topic Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise! in Credit Cards

Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:12:36 GMT

Hello, I hope everyone's having a nice weekend!!

I'm a Costco lover, and I go to Costco pretty much everyday (mostly for the slice of pizza). I don't have the TrueEarnings card and I checkout with a bluecash usually.

So, today, as usual, I checked out using the Blue Cash card and found out it is denied, and then Platinum, denied again. Had to use my mom's charge card to pay for all the food I've bought (guility ... feeling)

Later on I called Amex customer service and try to find out wt* happened, they told me my accounts are frozne and I have to fill out a 4506t to irs.

... and I only have had an Amex for <30 days.

Did my irregular spending triggered this?

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:25:35 GMT

Define irregular?

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

kdm31091 — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:26:07 GMT

What do you mean by irregular? Were you purchasing large amounts of gift cards from Costco or something?

I don't see how buying pizza should be considered weird to them

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:28:17 GMT

@MSG,

Wow.. That is terrible. Are you going to send it in? Thus the IRS form?

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

core — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:33:00 GMT

Two questions:

1. Precisely what kind of spending were you doing in just 30 days to cause this?

2. Do you really drive to Costco every day and pay for a slice of pizza? Or is this a free thing?

All I can say is, I hope you didn't put that pizza on your Amex card. $2, every day, same store, at a store where it's unusual to only spend that little. They probably thought you were buying 40oz's for lunch.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:37:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous,

Wow.. That is terrible. Are you going to send it in? Thus the IRS form?

Ya my parents told me to do so otherwise my accounts will be closed (seriously?)

Also, I spend irregularly all the time, monthly utilization % graph would look something like this:

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

core — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:40:05 GMT

Since you've only had the card for less than one billing cycle, how could your util go up and down like that? Were you pushing tons of payments through or something? Even so, it would be more like a sawtooth if that were the case.

They certainly cannot care which days you do your spending. That would be a bit over the top even for Amex.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

gdale6 — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:41:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous,

Wow.. That is terrible. Are you going to send it in? Thus the IRS form?
Ya my parents told me to do so otherwise my accounts will be closed (seriously?)

Also, I spend irregularly all the time, monthly utilization % graph would look something like this:

Best advice I can give you is this: Creditors like stability and predictability. Good luck

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 01:03:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous,

Wow.. That is terrible. Are you going to send it in? Thus the IRS form?
Ya my parents told me to do so otherwise my accounts will be closed (seriously?)

Also, I spend irregularly all the time, monthly utilization % graph would look something like this:

@Anonymous,

Ok good.. Often times, Amex does not close the account after review. I tried logging on different computers but still can't see the graph. Hopefully, you come out of it successful..

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 01:22:14 GMT

I can't see the graph either. What does it show that would cause an alarm? Still shocked that this could happen in less than 30 days

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

cartwrna — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 03:33:24 GMT

4506-t is an income verification sometimes used for underwriting. As long as your income on it matches with what you supplies to AMEX, you should be ok. If not you may find your account closed or your limits chopped.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 03:44:19 GMT

Wow, Amex frozen at Costco would be very annoying as I would likely have to leave the store without purchasing anything since they accept only Amex and I never carry checks around. Unlike other places where you can take out a Visa or some other card, at Costco there really are no other choices. Actually, I was not aware you could use anything other than the Amex TE at Costco (hmm might make the Fidelity Amex useful for heavy Costco shoppers).

As far as your situation, the 4506-T is fairly simple. Just go ahead and send it in and your accounts will eventually get unfrozen. If you don't send one in they will close your accounts. Something in your profile might have spooked them, but I highly doubt it was a daily pizza slice at Costco.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

ways2go — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 04:08:53 GMT

you can use any amex card at costco. I've used my Amex ED as well.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

ojefferyo — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 04:18:19 GMT

@ways2go wrote:
you can use any amex card at costco. I've used my Amex ED as well.

Not if they are ice.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

EddieK — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 04:33:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wow, Amex frozen at Costco would be very annoying as I would likely have to leave the store without purchasing anything since they accept only Amex and I never carry checks around. Unlike other places where you can take out a Visa or some other card, at Costco there really are no other choices. Actually, I was not aware you could use anything other than the Amex TE at Costco (hmm might make the Fidelity Amex useful for heavy Costco shoppers).

As far as your situation, the 4506-T is fairly simple. Just go ahead and send it in and your accounts will eventually get unfrozen. If you don't send one in they will close your accounts. Something in your profile might have spooked them, but I highly doubt it was a daily pizza slice at Costco.

