American Express cancelled my account

[FretlessMayhem]

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@fused wrote:

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.

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Did Amex accept govt bailout funds?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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. 

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Since you want to talk about watching the news, then you surely must know this:

Bank of America is hurting and is laying off 35,000 employees. Bank of America stock is down, the Charlotte Observer has been running stories about layoffs, yet no one is bashing them. All of these are known and reported fact. Bank of America is hurting financially, yet no one has stated that Bank of America is in "dire straits."

JPMorgan Chase is hurt and is laying off thousands of employees. The CEO, Dimon, was on CNBC last month and said in a live interview that JPMorgan Chase is hurting, which caused a huge drop in the Dow Jones and S&P 500 in the last hour of trading. Once again, all of these are known and reported facts. Yet no one in the media has said that JPMorgan Chase is in "dire straits," even though Dimon stated that JPMorgan Chase was hurting financially. JPMorgan Chase's portfolio is full of toxic assets, especially with the purchase of Washington Mutual, and JPMorgan Chase has been downgraded by the S&P, just like Bank of America.

However, when I was talking to my credit union manager last week, he said the best two banks right now are Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, regardless of the TARP bailout money.

Chase has been closing inactive credit card accounts left and right. This is a known and reported fact. In fact, I was very lucky to save my Chase account from deactivation. Yet there is not even a quarter of the indignation present on this board about what Chase is doing compared to the American Express rage going on.

Additionally, for your information, I have used my American Express Blue at a Wal-Mart last week herein western Virginia. I've used it at Target, and even at Staples for the past several months. So, why is my "uppity attitude" company reducing my APR and increasing my credit limit?

Just wanted to add that CNBC is reporting about JPMorgan Chase losing its luster - so, does that mean that Chase is in "dire straits"?

Message Edited by southernstylin on 01-05-2009 12:26 PM

[KingAdrock]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Bank of America is hurting and is laying off 35,000 employees. Bank of America stock is down, the Charlotte Observer has been running stories about layoffs, yet no one is bashing them. All of these are known and reported fact. Bank of America is hurting financially, yet no one has stated that Bank of America is in "dire straits."

Chase has been closing inactive credit card accounts left and right. This is a known and reported fact. In fact, I was very lucky to save my Chase account from deactivation. Yet there is not even a quarter of the indignation present on this board about what Chase is doing compared to the American Express rage going on.

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No one is bashing Amex because they are in "dire straights". I'd completely agree Chase, BofA and almost all financial institutions could be considered in "dire straights" right now. People on this board are bashing Amex because of the actions they are taking because of said financial situation. Many of these actions are seen as unreasonable.

If Amex was closing accounts on people who carry high balances and pay late, that would be reasonable, even in a good economy. But search the forums, we're getting story after story from people having accounts closed, CLD'ed, and balance chased; regardless of the fact many have been Amex customers for years, never late, always PIF. AA on customers who are the epitomy of low risk is ridiculous.

You say Chase is closing inactive accounts, and this is true. Many companies are. Many do even in a good economy. But this is not unreasonable, especially since it's completely avoidable by the consumer. Just buy a pack of gum and the account is active.

Sure some people may be going off the deep end with the bashing, but you really ought to pay attention to the factual statements they make. Someone just saying "Amex is awful, a bunch of jerks, I hate them, etc" doesn't mean much. But "I've been a good customer for 10 years, always PIF, never late and my CL got slashed from 15k to 2." should certainly be a cause for concern.

[fused]

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FretlessMayhem wrote:

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@fused wrote:

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.

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Did Amex accept govt bailout funds?

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Yup!

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2008/pi20081111_996691.htm?chan=investing_investing+...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Additionally, for your information, I have used my American Express Blue at a Wal-Mart last week herein western Virginia. I've used it at Target, and even at Staples for the past several months. So, why is my "uppity attitude" company reducing my APR and increasing my credit limit?

Message Edited by southernstylin on 01-05-2009 12:26 PM

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I just want to clarify a few things... 

