cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

American Express cancelled my account

tag
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: American Express cancelled my account


@smon1234 wrote:

First and fore most. I'm new here so if something sounds wrong don't go to hard on me.

 


Welcome to the Forums. If you had been a member here sooner, you might have been able to save your AMEX by reading the posts. Hopefully the advice here can help you avoid any other bad stuff happening.

 

 

Message 21 of 85
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: American Express cancelled my account

I honestly don't think anyone is safe from Amex. I read all over the place people with perfect credit, zero balances on their Amex and they get CLD. I think that darn computer they use spits out accounts with a bogus reason for the AA. When I recieved my 1st AA last week with my credit card being closed I was upset that they did it to me " in reality I could have care less about that card because I wasn't ever going to use it AGAIN" but the thought of them closing it was upsetting. So you know what, I say screw them, I went and apply for a card and got it at a much better rate and higher CL. So my advise is to carry zero balances so when these dogs close our accounts it's not closed with a balance.
Message 22 of 85
preci0uz
Regular Contributor

Re: American Express cancelled my account

Who are your other creditors? Maybe you can request CLI with them to bring down your UTL %.

 

Amex, is ridiculous.  However, maybe you can re-instate your account after your UTL is around 9%.

Message 23 of 85
emartin82
Regular Contributor

Re: American Express cancelled my account

 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/world/asia/26addiction.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

 

 

American banks and credit companies are trying to cut their losses and prevent loss on risky customers. The purpose of credit is not to be in debt. Why would you carry a balance if you claim you have the income to keep you from doing so? My income allows me to purchase, say, a $1700 iMac without having to put it on a card and finance it (carry a balance). My $2000 credit limit on my Citi card wouldnt even permit me to make such a purchase because I'd be close to maxing it out, so I'd purchase it with real funds.

 

Don't take this personally although I know its difficult not to. But the reasons Amex cited to justify closing your account are, well, probably justified.  Don't carry balances of more than 10-15% of your available credit (this number varies from person to person depending on their personal preferences, I prefer not to carry a balance at all unless its a medical or car emergency and the expense is more than I can afford that given month). If you are carrying balances for items that are not unforseen expenses or emergency expenses, then you should consider working on your budget and living within your means.

 

Paying more than the minimum doesnt really mean much. Stop being ticked off and take it as a learning experiences. Pay down your balances to near zero and move on. Amex is currently in survival mode and doing everything in its power to remain fiscally solvent through this recession even if it ticks off some consumers. Smiley Sad

Message 24 of 85
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: American Express cancelled my account


@Anonymous wrote:
I honestly don't think anyone is safe from Amex. I read all over the place people with perfect credit, zero balances on their Amex and they get CLD. I think that darn computer they use spits out accounts with a bogus reason for the AA. When I recieved my 1st AA last week with my credit card being closed I was upset that they did it to me " in reality I could have care less about that card because I wasn't ever going to use it AGAIN" but the thought of them closing it was upsetting. So you know what, I say screw them, I went and apply for a card and got it at a much better rate and higher CL. So my advise is to carry zero balances so when these dogs close our accounts it's not closed with a balance.

 

I'm going to disagree with you on this one because American Express is doing the opposite with my two cards. My APRs have dropped on both cards. For instance, the Blue Cash dropped from a 14.99 to a 10.99 and it will be a year old next month. My Blue now has a 7.99 APR and I have a balance transfer on the card that has a promo 1.99 APR until May. My Blue had its CL raised to 27000 dollars by American Express. This all has been happening since September 2008.

 

My question to you and others is that if people with "perfect credit, zero balances" are getting rate jacked, CLD, and AA, why isn't it happening to me? Part of my theory is that people are only telling the good part of the story. They aren't telling the bad part of the story, such as they missed payments or have ARM mortgages that they are struggling to pay, but they are more than willing to go out and say how bad this CC is and how bad that is to them.

 

The other part of the theory is that American Express offered the cards to me, and not the other way around. I may be wrong on my logic, but I think that American Express wants me as a customer (due to the preapproved offers and the low APR balance transfer offers), and that is why these things are happening to me.

