account if account is paid within 2 weeks after billing cycle ends.


30/06/09

Definitely would strongly suggest not using AMEX revolving credit products!!!Citi has been good and has always been very helpful in giving me low APR(currently 3.25)on my revolving credit.  Only credit card I have with revolving credit because all other cards have jacked up my rate with no warning, so I was forced to pay them off.


30/06/09

I would like to express my deepest consternation regarding the American Express services in Brazil. I’ve been a customer for over five years now, with a perfect payment history, and I deeply regret my decision of becoming an American Express Platinum associate. Let me explain the situation.
I purchased a Harley-Davidson motorcycle for approximately 36,500 dollars. Harley is an Amex partner in Brazil, so they offer a payment plan of up until 50% of the motorcycle price in twelve equal payments exclusively on American Express. I was willing to pay about 35% of the total price with my Amex card.
Since the figure in question was higher than my credit limit, I called the Amex Customer Service in advance, explained the situation and asked them for an authorization or, if needed, a limit increase. They told me not to worry because the purchase would be authorized. I would only have to pay a small fine and have my next purchases blocked until my balance returned within the limit. It seemed fair for me, so I closed the deal with Harley and made the first payment in cash.
When I was informed that my motorcycle would be ready for pick up later this week or early next week at worse, I decided to call the Amex Customer Service again to make sure I would not be embarrassed while trying to pay the remaining amount when picking up the motorcycle. However, to my deepest consternation, the Customer Service attendant told me the purchase would only be authorized within my credit card limit!
Of course I posted a complaint (protocol number 1940178), but they could only promise an explanation of why it happened within three business days - do you take the subtle message between the lines? They will give me an explanation, not a solution within the timeframe I need.
What should I do now? What’s the point of having a platinum card if you can’t count on it when you need it? How do they dare calling it a platinum card with such a bad service? It seems to me that the Bradesco Bank, which represents the American Express brand in Brazil, is not worth carrying the American Express brand name.
I am writing you in the U.S. because I am worried and counting on a quick solution coming from you, because I learned I cannot expect anything from American Express in Brazil. I am tired of attendants calling me “a special customer” while treating me disrespectfully. They are about to lose a customer, a very noisy one, who is willing to spread the word.
 


30/06/09

I had no problems with my Amex Blue card for the first 3 years. My initial limit was $4500, and eventually AMEX raised the limit to $10,500.  As a result, I balance transferred $4,500 on it to take advantage of a low rate. Well, a few months later, Amex slashed my credit limit to $5,000, and as a result my FICO score dipped significantly. I always paid the card on time, and always paid more than the minimum amount. The balance transfer rate also turned out to be deliberately misleading. I look forward to canceling my AMEX account as soon as I close on my house. AMEX is the only company I have a card with that slashed a limit like that.


30/06/09

I used my Amex card and paid my bills regularly from 2005 to 2009.  In June 2009, I wanted to redeem my points for airline travel to visit my son studying in Moscow, Russia before he came back home.  I had $204 redeemable points on Amex from $20,000 worth of purchases thru the years.  I found out that I could only redeem points toward travel with Delta or Continental, not AA or United.  2 of 4 major airlines.  Among the smaller airlines, same principle - about half or fewer.

If I had bought a ticket online directly from Delta or AA, my ticket to Moscow would have been $587 and booked in 5 mins, but I would receive only $100 credit from Amex points.  To get the full points credit of $204, I had to buy online at Amex Travel site, using exclusively my Amex card to pay.

I checked my Amex card balance, and my payment of $400 was not due until the statement was released.  So I went online, and completed the whole selection process for airline ticket, choosing seat numbers, etc to Moscow, Russia and back.  At the end, the site bumped me off saying it was unable to process my card, and I lost the entire reservation.  I went online and paid off the balance.

For the next two days, I kept trying to book online.  But my payment took more than 2 days to process, despite calling Acct Svcs repeatedly and hearing reassurances that they had cleared the payment for me.  They had not.  They could not.

The Delta ticket on Amex site was $555 from LAX to SVO, but it had $107 in unexplained 'airline fees' and taxes.  Delta charges $67 in airline fees.  What was the unexplained difference?  In addition, Amex charges $11 to book online, whereas Delta is free.  After all, you are doing the work of their agent, so why should you pay more?  If you go directly to an Amex travel agent, the fee jumps to $25.  Nobody else charges this much.  And you have to use their card, no other form of payment.  Their site, their card, their high fees, and limited airlines.  Oh by the way, sometimes, some air travel days are blocked and cannot be used for redeemed miles.

I called Amex, and spoke to a long list of their customer reps in both Gold Card Rewards Plus Dept, Membership Rewards, and Travel.  Each dept did not speak to the other.  Each time I had to bounce around to resolve why my payment had not cleared, why I got an override and that did not go thru either, and why I could not book online.  This process took 8 days from beginning to end.

When Acct Svcs gave me an 'override' to purchase more than my $1000 limit (on a once unlimited acct with a $150 fee annually!), what happened is that their $11 service fee that posted immediately took up the entire one-time override and the $651 ticket price could not go thru.  How terribly clever!  Who designed this software?!!  How old is it?  What if it had happened in Moscow, Russia, with expensive international calling, long hold times at Amex, and utterly undependable service and technology from same.

Folks, you cannot believe that with today's technology, it took me 8 days to redeem my points, and book my ticket.  3 days full-time on the computer without working.  I lost 3 days of work, 12 - 16 hrs each, at $100 per hour as a consultant, to redeem $204 worth of points.  One chatty young Amex rep from the Midwest gave me 300 points as consolation prize.  This amounted to a $30 credit.  Nice of her, but its like offering a band-aid to an amputee.  I lost $$3600 - $4800 in missed work time.