You are 100 percent right about Chase and Bof A, but I don't recall mentioning or defending them in my posts here. Why you brought that up as a point of argument is beyond me.

The Wall Street Journal had a report about AMEX closing the accounts of its cardholders who shop at certain businesses, and Wal Mart was at the top of the list of places AMEX does not want its card holders to shop. I did not make this up.

If you read these Forums, many, and I mean many, more people have been affected by AMEX closing accounts and/or suffering a CLD than any other institution. These people, including the OP, are just relaying their experience.  Do you think they are all lying about being treated unfairly? (Why not post a "NEW MESSAGE" and take a poll on how many people by CC have been CLD'd and Closed"?)  I bet far more AMEX users have been affected than most other brands, including the notorious HSBC.

As far as Chase closing inactive accounts good for them. What is the point of having a credit card if you do not use it?

[Anonymous]

1) I mentioned Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase because they are in as bad, if not worse, shape than American Express is. Additionally, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are numbers one and two in issuing credit cards and have a higher delinquency rate than American Express does.

2) I read the Wall Street Journal article that you mentioned in your post. The article mentions that the couple interview, who happen to be the only people interviewed about this problem, has an  adjustable rate mortgage,(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122446082980748593.html) Not only is Wal-Mart mentioned as a shopping destination, but the couple state that they shop at Marshalls and Sunoco and it is the couple that says that is the reason American Express is reducing the limit on their charge card (it is not a credit card). The article does not have a single quote from the letter American Express sent to that couple.

To me, this is interesting - I went to a Sunoco last week since they are all over the place here in Virginia as well several times over the past several months. I live in an area of the country that has a great deal of foreclosures taking place in addition to me being a rentor. So, why in October, when this bad stuff happened to this couple, American Express decides to drop my APR  to 8.99 and then to 7.99 in December?

Let's take a look at this quote from the article from an American Express representative:

"If they're spending in a way that looks like a pattern of other people who had credit trouble before them, it gets added into the mix," he says, though that one factor isn't enough to trigger tightened charge limits. Hmmm, maybe that could be the reason for why I am not being affected.

Once again, this goes back to the question I posited in an earlier post - why isn't all that bad stuff happening to me? I shop at Wal-Mart, I buy gas at Sunoco, I eat at restaurants called Buffalo Wing Factory and IHOP, I get my coffee at a Sheetz convenience store or at 7-11, and I food shop at Bloom (used to be Food Lion). Heck, that's as redneck as you can get here in western Virginia, yet my APR dropped from 8.99 in November to 7.99 in December on my Blue, I have a $26,000 CL on my Blue and a $14,000 CL on my Blue Cash. I have $5000 left to pay on an installment loan and a balance on two of my credit cards.

I fit all the categories to be rate-jacked, CLD, and AA according to John and Monica Bell from the article, yet nothing has happened of the sort. Interesting, huh?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

1) I mentioned Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase because they are in as bad, if not worse, shape than American Express is. Additionally, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are numbers one and two in issuing credit cards and have a higher delinquency rate than American Express does.

2) I read the Wall Street Journal article that you mentioned in your post. The article mentions that the couple interview, who happen to be the only people interviewed about this problem, has an  adjustable rate mortgage,(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122446082980748593.html) Not only is Wal-Mart mentioned as a shopping destination, but the couple state that they shop at Marshalls and Sunoco and it is the couple that says that is the reason American Express is reducing the limit on their charge card (it is not a credit card). The article does not have a single quote from the letter American Express sent to that couple.

To me, this is interesting - I went to a Sunoco last week since they are all over the place here in Virginia as well several times over the past several months. I live in an area of the country that has a great deal of foreclosures taking place in addition to me being a rentor. So, why in October, when this bad stuff happened to this couple, American Express decides to drop my APR  to 8.99 and then to 7.99 in December?

