topic Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em. in Credit Cards

AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:18:23 GMT

Saturday: After waiting over two years to get my credit score up I applied for a Amex Preferred Rewards Card. At the end of the online application, i got a please call notice. Turns out that they just needed to verify my address, and I was Approved. I thought well yeah, about time.

Monday: I had a message saying to please call regarding my account, I figured maybe that they need to verify my address again. WRONG. "Thank you for Calling American Express, you have reached the Financial Review Department." Your kidding right, I havnt even got the card yet.. So I talk to my Account Manager and they need a form to send to the IRS to verify my income. Filled it out faxed it.

Wednesday: Called to check to see that everything was good and in-progress. My account manager cannot find my account by anything, SSN, Name, Address, etc. Finally was able to located the account somehow after about 45 mins on the phone.

Friday: Called to check (again) and that they had just sent the form to the IRS and they will notify me in the next 10-14 business days.

So when AMEX finally decides to open my account, im considering closing it, this is not how you treat your old or new cardholders.

Message Edited by fallingwaterinc on 01-30-2009 03:18 PM

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:19:45 GMT

Nothing AMEX does anymore surprises me. Its like they suddenly decided they didnt give a crap.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:41:35 GMT

Wow... That is an awful lot of hassle for a credit card. But, you've already taken the INQ hit for it, so you might as well keep it. Be sure to search this forum for how you might best treat your new Amex card to avoid the beast spitting fire at you, LOL! Some people have fared better than others, but it looks as though any relationship with Amex will be on shaky ground for the forseeable future, at least until Amex steers clear of the financial stormy seas.

But, if you end up getting fed up with them, or if they end of closing the card (I hope they don't, but you never know), a lot of people are talking about the BoA Amex products. You might want to look into that.

Disclaimer: No, I don't work for BoA. I'm just always giving them shameless plugs, because I personally love them!

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

fused — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:25:13 GMT

I'm sorry to hear this. Amex and their bait & fry BS. They should have asked for financials during underwriting, this is awful. I'm not suggesting you do this, but I would kick Amex to the curb.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:29:41 GMT

Im always shocked when I see posts here from people apping for an AMEX. There has been nothing but negatives about them for sometime now, you know your going to be walking on egg shells around them.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:18:44 GMT

Well, you know (just to play devil's advocate), at least they're doing the FR before issuing a card. PenFed often does this for applicants as well.

We've always carped at how AmEx has approved people and then decided, Eeewww, you're not good enough. If they're going to look at proof of income, I say do it at the time of application.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:23:09 GMT

Like LilMirth said, you've already gone through this much, so maybe you ought to go ahead and give their credit card a try.

However, as you might already know, I've seen people report that going through the financial review does not guarantee that you won't have to go through it again.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:34:02 GMT

Why the heck would anybody aply for an American Express card right now. Sorry but....

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

KingAdrock — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:57:21 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Well, you know (just to play devil's advocate), at least they're doing the FR before issuing a card. PenFed often does this for applicants as well.

We've always carped at how AmEx has approved people and then decided, Eeewww, you're not good enough. If they're going to look at proof of income, I say do it at the time of application.

Agreed. Sadly, this is better than their normal FR, "We don't care that you've been a good customer for XX years, we're going to freeze your account without warning and demand your last 2 tax returns. Don't want to give them to us? Fine, your account is closed."

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:06:47 GMT

We at MyFico need to get together and start a petition to block any more of our tax dollars becoming a cash infusion for AMEX!!

And BOYCOTT!!!!

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

fused — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:16:12 GMT

here is my plan. starting next month I will be charging less than 95% of what I have been per month on my Plat card. So, instead of 8 to 9K a month in business travel related charges, they will be lucky if I charge $400 to $500 a month. Amex hasn't taken AA against me, I'm just sick of babysitting them.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:18:23 GMT

*applause*

@fused wrote:
here is my plan. starting next month I will be charging less than 95% of what I have been per month on my Plat card. So, instead of 8 to 9K a month in business travel related charges, they will be lucky if I charge $400 to $500 a month. Amex hasn't taken AA against me, I'm just sick of babysitting them.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

wmarat — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:19:29 GMT

Are Citi, BOA, Chase and others better?

@Anonymous wrote:
We at MyFico need to get together and start a petition to block any more of our tax dollars becoming a cash infusion for AMEX!!

And BOYCOTT!!!!

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

fused — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:03:22 GMT

JMHO, but I really believe most of the large CC issuers are not far behind Amex. We might see a ton of AA by BoA, CITI, Chase and etc., but it can't last forever. Banks can't make money unless they extend credit and loan money.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:07:07 GMT

I agree, I am betting America will soon have half the available credit it had a year ago.

@fused wrote:
JMHO, but I really believe most of the large CC issuers are not far behind Amex. We might see a ton of AA by BoA, CITI, Chase and etc., but it can't last forever. Banks can't make money unless they extend credit and loan money.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 11:41:59 GMT

But is it actually worth it to keep the card, everyone is still paying an annual membership fee... so basically amex wins the game!

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

GregB — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:09:05 GMT

I cancelled my Amex cards that had a fee. On one they had reduced my line from $82K to $11K. I wasn't going to pay $250 a year for that. I do have to give them credit that they refunded me $229 of the $250 for the balance of the year. I also have to say I was impressed with the CSR being pleasant and professional. I wonder if my previous experiences with their CSRs had something to do with me being pissed off and them responding to that.

I have my Business Optima Card left with Amex - CL reduced from $28K to $3100. I'm using it at Costco and only doing that because Costco only takes Amex. So Amex has gone from getting $10K to $20K per month in business and about $2,000 per year in interest to getting $400-500 per month in business and zero interest.

So Amex has lost an estimate of 90-99% of their profit on me as a customer and it was all caused by their actions. My big regret is that I should have shorted their stock in addition to selling the small amount I owned.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

marty56 — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:42:21 GMT

No Christmas card from me. That will really piss them off.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 07:50:50 GMT

8+ year credit card holder of AMEX Blue. Never a late payment. 37K credit line. Interest rate went up from 10.99 to 13.99 for January statement.

Called the company. Was informed that this had nothing to do with my credit history but that all card members with fixed rates were getting rate increases and those with variable rates were getting lowered. When asked why, they told me, quote, "we needed to do this in order to offer our customers the global customer service and services that they come to expec from us." Huh? Who needs their so-called rewards offers in lieu of higher interest rates? Who needs to have someone book travel arrangements? Etc...Apparently, basc loyalty is a dirty word as is paying your bills on time...I threatened to close my account within 60 days and intend on doing so

Anyone have a credit card company that they're happy with that offers low fixed rates? Simmons Bank advertises the lowest at 7.25. Has anyone used them?

Oh and the real laugher...I have a 798 score from Experian that went up from 788 just last week...ranking in the top .4 % in th country for credit worthiness. Whatever goes around comes around Amex...just like Citi, you're time will come and you'll need your own travel booking agents to book flights out of town faster than you can blink.

Re: AMEX... well shoot 'em.

marty56 — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 12:59:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I threatened to close my account within 60 days and intend on doing so

Dont close the account. Just charge $1 every other month and PIF. If you need to revolve a balance, 13.99% isnt so bad compaired to what most other CCCs are doing. Unless you get a new card from say a CU, IMHO those lower rates are just teaser rates.

My plan is to never revolve a balance again. I always PIF my CCs and if I wanted to make a major purchase, I would look for 0% financing. For an emergency, since I only have a very small emergency fund, I would revolve a balance but I would contact my CCC to let them know why and when I would PIF.

LOL these days, threatening to close an account isnt very effective since many CCCs are doing that for you.