AMEX is pathetic - another victim of CLD

[future800]

My dh has had his AMEX cc since 1989. Has always been responsible with purchases & payments and even had a cli to $17,000 in the past year.  He added me as AU when we married 4 years ago and all was still well.  We made some larger purchases in the past year since we had moved so our balance had gone up to about $5,300.  (Mind you, we're still paying more than the min.)  WELL! AMEX lowered our cl down to $6700, which made it seem like we were almost maxed out, THEN raised the APR to 27%!  Needless to say we paid the card off and have not used it since July. 

It seems like this cld caused my dh ficos to drop.  Then "coincidentally" Chase raised their APR to 28.5% as well.  AND we had just finished pif a $5000 bal with Chase as well (cl of $8700). I'm keeping a close watch to see if they cld as well. 

At this point, I don't really think we have a cc worth having.  It seems like you get penalized just for using it.  BTW, my dh's ficos were about 750 last spring and now they are averaging about 660 (no lates, delinquents, co, NOTHING!)

[Anonymous]

So I tried to call last night and was on hold for about 20 minutes... Couldn't wait any more so hung up. Called this morning and got through in 5 minutes.

CSR told me, and I know it was scripted, that there is serious delinquency reported by Experian and I should call EX to obtain a report so they can compare notes.

I told her the delinquencies were over 4 years ago and my scores have gone up more since I got the card beginning of this year. I asked her - What I did wrong? Asked her if AMEX was doing this to everyone. 

I could tell she was not prepared for this because she was babbling, she said AMEX is doing this based on individual credit and they review reports every 3 months. I told her that was not true because I check my report every week and I see AMEX softing me every month and sometimes 2x a month. 

Also told her that this will affect my shopping at Costco and with AMEX doing this, is definitely not helping the economy and is leaving bad taste in people that got CLD and affecting other businesses.

Told her by using old derogs to penalize good customers is wrong. Many of us have worked hard to fix our credit and to have a CLD will not only affect our scores but also our efforts and pride. Even though my CLD was $1200, and will not put a major dent on my scores, what about other card holders with CL in the 5 figures decreased to 4? 

Also said, if everyone with CLD cancels and boycotts AMEX today, AMEX will go down the drain before they even become a bank. She didn't know what I was talking about...

Then, I asked if I could get CLI, she said AMEX wants to see my report from Experian first. I said "AMEX is softing me every month, why should I waste my time? She then said AMEX will review accounts every 3 month for CLI and if the report has improved, they will grant an automatic increase.

Finally, I asked her if I could cash out my Costco rewards because I no longer wish to use AMEX. She gave me an 800 number to call and then very apologetically said she was sorry for the company's CLD decision and thanked me for being a "valued" customer and hope that the decision will not affect me using my AMEX Costco card.

I told her it was not her fault and I apologized for venting. 

Looks like that CLI will not happen until those baddies drop off in 2011 and I am stuck with a pathetic CL of $800 on an AMEX card!!!

I have 2 month before the card is 1yr old. Will wait for rewards check then try to get CLI otherwise I am canceling the card. Because AMEX is offered by other banks too, not just AMEX. Or, I might not even get an AMEX no more, will not give them my business for being stingy.

The economy is bad and everyone has become frugal, people are starting to compare goods & services more and they will soon devalue AMEX for devaluing their card holders!!! 

[Red1Blue]

Sorry to say this. Amex is not the only bank doing the CLD's and Card Cancellations. Lot of other Banks started doing this.

[Anonymous]

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@fused wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've never ever been late. My CL was $2000 at the time, never asked for increase and always played by AMEX's "preferred rules". My scores have gone up considerably since I got my Amex Costco.

Today my Costco Amex was CLD to $800. I currently owe around $700. I always PIF every month, now that decrease leaves me $100 limit.

Never thought it would happen to me because of my low initial limit.

Has anyone called AMEX to complain and received their credit limits back?

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Do you know your current FICO scores? How do your non-Amex accounts look?