Let's take a look at this quote from the article from an American Express representative:

"If they're spending in a way that looks like a pattern of other people who had credit trouble before them, it gets added into the mix," he says, though that one factor isn't enough to trigger tightened charge limits. Hmmm, maybe that could be the reason for why I am not being affected.

Once again, this goes back to the question I posited in an earlier post - why isn't all that bad stuff happening to me? I shop at Wal-Mart, I buy gas at Sunoco, I eat at restaurants called Buffalo Wing Factory and IHOP, I get my coffee at a Sheetz convenience store or at 7-11, and I food shop at Bloom (used to be Food Lion). Heck, that's as redneck as you can get here in western Virginia, yet my APR dropped from 8.99 in November to 7.99 in December on my Blue, I have a $26,000 CL on my Blue and a $14,000 CL on my Blue Cash. I have $5000 left to pay on an installment loan and a balance on two of my credit cards.

I fit all the categories to be rate-jacked, CLD, and AA according to John and Monica Bell from the article, yet nothing has happened of the sort. Interesting, huh?

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@Anonymous wrote:

1) I mentioned Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase because they are in as bad, if not worse, shape than American Express is. Additionally, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are numbers one and two in issuing credit cards and have a higher delinquency rate than American Express does.

2) I read the Wall Street Journal article that you mentioned in your post. The article mentions that the couple interview, who happen to be the only people interviewed about this problem, has an  adjustable rate mortgage,(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122446082980748593.html) Not only is Wal-Mart mentioned as a shopping destination, but the couple state that they shop at Marshalls and Sunoco and it is the couple that says that is the reason American Express is reducing the limit on their charge card (it is not a credit card). The article does not have a single quote from the letter American Express sent to that couple.

To me, this is interesting - I went to a Sunoco last week since they are all over the place here in Virginia as well several times over the past several months. I live in an area of the country that has a great deal of foreclosures taking place in addition to me being a rentor. So, why in October, when this bad stuff happened to this couple, American Express decides to drop my APR  to 8.99 and then to 7.99 in December?

Let's take a look at this quote from the article from an American Express representative:

"If they're spending in a way that looks like a pattern of other people who had credit trouble before them, it gets added into the mix," he says, though that one factor isn't enough to trigger tightened charge limits. Hmmm, maybe that could be the reason for why I am not being affected.

Once again, this goes back to the question I posited in an earlier post - why isn't all that bad stuff happening to me? I shop at Wal-Mart, I buy gas at Sunoco, I eat at restaurants called Buffalo Wing Factory and IHOP, I get my coffee at a Sheetz convenience store or at 7-11, and I food shop at Bloom (used to be Food Lion). Heck, that's as redneck as you can get here in western Virginia, yet my APR dropped from 8.99 in November to 7.99 in December on my Blue, I have a $26,000 CL on my Blue and a $14,000 CL on my Blue Cash. I have $5000 left to pay on an installment loan and a balance on two of my credit cards.

I fit all the categories to be rate-jacked, CLD, and AA according to John and Monica Bell from the article, yet nothing has happened of the sort. Interesting, huh?

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Your APR reduction is easily explained - your APR is tied to Prime, and Prime has been steadily going down lately. Same thing's been happening to me, but after a brief few moments of excitement the first time I spotted it, I figured out it wasn't actually "positive" action on AmEx's part. Oh well. 

[WhirledPeasPlease]

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southernstylin wrote:

So, why in October, when this bad stuff happened to this couple, American Express decides to drop my APR  to 8.99 and then to 7.99 in December?

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Is your rate tied to the prime rate?

[Creditaddict]

Amex has millions of accounts... maybe they have not reached yours yet! don't feel invisible, that's when they nail you.

[Anonymous]

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@WhirledPeasPlease wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

So, why in October, when this bad stuff happened to this couple, American Express decides to drop my APR  to 8.99 and then to 7.99 in December?

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Is your rate tied to the prime rate?

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Neither card from American Express has the APR tied to the prime rate. For example, my Blue Cash APR has been 10.99 since I received the card last year and hasn't changed.