cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!

tag
Red1Blue
Super Contributor

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!



Scamp wrote:
Thanks, Hauling.
Any suggestions for which CC to apply for, if any right now, with my scores so low and having had my bank turn me down for a CLI with their card?
I keep reading about the Delta, Starwood and HH cards, and those do turn up under their 'special offers for cardmembers' page for me on AmEx's site....


Until you get your finances together, you might want to stay away from high interest rate credit cards.
You might want to approach on of your local credit unions, who probably can help you much more in consolidating your credit cards into a low cost loan and get you started on the right track. Couple of my CU's came through for me and helped me a lot.

Message Edited by Scamp on 12-13-2008 09:43 AM
Message 11 of 20
Scamp
Valued Contributor

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!



concorduser wrote:


Scamp wrote:
Thanks, Hauling.
Any suggestions for which CC to apply for, if any right now, with my scores so low and having had my bank turn me down for a CLI with their card?
I keep reading about the Delta, Starwood and HH cards, and those do turn up under their 'special offers for cardmembers' page for me on AmEx's site....


Until you get your finances together, you might want to stay away from high interest rate credit cards.
You might want to approach on of your local credit unions, who probably can help you much more in consolidating your credit cards into a low cost loan and get you started on the right track. Couple of my CU's came through for me and helped me a lot.



(I only just figured out how to quote the post I'm responding to)
Thanks for the CU suggestion, concorduser, but aside from having high utilization s(just have been lazy about paying them off and now know I shouldn't have let the util percentages ALL get so high and then just sit - still learning!) on my cards at the mo and the temporary low scores due to my short credit history and that high util, my finances are in good shape; I can pay the balances down without a problem over a few to several months and then will make sure I keep them low. 
If I decide instead to do the consolidation loan at some point, it'll be more just to get a different type of item onto my report (unless something unforseen causes me to go for one for more dire reasons).
Message Edited by Scamp on 12-13-2008 09:46 AM
_____________________________________________________________________________
It's never too late to become the person you might have been. ~George Eliot

02/12/09 EX: 701 / 02/08/10 EQ: 719 / 02/08/10 TU: 723

Backdoor Numbers, Credit Scoring 101, Understanding Your FICO Score PDF
Message 12 of 20
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!


@Scamp wrote:
Thanks, Hauling.
Any suggestions for which CC to apply for, if any right now, with my scores so low and having had my bank turn me down for a CLI with their card?
I keep reading about the Delta, Starwood and HH cards, and those do turn up under their 'special offers for cardmembers' page for me on AmEx's site....



I had forgotten about not being able to simply switch from AmEx charge to AmEx credit, and vice versa.

I think that concorduser has a better idea. Check out your local credit unions, most of whom now have a category for nearly everyone to join. They're much less high-maintenance and dramatic than American Express, and you can also get car loans, HELOCs and personal loans as well from many of them. Generally speaking, their customer service is great, and their APR's are very fair.

Do be sure, though, to pay your AmEx card down to $0, so that when you do want to get back in with them, you shouldn't have a problem. The tough thing about the credit cards that are easier to get (Delta, Starwood, HH) is that AmEx doesn't quite know what to do with them, since they represent a broadening of their market, and they're much quicker to whump those card holders. I don't know that you'd want to go through that twice. Smiley Tongue


edit: Well, we're hopelessly entangled now, aren't we? Smiley Very Happy If you're going to go ahead and clean up your util etc in the next several months, you might want to just do what I did: keep reading posts on how people feel about various cards, their odd little quirks (the cards' quirks, that is), what kind of history you need, and so forth. You know better what your overall credit picture looks like, and what exactly you want from a CC.

BTW, hope your kitty pulled through OK.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-28-2008 04:11 PM
Message Edited by Scamp on 12-13-2008 09:46 AM
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 13 of 20
Scamp
Valued Contributor

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!



haulingthescoreup wrote:
I had forgotten about not being able to simply switch from AmEx charge to AmEx credit, and vice versa.

I think that concorduser has a better idea. Check out your local credit unions, most of whom now have a category for nearly everyone to join. They're much less high-maintenance and dramatic than American Express, and you can also get car loans, HELOCs and personal loans as well from many of them. Generally speaking, their customer service is great, and their APR's are very fair.

Do be sure, though, to pay your AmEx card down to $0, so that when you do want to get back in with them, you shouldn't have a problem. The tough thing about the credit cards that are easier to get (Delta, Starwood, HH) is that AmEx doesn't quite know what to do with them, since they represent a broadening of their market, and they're much quicker to whump those card holders. I don't know that you'd want to go through that twice. Smiley Tongue


edit: Well, we're hopelessly entangled now, aren't we? Smiley Very Happy If you're going to go ahead and clean up your util etc in the next several months, you might want to just do what I did: keep reading posts on how people feel about various cards, their odd little quirks (the cards' quirks, that is), what kind of history you need, and so forth. You know better what your overall credit picture looks like, and what exactly you want from a CC.

BTW, hope your kitty pulled through OK.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-28-2008 04:11 PM

Thanks again, Hauling.  The only reason I was considering trying to get another regular CC was just to have a way to BT my remaining Gold Card balance and (maybe) close the Gold Card acct without denting my scores too much or lose overall credit availability.
 
Bad enough to have to keep any card with them to protect my score, but I was hoping I at least wouldn't have to pay the bloody fee for the Gold Card! Smiley Mad
 
Much as it riles me to say, I likely will have to just grit my teeth and pay them off, then use the card minimally to keep it active while I pay down the other ones and get my scores back up.  Smiley Sad
 
At that point, I may revisit the idea of getting a regular CC with AmEx and dump the Gold Card and its Fee, if I don't get a card somewhere else and dump AmEx altogether.
 
