topic Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue... in Credit Cards

First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

DeeBee78 — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 05:46:48 GMT

And I have to say I'm not impressed at all.

So I have a PRG I opened in February of this year. I've been using it reguarly, charging anwhere from $350 to $2,000 on the card every month. I pay my balance due on the due date, and of course, always in full. I schedule the payments online as soon as the statement cuts, becuase I am VERY forgetful of these things, and don't want to get myself in trouble with my new friend, Amex.

So tonight I'm trying to book my labor day vacation flight on Southwest.com, and for the first time ever, my PRG is declined. I immediately got an email, and a notifaction from the Amex app on my phone with a number to call, which I did. After 15 minutes of hold music (one song I recognized as an instrumental of "Sway" from the movie, American Pie, but I digress...) I finally get to speak with someone.

The CSR tells me the charge was declined because it would bring my statement balance, plus current balance to $2,800, which they were not comfortable with. He asked me to make a payment then and there. I said "No, you'll get your payment on August 6th, when it's due." The customer service rep said, "Oh, I didn't see that scheduled payment. I think we can go ahead and approve this charge, since you've already setup payment arrangements. Go ahead and use your card for the purchase, just give us 15 minutes to make some changes." I told him, "Great. FYI, if the card does not work a second time, I will not be calling back a second time. I'll use another card."

So I wait half an hour, then try my purchase again. Still declined. This time, no app notification, no email. Pretty sure they've shut off my charging privileges. I'm not going to bother to find out, and ended up using my Blispay for the $575 charge (I know, my spending is #OutOfControl ) 2% cashback and 6 months of 0% APR beats 3x Memberpeso Rewards points in my book any day.

I've previouslt ran the card up to about $2,200 in one statement cycle, and added another $1,100 on top of that, so I'm not sure what their problem is. This is after being previously approved for up to $5,000 of spend on the card as recently as a few days ago - I remember because I checked to make sure the card would cover my flights, hotel, rental car, and food. Guess the amount truly does change on a daily basis.

This, coupled with the paltry limits on my revolvers is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Seriously considering cancelling the PRG after the 1st of the year, and defintiely cancelling the $500 EveryDay they've saddled me with.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 09:35:45 GMT

it's mind boggling that they didnt even let you charge 2k+ on your card....that's really strange. You had the card since Feb too so you also already have a couple on time payment patterns under your belt as well, it's not like youre doing this on the very first day of receiving the card (and even if you did, it shouldnt be a problem).

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

fltireguy — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 12:06:18 GMT

I've called regular Amex CS for my revolvers.. not really impressive, definitely offshoreed as far as the call center.

I have also called cs for my Platinum. Totally different experience. I think that Pooka had mentioned that Platinum CS is based in Ft.Lauderdale....

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 12:53:16 GMT

@fltireguy wrote:
I've called regular Amex CS for my revolvers.. not really impressive, definitely offshoreed as far as the call center.

I have also called cs for my Platinum. Totally different experience. I think that Pooka had mentioned that Platinum CS is based in Ft.Lauderdale....

I have only called for my corporate card and the service has always been excellant. But I don't think in the OP instance the customer service is the problem. Seems like for some reason their computers think they are a risk. I guess that is the bad thing about these cards. I tried 10k on the spend checker and it said it would be approved. I wonder if this isn't valid accross the board.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

AverageJoesCredit — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 13:07:11 GMT

On top of all that, being the human element into it, its possible after telling the CSR that if it doesnt work second time you wont call back and use another card probably rubbed the csr wrong and decided not to accept the second try. Sometimes if you catch a person on the wrong day or them just being unprofessional it can happen. Sorry DeeBee.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

simplynoir — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 14:53:38 GMT

@fltireguy wrote:
I've called regular Amex CS for my revolvers.. not really impressive, definitely offshoreed as far as the call center.

I have also called cs for my Platinum. Totally different experience. I think that Pooka had mentioned that Platinum CS is based in Ft.Lauderdale....

I've called both before and while the "regular" CSRs in my experiences were fine no complaints really the Platinum CSRs are defintely more helpful for customers. But even then as AJC points out sometimes you just catch someone on a bad day it happens unfortunately.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

wasCB14 — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 15:06:47 GMT

I'm not sure how surprised to be.

On one hand, $2,800 isn't that much compared to other spending on the card, or the $5,000 spending check.

On the other, a $500 ED suggests they've had some major concerns with OP's credit, and it might not take much to tighten the strings on PRG.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 15:14:48 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
I'm not sure how surprised to be.

On one hand, $2,800 isn't that much compared to other spending on the card, or the $5,000 spending check.

On the other, a $500 ED suggests they've had some major concerns with OP's credit, and it might not take much to tighten the strings on PRG.

Also statement came out a couple of weeks ago and hasn't been payed yet. Seems like paying the balance would be the easiest thing to do as it due in a couple of days anyway.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

K-in-Boston — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 15:14:50 GMT

I'm not sure why they have the tight spending caps either. Years and years ago when I got my first charge card I didn't have any problems with large purchases right off the bat even though my total revolving lines with all lenders were probably only about $10-12k total, and I know you're well beyond that.

As for the customer service, I always had great experiences in the past but I have read a lot of reports that the "lower-tier" (and I don't mean that in an insulting manner, just Amex's perception) card service has declined. I have been fortunate that when I've called in more recent times I got the top notch support in the Florida Platinum/Centurion call center.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

wasCB14 — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:27:23 GMT

@DeeBee78 wrote:
I've previouslt ran the card up to about $2,200 in one statement cycle, and added another $1,100 on top of that, so I'm not sure what their problem is. This is after being previously approved for up to $5,000 of spend on the card as recently as a few days ago - I remember because I checked to make sure the card would cover my flights, hotel, rental car, and food. Guess the amount truly does change on a daily basis.

