AMEX CLD!

[imhotepng]

Sooo I made a some purchases on my blue cash card carrying a balance of $4000. I could have paid this off but the I decided to pay it over time as I had 0% APR until Feb 2011. I logged on to my account a few days later and I see my limit had been cut from $10000 to $4200 leaving me available credit of $148. SO I called their customer service and I was told the limit I was issued initially was an error and it was just corrected. Kind of bemused about it all.

[aftermath]

How long did you carry the balance for?

Amex tends to flip-out if you carry a balance for more than 3 months.

Never pay any attention to their special rates or promos.

Regardless what they say you are elgible for or what you are allowed to do, PIF your balance every month.

Basically what they told you was their nice way of saying "We think you don't have money to pay off your balance and we're not taking a chance on letting you run it up any higher."

I wouldn't be surprised if your CL decreases even further as you pay off your balance.

[imhotepng]

I have carried the balance for just one month.

It was just amusing that they did it this way but then they have their way of making decisions.

I will test your theory about them possibly reducing it further by making a payment next week. If a reduction does happen then I will go ahead and pay their remaining balance.

[DI]

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@imhotepng wrote:

Sooo I made a some purchases on my blue cash card carrying a balance of $4000. I could have paid this off but the I decided to pay it over time as I had 0% APR until Feb 2011. I logged on to my account a few days later and I see my limit had been cut from $10000 to $4200 leaving me available credit of $148. SO I called their customer service and I was told the limit I was issued initially was an error and it was just corrected. Kind of bemused about it all.

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I think carrying that balance caused  your internal credit score with them to drop overtime.  Therefore, they CLD your account.

[Anonymous]

I am sorry to hear that. I actually had the exact opposite experience with them today as I logged in to pay my bill I noticed my limit had been increased from 10.4k to 20k. They have been very generous with me, hopefully they will restore you once you pay your balance down.

[sandman2435]

Amex does not like you to have your balance too close to your credit limit..yes they love that you use their cards and pay as much as you can..I never leave a balance on any of the cards that I have with them

[smallfry]

One of my relatives had their line cut from 5-2K. Blue Cash. No balance on card just cut and when he called was told the initial line was an error and they meant to only match his lowest credit limit.  Into the sockdrawer. Available Fico scores are 777 and 778. 6 years of credit history and  was approved for 25K with NFCU.

[android01]

I've read of a few occasions of Amex CLD with some folks but I have a hard time believing that there's not something else going on other than carrying a balance.  14 out of the 19 personal cards Amex offers are revolving credit cards.  They make billions in interest from people who carry balances.  They offer incentives like balance transfers and 0% interest rates.  They seem to do everything that everyone else does to get you to carry a balance!  

There HAS to be something other than carrying a balance that sets their little red lights flashing....

[scottwagnon]

. SO I called their customer service and I was told the limit I was issued initially was an error and it was just corrected. Kind of bemused about it all.

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um. it seem that this part of the post was overlooked. the OP clearly indicated that his limit was lowered in error, and that they immediately restored it back to where it was.

i don't necessarily agree that amex is really big on pif any more than most credit card companies. perhaps they have a preference or paticular slant on PIF'ing, but i am not sure.

[CHARGE_IT]

Your name would imply to me that English might be your first language, but I have to point out to you that you completely turned around what the OP stated. Quoting him; "they stated they had made a mistake in issuing his original limit and were simply correcting the error by lowering it.

This could imply too that carrying his balance was not really the problem; it just brought attention to the fact that his limit was incorrect.

At any rate , I have had too many years experience with the company to take seriously anyone who claims you can't use Amex as they urge you too. I do outrageous things with Amex and even make a mistake occasionally. They have been so consistantly dependable that I am almost awed by them.

CI