Amex Scrooge - Panics on Black Friday, Cuts Credit Lines TODAY! Amex Ruins X-Mas!

[Anonymous]

I am having the same issues right now with an AmEx gold card.

I have been paying down my balance pretty steadily from a high of $11.5K down to $9k now. Each time I do so Amex responds immediately by decreasing my credit line to the nearest $100 above my current balance.

I have some money that I was going to use on cards that have higher %rates but lower util. Screw them burning my credit score.

This time next week I am going to pay in PIF and just meditate on a valuable lesson learned. Just like my complete credit history!!

Getting smarter every day

[score_building]

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@Itsmeagain wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 JOIN THE AMEX CLASS ACTION SUIT when it is announced!

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Class Action Suit for WHAT? . . . . a creditor wanting their money back? . . . . I doubt that will ever happen.  Read your CC Agreement.  You agreed to it when you applied for the card.

After reading this thread, just for grins, I decided to apply for an Amex charge card.  I was instantly approved for their Gold Rewards Card. I'll use it for what it's intended, reap their rewards and PIF before the due date.

I think Amex will survive but will gravitate back to their core business which is CHARGE CARDS.  Remember when an Amex card only came in Green and they only offered it as a charge card?  Back then, the two cards I carried were an Amex and a Diners Club.  I don't know if Diners is still in business but Amex is a Great company if you realize that they are NOT a long term lender and respect the fact that they just want to turn their investment in you quickly.  Are they even a bank?  I've heard stories about them becoming one but their original business model did not include banking options.

Yes, I have other Credit Cards that I carry balances on and have BT's with but Amex is and will always be (IMHO) a charge card company and I'll never get angry just because they want their money back.

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Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the vote of confidence.  Amex recently offered me a FREE credit report/score on one of their cards.  I took advantage of it and my EXP score is 718 and my report still has NO negatives on anything no matter what Amex distorts.    Of course it's a gimmick to get you to sign up for the other 2 credit scores/reports monthly monitoring. 

I'm staying the course, paying just minimum due + fin chg on these low APR bal xfers.  I'm not letting them close my Delta and other accounts so fast no matter how much they may continue to chase down the balances.  Once the limits are gone, they are not coming back.   I didn't earn 400K Delta miles for paying cash! 

Did ALL Amex cardmembers here receive this letter last week??  I didn't and I have 5 cards. 

Does it mean only Amex cardmembers they want to keep got it?   

Does it mean the Amex cardmembers they want to dump didn't?

What' happens if you call the number and tell them you have financial difficulties that they caused?!  An APR cut, CL reduction or they'll close your account?

Amex is pathetic!  They hurt you then want to "help" you!   Oh, I forgot, they don't want to help me since I didn't receive this letter!  

Our Commitment to You: Tools to Gain Financial Control

We have always provided our Cardmembers with the insights, information and tools they need to monitor and manage spending on their Cards.

Over the coming months, we will be introducing a number of service enhancements designed to help Cardmembers better manage their spending during these difficult economic times. We will:

• Expand our online tools to help Cardmembers actively manage spending on their American Express® Cards.
• Help Cardmembers better understand and protect their credit profiles.
• Provide even more timely communication when we make decisions that affect Cardmember accounts.

Here is what you can do right now:

Go to americanexpress.com/managemycard to learn how to manage your account online and analyze what you spend. You can take advantage of electronic alerts to get weekly updates on your balance, or tell you when you have spent a certain amount, when your bill is due or when we might have detected fraudulent activity on your account.

We know that challenging times like these affect each of our Cardmembers differently. And we are committed to developing account management tools you can customize to meet your needs.

In the meantime, if you are experiencing temporary financial difficulties, call us at 1-866-239-5448.

Thank you for your business. We look forward to continuing to serve you.

Sincerely,

Jud Linville
President and CEO, Consumer Services
American Express

[PCR20]

I don't need to go into the details as it seems my story is the same as everyone else with an AmEx card.

AmEx cut my available credit from 25K to 2.8K over two months

No lates, no BK, 30+ years of perfect credit, less than 15% debt ratio, 35+ years on the same $185K+ job, house is positive etc...

I read somewhere that they target people that shopped at Walmart... (I did use my AmEx one time there)

My question is this, will it really hurt my FICOs much to pay this dumb thing off and close it?

I owe about $2,400 which I usually payoff over two months, until they started screwing with me.

I've read so many times not to close an account, but we're talking about American Express here...I don't like the idea of having anthing to do with a bank that treats Americans this way.

EX:798 TU:790 EQ:764

Message Edited by TCarson on 03-22-2009 01:00 AM

[WhirledPeasPlease]

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TCarson wrote:

My question is this, will it really hurt my FICOs much to pay this dumb thing off and close it?

I owe about $2,400 which I usually payoff over two months, until they started screwing with me.

I've read so many times not to close an account, but we're talking about American Express here...I don't like the idea of having anthing to do with a bank that treats Americans this way.