You can use a Visa debit card as well.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 04:34:26 GMT

@EddieK wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Wow, Amex frozen at Costco would be very annoying as I would likely have to leave the store without purchasing anything since they accept only Amex and I never carry checks around. Unlike other places where you can take out a Visa or some other card, at Costco there really are no other choices. Actually, I was not aware you could use anything other than the Amex TE at Costco (hmm might make the Fidelity Amex useful for heavy Costco shoppers).

As far as your situation, the 4506-T is fairly simple. Just go ahead and send it in and your accounts will eventually get unfrozen. If you don't send one in they will close your accounts. Something in your profile might have spooked them, but I highly doubt it was a daily pizza slice at Costco.
You can use a Visa debit card as well.

Yeah, but debit is gross.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

EddieK — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 04:35:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@EddieK wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Wow, Amex frozen at Costco would be very annoying as I would likely have to leave the store without purchasing anything since they accept only Amex and I never carry checks around. Unlike other places where you can take out a Visa or some other card, at Costco there really are no other choices. Actually, I was not aware you could use anything other than the Amex TE at Costco (hmm might make the Fidelity Amex useful for heavy Costco shoppers).

As far as your situation, the 4506-T is fairly simple. Just go ahead and send it in and your accounts will eventually get unfrozen. If you don't send one in they will close your accounts. Something in your profile might have spooked them, but I highly doubt it was a daily pizza slice at Costco.
You can use a Visa debit card as well.
Yeah, but debit is gross.

Agreed...but if everything else is getting declined, it might be your only choice.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 04:37:19 GMT

@EddieK wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@EddieK wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Wow, Amex frozen at Costco would be very annoying as I would likely have to leave the store without purchasing anything since they accept only Amex and I never carry checks around. Unlike other places where you can take out a Visa or some other card, at Costco there really are no other choices. Actually, I was not aware you could use anything other than the Amex TE at Costco (hmm might make the Fidelity Amex useful for heavy Costco shoppers).

As far as your situation, the 4506-T is fairly simple. Just go ahead and send it in and your accounts will eventually get unfrozen. If you don't send one in they will close your accounts. Something in your profile might have spooked them, but I highly doubt it was a daily pizza slice at Costco.
You can use a Visa debit card as well.
Yeah, but debit is gross.
Agreed...but if everything else is getting declined, it might be your only choice.

Emergency cash stash. I'd rather use cash than debit.

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 07:21:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@EddieK wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@EddieK wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Wow, Amex frozen at Costco would be very annoying as I would likely have to leave the store without purchasing anything since they accept only Amex and I never carry checks around. Unlike other places where you can take out a Visa or some other card, at Costco there really are no other choices. Actually, I was not aware you could use anything other than the Amex TE at Costco (hmm might make the Fidelity Amex useful for heavy Costco shoppers).

As far as your situation, the 4506-T is fairly simple. Just go ahead and send it in and your accounts will eventually get unfrozen. If you don't send one in they will close your accounts. Something in your profile might have spooked them, but I highly doubt it was a daily pizza slice at Costco.
You can use a Visa debit card as well.
Yeah, but debit is gross.
Agreed...but if everything else is getting declined, it might be your only choice.
Emergency cash stash. I'd rather use cash than debit.

Emergency cash stash for me = couple two dollars bill in the wallet and euro =)

Filled out 4506-T ready to submit ... I guess I just have to play by their rules, but I also find it intrusive, somewhat degree.

Thanks!

Re: Daily trip to Costco ... surprise!

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 07:21:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@EddieK wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@EddieK wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Wow, Amex frozen at Costco would be very annoying as I would likely have to leave the store without purchasing anything since they accept only Amex and I never carry checks around. Unlike other places where you can take out a Visa or some other card, at Costco there really are no other choices. Actually, I was not aware you could use anything other than the Amex TE at Costco (hmm might make the Fidelity Amex useful for heavy Costco shoppers).

As far as your situation, the 4506-T is fairly simple. Just go ahead and send it in and your accounts will eventually get unfrozen. If you don't send one in they will close your accounts. Something in your profile might have spooked them, but I highly doubt it was a daily pizza slice at Costco.
You can use a Visa debit card as well.
Yeah, but debit is gross.
Agreed...but if everything else is getting declined, it might be your only choice.
Emergency cash stash. I'd rather use cash than debit.

I still haven't heard anything back from them yet after faxed for couple days ... anyone know how long this usually takes?