Cancelled my Amex PRG today

[Anonymous]

you're still a customer with their other card though - I am sure they are aware that the everyday card is one that has better perks than the prg. Maybe they said to themselves "yeah i'd cancel that card too".

i've canceled cards over the voice response system and thought the same as you - wow, they don't care. but i've also canceled cards where they offered to waive fees, and that didn't work so they started talking about AAoA etc and nothing could be worse than that.

closed my best buy mc last week - wasn't bad, but they did ask why i wanted to close it, which was probably a good mix of caring/not begging.

real question though, is were you looking to close the account, or were you looking to get the annual fee waived? and if you were just looking to get the fee waived, did you ever ask for that straight up?

EDIT - just saw your last post - did you ask them for extra rewards points first? or ask for the annual fee waive? curious because i plan to ask for mine to be waived, but i'd just ask.

also, you said you moved your spending a few months ago - did you move it to the other amex card or to some other issuer's card?

[core]

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@Thammer wrote:

If they would have said he we'll give you 25k MR points I honestly woudln't have cancelled and they'd have seen more use on the card.

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Hah, yeah if they gave me $250 I'd keep mine too!!  Did you give them that much in profit over the last year?  If not, what makes you think they would give you that much?  Paying out more than you take in doesn't seem like a good way to run a business.

[Thammer]

Yeah by the time I got to the 4th rep I asked if they'd just be willing to give me the points to offest the AF or just flat out waive the AF. I got a no to both. I even told them that the whole reason I was closing it was because the EDP was better and that last rep agreed with me. So you may have a point. They thought the same thing and didn't think there was anything worth offerig to keep it open. Excellent obvservation. 

Basically my call went like that. I said I'm calling to cancel and they asked why. I stated those reasons above and they said OK we'll close it. I guess I'm just used to other companies at least offering to waive some fees or do a product change to something better which is what Citi recently did for me. 

[Thammer]

The $250 in points isn't that out of line. Heck I nearly pay that in the annual fee alone. Google Amex retention offers and see what people said they've gotten when trying to close out their cards. My spend at one point was high enough to make that worth while for them to keep me.

But to answer the other post, no I moved my spending to another card for a couple of months, namely to my Citi AAvantage to get the 50k mile sign up bonus. 

[kdm31091]

Some companies just don't give out free stuff. They will close your card if you ask and that's it. We have to all remember we are one of many many many cardholders and despite what we may think, they can do fine without us! So can't really be expecting a huge retention offer every time.

Of course its nice to get, but never guaranteed and shouldn't really be expected.

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:
Some companies just don't give out free stuff. They will close your card if you ask and that's it. We have to all remember we are one of many many many cardholders and despite what we may think, they can do fine without us! So can't really be expecting a huge retention offer every time.

Of course its nice to get, but never guaranteed and shouldn't really be expected.

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most of all - it's not "customer service".

customer service is getting you a replacement card super fast if you lose it on vacation. customer service is explaining fees or features. customer service is handling your requests accurately (address changes etc) and giving you correct answers. customer service is leaving notes on your account so you don't have to explain yourself if you are transferred (and not transferring you 6 times)

retention offers and such are a separate entity.

[kdm31091]

Agreed. I'm in retail and hate when people say bad customer service because they didn't get everything they want. There's a pervasive attitude in society where if you aren't given handouts, the customer service is poor. Not that OP was as extreme about it, but it happens a lot

[Thammer]

I know opinions vary on this. I didn't mean for my post to come accross as a guy whining about not getting a retention offer. I'm just surprised after all the money I put through Amex that they didn't at least offer. I guess my point is I've read all over the internet about how famous Amex is for their big retention offers but it wasn't the case for me. 

I do believe customer service includes rewarding loyal customers. Afterall, we're all consumers and we can choose who to bank with as well as which credit card we prefer. So in that light, I do think that a card company should make using their product more rewarding and strive to keep customers. In today's credit card market we have so many choices based on rewards structure and bonus offers that I think they should cater to us. But maybe that's just me.

And yes, I realize I'm but one tiny cog in the giant machine that is Amex. But it's just my little observation that other credit card companies have treated me better than they have and I'll stick to using them.

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:
Agreed. I'm in retail and hate when people say bad customer service because they didn't get everything they want. There's a pervasive attitude in society where if you aren't given handouts, the customer service is poor. Not that OP was as extreme about it, but it happens a lot

i had the misfortune to work in a couple call centers way back when.

it happens enough that i guarantee all 4 csr's were thinking in their head that all OP really wanted was the fee waive. especially after the first 2 calls. they saw the notes - "cust req close acct, disc when i offered to do so". 

they also get dinged when you call back in, so each one is already hating their life for getting you in the 1st place. their big hope at that point is that you'll ask for a manager, because one way or the other you might not call back in again (cuz you got what you wanted or will give up). the only other hope they have is closing the account before you disconnect.

as kdm31091 said, not saying you were over the top, but a lot of people are, and at least a quarter,maybe half your calls a day are like that, so the reps start assuming you'll be over the top, which probably hurt your chances.

[mongstradamus]

It's not surprising that amex doesn't do much for retention offers. Heck they don't even honor offers that are clearly listed in their own website. To me it comes down to if they are looking for new customers to pad their profits