 

For those who may think I am an Amex shill, here is something to consider. In the past four years I have had my Amex Blue, I have always had a balance on it. If Amex is CLD'ing or closing cards on people that have balances on their cards, I should definitely be on that short list. However, I'm not.

 

So, what's the explanation?

Message 25 of 85
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: American Express cancelled my account

Interesting theory, so if AMEX wnats you, they will keep you, but if you "applied" to them, you are a less desirable customer.

 

Maybe the OP shopped at Wal Mart too? I hear AMEX hates Wal Mart.

 

I think southernstylin that your theory, while a good one, has a hole in it, because for a company in such dire straights as AMEX they sure do have a lot of commercials asking people to apply for their cards. Never in their ads does it say "AMEX if we want you to have one we'll let you know!"

Message 26 of 85
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: American Express cancelled my account


@Anonymous wrote:

Interesting theory, so if AMEX wnats you, they will keep you, but if you "applied" to them, you are a less desirable customer.

 

Maybe the OP shopped at Wal Mart too? I hear AMEX hates Wal Mart.

 

I think southernstylin that your theory, while a good one, has a hole in it, because for a company in such dire straights as AMEX they sure do have a lot of commercials asking people to apply for their cards. Never in their ads does it say "AMEX if we want you to have one we'll let you know!"


Washington Mutual still has commercials - not bad for a bank that doesn't exist and is now JPMorgan Chase.

Wachovia has been playing radio commercials where I live about personal and business checking offers - except Wachovia is now Wells Fargo.

 

If you are going to judge the viability of a company or banking institution by commercials, well, that's not a good benchmark to use.

 

As I said previously, we are only hearing what the posters want us to hear. I don't think we are hearing the entire story and that there is more than just "Amex hates me and is cancelling my card."

 

Additionally, while I have been typing this, CNBC just flashed that American Express is one of the stock leaders on the Dow Jones today. Yeah, American Express really is in "dire straits"...

Message 27 of 85
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: American Express cancelled my account

"""I understand but it is still nonsense. If most companies now are going to base their accounts on statistics, why even have a individual credit report for people. Apparently your credit history doesn't matter to them anymore."""

 

 

 

No offense, but you're spending a lot of time complaining about Amex, 

 

Amex is in pretty bad financial shape right now, They announced last fall they were firing like 7000 people?? 

 

IMO that's the main reason they're CLD'ing and RJ'ing like crazy is to force money from their revolving accounts that don't PIF.  They need money ...

 

I know a lot of merchants have stopped taking Amex which means less transaction fees, which in turn  means even less Amex revenue. 

 

I'll agree, it's crazy for them to cut a customer off now, and have them NOT return as a card holderr when things get better. 

 

 

The good news is, there are other credit products available, the bad news is, with the current credit crunch, they all doing the same thing, some to lesser extents, others just as drastic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Message 28 of 85
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: American Express cancelled my account

Actually the WAMU commercials (at least in California) are to inform people that they are now part of Chase. We don't have Wachovia commercials here since Wells Fargo is a California company, and we have actual Wells Fargo banks.

 

And it is a known fact that American Express is hurting financially, one day of good stock increases does not outweigh the fact they have been hurting for months and months. I would not call laying off thousands of employees and cutting the credit of many loyal consumers healthy. Also AMEX was downgraded by S&P and part of the reason for the downgrade is the "deterioration in the AMEX credit card portfolio".

 

Now maybe everyone on these boards who is posting an AMEX horror story is not giving us the full story as you put it, but if you watch the news and see that they do not want their customers shopping at Wal Mart, and have used this as a reason to CLD and even close cards, that to me speaks volumes about their uppity attitude as a company. 

 

 

Message 29 of 85
fused
Moderator Emeritus

Re: American Express cancelled my account


johnson_long wrote:

 

IMO that's the main reason they're CLD'ing and RJ'ing like crazy is to force money from their revolving accounts that don't PIF.  They need money ...

 


No, they were given a blank check by the Federal Government. Amex doesn't need money, they just want to keep their uber-prime card members and can the rest.

Message 30 of 85
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.