This is a major company, known around the world.  They abuse their customers, and squeeze both merchants and customers.  European merchants won't touch Amex, and charge you high rates if they choose to cash your Amex Travelers Checks.  You have to beg them to cash your Amex checks, after paying high fees to buy them too.  Ha, what a joke!

I finally got them to give me my earned points.  It became a crusade I had to win on principle.  I threatened them with lawsuits and govt action, cajoled, whined, and got angry by turns till they caved in.  I seriously think the system is designed to discourage points redemption.  Unfortunately, they did not come across many bulldogs like me.  How sad this American institution is as crippled with bureaucracy and short term greed as it is.

I sent emails to Ken Chenault telling him my story and he never responded.  I just gave him the facts.  No response, ever.

Today, I closed my account with them, and asked them to credit my recent annual fee of $150, which they did.  I asked them for written confirmation that credit reporting agencies be notified acct was closed at customer request.  That my name not be sold to telemarketing or other companies, and that my earned points be sent to me as a cash credit according to our contractual agreement.

I will make it my mission to inform the public of my story.  Everything I said is true, with no exaggeration, and can be proved in court, so if Amex is reading, don't bother with a libel/slander suit.  I don't lie and have a phone log and will counter-sue if you dare add insult to injury.  If a company is honest even though is at fault, its forgivable.  But Amex greedy corporate execs don't know when to stop.  They cheat and lie to the public, and are dishonest, unethical crooks, and should be tarred and feathered and run out of town.   Hopefully, sites like these will serve as the new town square and their misdeeds will be put up for everyone to read like WANTED posters in the Wild West.
AMEX - MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!


30/06/09

I am a small business owner trying to deal w/ AMEX.  I have had a personal card, as well as business cards with them since 1991, all in good standing.

It started rolling downhill from an honest oversight.  I called them & requested that my bill date be changed.  The rep never explained it to me, but my payment due date remained the same for the current period, in spite of the bill running to the new bill date.

Since I didn't realize this, my payment was late.  We run our entire business on AMEX.  All of our vendors have our AMEX cards on file & charge to them.  B/c of this one late payment, like other small businesses on here, AMEX cut my credit line w/ no notice!  All of a sudden our cards started getting declined w/ our vendors.  Extremely embarrassing!  When I called I got routed to Account Services...  It was like dealing w/ the Gestapo...

They told me that I must pay immediately or they will not allow any more charging on he account.  They also advised me that whatever I pay, they will only restore 50% of the payment amount in new charging!

Sooo small business friendly!

This from the company that took our money in TARP funds!!!!  $2.39B worth!

Taking it out on your customers is never a good idea.

AMEX can pond salt as far as I'm concerned. 

I used to love AMEX, but I have really learned to hate them.  We now have Visa Business Cards from Chase, and they have treated us so much better than AMEX...  and we had NO relationship w/ Chase prior to these cards!


30/06/09

In 1999 AMEX solicited our company to open a Business account which we did.  Since that time we have used the AMEX Gold Business card only for business expenses and have paid the balance in full each month. Our payment record is impeccable.  Last year, 2008 we averaged $1700 a month in charges.  Since we do not use the card every month, that means that some months our charges were 6 times that due to travel expenses. 
This week we received a letter telling us that AMEX had limited our charges to $1500 a month.  After  long conversations with their so called customer service, supervisor and the Business accounts department, we had no luck having this limit released.  There data on me and out company dates back to 1999 and is very much out of date.  Budgets have increased more than 3 times what we had to work with in 1999. 

The reason  we have been capped is because we do pay the balance off each month and therefore provide very little revenue to  AMEX through monthly interest. 

We are moving all our credit cards to V/MC and will not use AMEX again.
 


30/06/09

We need your help exposing AMEX for their terrible customer service and
lack of loyalty to their customers. Thank you in advance for reading this
email.

We have been a member of Platinum American Express since 2000. We have
used our cards, which we pay a fee of $400+ each for the privilege of
spending money with them, for our corporations, our personal expenses, and
travel. Over the years we have probably spent over $700,000 with American
Express! We ALWAYS paid the balance off when due and at times at meant a
$50,000 monthly payment.

During the last 6 months, we have used our American Express cards less and
less. One reason is that we had some charge problems using the card in
Mexico that went largely unresolved for all parties because no one in
India (Which is where their call center is for this "American" company)
could comprehend the intricacies of our problem because it was quite
simply a matter best dealt with by an American. Even someone from Mexico
would have understood it better.

Secondly, we were using other cards that gave us the mileage points we
needed for an airline.

The problem is that because we have NOT been using our cards very much,
they have cut us off at $500! Now that we need it...we got cut off at
$500. For no reason. We have no payment due until July 2nd and our balance
is only $443.27. We have carried balances in the 10s of thousands in the
past and now we can only have $500. Which is less than our annual fee
we've paid this "American" company. What if we were out with clients
wining/dining and our card was declined? That would be so embarrassing.

So we called and complained. Who did we get? Some smug kid in India who
put us on hold for 20 minutes and told us that "the computer says you have
not used your card much in the last 6 months, so your balance and
available credit is $500." HOW DOES THIS MAKE SENSE WHEN THEY ADVERTISE
THEMSELVES AS A NO SPENDING LIMIT CARD? AND WE ARE PLATINUM CARDHOLDERS TO
BOOT!
 



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