EX:798 TU:790 EQ:764

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You might want to read the "Closing Credit Cards" thread which is sticked under "Helpful Links" at the top of the CC forum.

Trust me, I hate Amex too, and will probably close my Greenie when the AF is due.

[Anonymous]

Well Amex closed my accounts out of the blue

Started because of some SNAFU on THEIR site with auto-pay.  I caught it BEFORE it happened, fixed it with their web team, and then paid MANUALLY right then and there before there was an issue or late.  Told me I was in great shape/history with them, not to worry about the snafu. That led them though to pull credit and w/o warning they cancelled.

I called them and they said;

Balances are high on my other CCs (not on Amex, those are at 5% or so).  I said yes but that is an abberation as you can see and will be paid in full next month

I have two Collections on my report.  I told them THOSE are challenged and we are suing CRA now (we are).

I asked if a) I get balances back down to where they usually are and b) get the false collections off will they reinstate.

They said I have a 90-day window and they will definitely reconsider because my payment history with them is great, and outside the current util and disputed collections, I have perfect payment history for years.

My lawyer is very confident we will win suit, probably get damages, and he will make a stipulation for the settlement that the CRA writes to Amex department of my choice that the items were incorrectly reported, not mine, and not my responsibility and they have removed. 

Hoping with that and paydown they reinstate. I don't even care about how big the line is, just want the age (two 30 year old accounts0 and don't want closed Amex on my reports.

[Marvintran]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Well Amex closed my accounts out of the blue

Started because of some SNAFU on THEIR site with auto-pay.  I caught it BEFORE it happened, fixed it with their web team, and then paid MANUALLY right then and there before there was an issue or late.  Told me I was in great shape/history with them, not to worry about the snafu. That led them though to pull credit and w/o warning they cancelled.

I called them and they said;

Balances are high on my other CCs (not on Amex, those are at 5% or so).  I said yes but that is an abberation as you can see and will be paid in full next month

I have two Collections on my report.  I told them THOSE are challenged and we are suing CRA now (we are).

I asked if a) I get balances back down to where they usually are and b) get the false collections off will they reinstate.

They said I have a 90-day window and they will definitely reconsider because my payment history with them is great, and outside the current util and disputed collections, I have perfect payment history for years.

My lawyer is very confident we will win suit, probably get damages, and he will make a stipulation for the settlement that the CRA writes to Amex department of my choice that the items were incorrectly reported, not mine, and not my responsibility and they have removed. 

Hoping with that and paydown they reinstate. I don't even care about how big the line is, just want the age (two 30 year old accounts0 and don't want closed Amex on my reports.

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Sorry to hear that nycc2, is this on your plum card or green card?

[Anonymous]

nyccc2 -- 

Ugh!   What a mess Amex has become.   I'm really sorry to hear that this happened to you.

I did a product change from Optima to Blue a few weeks ago, and now I mostly regret it.  Even though I received a confirmation letter, I feel like they'll pull the rug out before the card arrives next week.  I should've just stayed off the radar completely.

They're severing relationships with so many good customers.    Wish I could look into the future and see their losses in say, 5 years.

[wmarat]

Could anyone profile good customer as Amex sees it?

Or may be Amex severs relationship with not so good customers ( by Amex's criteria)

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@Anonymous wrote:

nyccc2 -- 

Ugh!   What a mess Amex has become.   I'm really sorry to hear that this happened to you.

I did a product change from Optima to Blue a few weeks ago, and now I mostly regret it.  Even though I received a confirmation letter, I feel like they'll pull the rug out before the card arrives next week.  I should've just stayed off the radar completely.

They're severing relationships with so many good customers.    Wish I could look into the future and see their losses in say, 5 years.

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[PCR20]

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@wmarat wrote:

Could anyone profile good customer as Amex sees it?

Or may be Amex severs relationship with not so good customers ( by Amex's criteria)

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I know what they think is a "not so good customer" 

In establishing credit over 35 years ago; 

No lates ever, period (not on any accounts in 35+ years)

35 years of perfect credit as reported on all three CRA’s

Less than 15% debt-income ratio (cars/boat/cc)

No BKs 

Never a collection account.

Absolutely nothing ever in the area of my “Potentially Negative”  credit reports

35+ years on the same $185K+ job

A house is positive (despite today’s market)

Oldest CC account = 1987 (still open)

Average CC account age = 12 years

Total Open CC accounts = 5

Total accounts in good standing = 28 (including old closed mortgages I paid off years back)

Total accounts with negative information = 0

Available credit = 45K (without AmEx)

All 3 Credit Scores in the upper 700’s (low 800’s by Experian PLUS)

No “risky” behavior charges, although I did use the card at Wal-Mart once, just two months before they attacked the account. 

Yep, after looking this up, I can now see why American Express thinks I’m a risk.

A risk of paying them off every time, on time!

If them lowering my limit had no effect on my FICO, I wouldn't care at all.

What irks me is I passed up some excellent low-interest/high limit offers from USBank to go for the AmEx Blue and the 25K CL they gave me.