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I know from SW that my EQ in April was around 620. Got the Costco AMEX in Feb 08. My current EQ from SW is 660. EQ has always been my lowest score though.

Don't know EX which AMEX pulls.

After joing MyFico, I cleaned up my other cards and have paid off 4 revolving & 2 lines of credit.  I received an increase from Juniper last month also. 

Only new account was a Best Buy in August which I had to get because my old TV broke.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@jaybird201 wrote:

Has there been any change in your scores recently? I'm sorry, but thus far the vast majority of people receiving CLDs have mismanaged their other accounts causing their scores to drop. It's basically American Express's way of practicing universal default, they simply forego the rate hike and reduce your CL instead.

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I think that ("mismanagement" of other accounts) may have been the case not so long ago, but now it seems like anyone getting a CLD from AmEx is just as likely to live in a zip code with a high foreclosure rate, or to have their mortgage serviced by Countrywide, or any one of the other things AmEx can't stand. It sucks, and like you, Jaybird, I'm just waiting it to be my turn to get a CLD. 

Solarjuju... I'm sorry about the CLD, it sounds like you've been doing everything right and STILL that's not good enough for AmEx. 

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Just not happy because I've worked hard to improve my credit after so many years of negligence.

I've never had any baddies since I started cleaning up my act.

I take pride in telling my friends that my credit has improved, of course, with the help everyone on this forum

I hope that AMEX will realize their business choice may be helping them get their money faster but sacrificing customer loyalty and customer satisfaction.

I'm calling Discover today to get an increase of $1200, the amount AMEX decreased me.

Gonna tell them that I will be using Discover as my main card from now on because they have been generous with me from the start.

[maestro]

They have already announced plans to layoff 7,000 employees.

[alicias]

Solarjuju I think we may have spoken to the same CSR!  AmEx had been softing me every month since Sept. when I BT'd 7K to a 0% Visa.  I continued to use my Blue card and paid it off every month.  Never a late payment.

The day after my Oct. statement closed, my credit line was reduced from 9K to 500.  I called them today to complain and request an increase and it was no dice.  Here are quotes from your post that the CSR repeated to me also:

  "AMEX is doing this based on individual credit and they review reports every 3 months." 

-The CSR told me this too, said there was a recent collection on my CR (lie), which is why my LOC was decreased.  I disagreed and said that I had just pulled my report and it had nothing new on it.  

 "there is serious delinquency reported by Experian and I should call EX to obtain a report so they can compare notes."   

-Same here, her solution was telling ME to send AmEx a copy of my Experian report and they would review it in another 7-10 days. 

 "She then said AMEX will review accounts every 3 month for CLI and if the report has improved, they will grant an automatic increase."

- The CSR told me I could request a line of credit increase in another 90 days.  My response to her was, "So everyone that this happened to, we're all just f@%d for the holidays, huh?"

They ARE reading from a script and this isn't just happening to bad cardholders.  It is happening across the board so if you have a AE card with a zero balance you should charge it up now before they cut your credit line by 90%.  

I am on the fence about closing my account.  I don't want to hurt my Fico any more, but my utilization is now completely hosed and I hate the thought of rewarding unscrupulous business practices such as this.

Maybe I will send a bunch of nasty Christmas cards to AmEx higher ups and then close my account.   

[jmbfl]

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@maestro wrote:
They have already announced plans to layoff 7,000 employees.

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Yesterday's news. We all know that.

[Anonymous]

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@jmbfl wrote:

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@maestro wrote:
They have already announced plans to layoff 7,000 employees.

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Yesterday's news. We all know that.

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I think that was in response to Jaybird201 saying "I'd rather have them adopt an aggressive strategy to reduce their risk than have them go under or lay off massive amounts of employees or cut back on service. Fortunately, none of the above have happened. " 

[fused]

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jmbfl wrote:

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@maestro wrote:
They have already announced plans to layoff 7,000 employees.

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Yesterday's news. We all know that.

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Maybe you a I know, but not everyone else does.