And yes, my cat pulled through - thanks for the kind wishes.  He's now my 'Thousand-Dollar Cat' and has been informed that he is required to live AT LEAST another ten years! Smiley Very Happy
 

 
_____________________________________________________________________________
It's never too late to become the person you might have been. ~George Eliot

02/12/09 EX: 701 / 02/08/10 EQ: 719 / 02/08/10 TU: 723

Backdoor Numbers, Credit Scoring 101, Understanding Your FICO Score PDF
Message 14 of 20
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!


@Scamp wrote:

And yes, my cat pulled through - thanks for the kind wishes. He's now my 'Thousand-Dollar Cat' and has been informed that he is required to live AT LEAST another ten years! Smiley Very Happy


Glad to hear it! I've had several brisk discussions with cats over the years regarding their price per pound. Smiley Wink
Message Edited by Scamp on 12-13-2008 09:47 AM
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 15 of 20
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!

I guess the bottom line is the Extended Pay privilege was designed for other uses that what you have used it for-
 
Vacations and major purchases-
You are not putting enough though the card to justify the AF for gold-  My little Green is back up to $3k again- Good thing this is a short month-
 
I currently have no reason or desire to revolve on my Green card-
 
 
Glad to hear you and your cat has recovered.
Message 16 of 20
Scamp
Valued Contributor

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!



Timothy wrote:
I guess the bottom line is the Extended Pay privilege was designed for other uses that what you have used it for-
Vacations and major purchases-
You are not putting enough though the card to justify the AF for gold-  My little Green is back up to $3k again- Good thing this is a short month-
I currently have no reason or desire to revolve on my Green card-
Glad to hear you and your cat has recovered.


I know Extended Pay was designed mainly for big stuff like that; I used it the way I did at this point with the intent of temporarily revolving a larger balance than I typically would try to run up and pay off in full in a single month, which I hoped would give me a higher 'limit' reported to CRA's and help my overall scores, once I paid that revolved balance back down and off.  My AmEx card right now IS reported as a CC, presumably due to the revolving balance.  I never checked how it was reported prior to that, so have to wait til it's paid off to see how it's reported when I don't have a revolving balance.
I know I don't put enough through most months (yet) to justify the Gold fee in that sense; I got Gold more for longer-term purposes and plans, for domestic travel-related purchases, to gradually build up how much I was charging and paying off every month as my income and spending power grow, and for the perks AmEx gives Gold card travelers.  I travel internationally once a year, typically on my own, and I thought that $110/year would be worth it if anything unforeseen ever happened  on a trip wherein AmEx's services could get me out of a pickle in another country that I couldn't get out of on my own.
In reading various threads on here, it may be that I could have avoided the suspension if I had called them when the cat emergency hit and told them what I was planning to do. 
And I'm not so much angry that they pulled the privilege - they absolutely have a right to pull it if I'm not using it correctly or reach some kind of credit-worthiness limit or whatever - I'm angry that they  didn't notify me.  I should have been informed it was gone BEFORE I made new purchases under the new conditions of my account.  Had I known that option had been removed, I of course never would have put additional charges on that card.  Instead, they gave me no warning, no clue that anything had changed, authorized more than twice my characteristic charges in a month and THEN told me I no longer had the option to move some purchases to Extended Pay.  Inexcusable.
Message Edited by Scamp on 12-13-2008 09:48 AM
_____________________________________________________________________________
It's never too late to become the person you might have been. ~George Eliot

02/12/09 EX: 701 / 02/08/10 EQ: 719 / 02/08/10 TU: 723

Backdoor Numbers, Credit Scoring 101, Understanding Your FICO Score PDF
Message 17 of 20
armywifey85
Regular Contributor

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!

Maybe try a loan-shark lol jk thats what AMEX sounds like are you sure the Mafias not running AMEX? IMO I'd get rid of em and get a VISA/Mastercard and never do business with them again. First of all I'm not jumping through hoops for some sell out sub-prime card thats sells its logo to HSBC. I would cut up that card into thousands of pieces and get Amex CEO's address and mail it to him and tell him to bend ova and shove straight up his neveamind...lol
Message 18 of 20
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!

Glad to hear your cat is doing better. I think maybe timing may be a factor as well, it is possible that creditors in general are a little jittery these days. I can't remember who participates in universal default or not, but isn't there something that's supposed to be happening in March? Are creditors doing some additional reviews for scrutiny?

Basically, I'm wondering if your situation happened a year ago, would Amex have pulled the pay later option? (I'd be wondering this question if it were any other creditor as well.)

Message Edited by PenguinGeek on 02-29-2008 04:21 AM
Message 19 of 20
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: AmEx - Yanked my Extended Pay privilege w/no notice!



PenguinGeek wrote:
Glad to hear your cat is doing better. I think maybe timing may be a factor as well, it is possible that creditors in general are a little jittery these days. I can't remember who participates in universal default or not, but isn't there something that's supposed to be happening in March? Are creditors doing some additional reviews for scrutiny?

Basically, I'm wondering if your situation happened a year ago, would Amex have pulled the pay later option? (I'd be wondering this question if it were any other creditor as well.)

Chase has announced that as of March 2008 they will no longer practice UD.  They announced this a few months ago, to some fanfare, but of course the discussion at that time was about why they wouldn't just cease the practice immediately since they apparently concede they should stop.
 
There was a post on another board last fall sometime from someone who got a notice of ratejacking by Chase, called customer service and said "I thought you were stopping this unfair practice," to which the CSR replied, "Oh, no, that's not til March."
 
Message 20 of 20
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.