This, coupled with the paltry limits on my revolvers is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Seriously considering cancelling the PRG after the 1st of the year, and defintiely cancelling the $500 EveryDay they've saddled me with.

I guess OP has multiple Amex revolvers, so the $500 CL ED isn't the only revolver, and maybe not as much of a warning sign as I first thought. I'll wait to hear what the CLs are on the others.

Also, I think the "Check Spending Power" button only works one charge at a time. Amex might have been willing to approve one large transaction (and that would be it until OP made a payment) but unwilling to approve all of a series of smaller transactions without a payment.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

DeeBee78 — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:27:52 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
On top of all that, being the human element into it, its possible after telling the CSR that if it doesnt work second time you wont call back and use another card probably rubbed the csr wrong and decided not to accept the second try. Sometimes if you catch a person on the wrong day or them just being unprofessional it can happen. Sorry DeeBee.

I'm not going to call them multiple times to get a $600 charge to go through. I have a dozen non-Amex cards that are happy to oblige me, and since they have real limits, I know where I stand.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

DeeBee78 — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 16:33:49 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@wasCB14 wrote:
I'm not sure how surprised to be.

On one hand, $2,800 isn't that much compared to other spending on the card, or the $5,000 spending check.

On the other, a $500 ED suggests they've had some major concerns with OP's credit, and it might not take much to tighten the strings on PRG.
Also statement came out a couple of weeks ago and hasn't been payed yet. Seems like paying the balance would be the easiest thing to do as it due in a couple of days anyway.

Why should I have to pay the balance a couple of days early for the "privilege" of using their card? The payment was already scheduled, I've never missed any payments (on any card), and I have ran the card up higheer than this before. I've even made multiple payments in the billing cycles before, because I didn't want to suffer the embarrasment of my card possibly being declined at a fancy dinner.

I shouldn't have to walk on eggshells to use their card.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 17:55:57 GMT

@DeeBee78 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@wasCB14 wrote:
I'm not sure how surprised to be.

On one hand, $2,800 isn't that much compared to other spending on the card, or the $5,000 spending check.

On the other, a $500 ED suggests they've had some major concerns with OP's credit, and it might not take much to tighten the strings on PRG.
Also statement came out a couple of weeks ago and hasn't been payed yet. Seems like paying the balance would be the easiest thing to do as it due in a couple of days anyway.
Why should I have to pay the balance a couple of days early for the "privilege" of using their card? The payment was already scheduled, I've never missed any payments (on any card), and I have ran the card up higheer than this before. I've even made multiple payments in the billing cycles before, because I didn't want to suffer the embarrasment of my card possibly being declined at a fancy dinner.

I shouldn't have to walk on eggshells to use their card.

You can do whatever you want but I am guessing you didn't run it up before two weeks after the statement hit. It is their money if they decide you are a risk they can stop you from charging. I don't see what the big deal is paying it two days before the due date to charge up big amount of money. All you do is go online and click a button. I am sure if you were charging a couple hundred dollars on dinner they wouldn't have declined you. The charge cards don't have set limits so that is the risk you take. Also some places don't take Amex so it is best to have other cards anyway.

If you never missed any payments on anything why did they only give you 500 dollar limit on your other card? Is your history very short?

I can see why you might want to use other cards instead but I am not sure why you were angry with customer service agent.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

DeeBee78 — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 19:36:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@DeeBee78 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@wasCB14 wrote:
I'm not sure how surprised to be.

On one hand, $2,800 isn't that much compared to other spending on the card, or the $5,000 spending check.

On the other, a $500 ED suggests they've had some major concerns with OP's credit, and it might not take much to tighten the strings on PRG.
Also statement came out a couple of weeks ago and hasn't been payed yet. Seems like paying the balance would be the easiest thing to do as it due in a couple of days anyway.
Why should I have to pay the balance a couple of days early for the "privilege" of using their card? The payment was already scheduled, I've never missed any payments (on any card), and I have ran the card up higheer than this before. I've even made multiple payments in the billing cycles before, because I didn't want to suffer the embarrasment of my card possibly being declined at a fancy dinner.

I shouldn't have to walk on eggshells to use their card.

You can do whatever you want but I am guessing you didn't run it up before two weeks after the statement hit. It is their money if they decide you are a risk they can stop you from charging. I don't see what the big deal is paying it two days before the due date to charge up big amount of money. All you do is go online and click a button. I am sure if you were charging a couple hundred dollars on dinner they wouldn't have declined you. The charge cards don't have set limits so that is the risk you take. Also some places don't take Amex so it is best to have other cards anyway.

If you never missed any payments on anything why did they only give you 500 dollar limit on your other card? Is your history very short?

I can see why you might want to use other cards instead but I am not sure why you were angry with customer service agent.

I wasn't angry with him, I simply told him I wouldn't be calling back a second time if the charge didn't go through. I wasn't going to spend another 15+ minutes on hold.

As far as that dinner, I wish it was only a few hundred dollars. It was a $2,000 retirement dinner for my grandmother, and I used it to meet my spend bonus, hence my concern about the charge going through.

Amex was spooked by a recent app spree when I got their revolvers. Everything else in my profile was great. No baddies, no excessive utilization, no lates, nothing AAoA is about 2 years right now.

But really, it's all good. I think I'm finding that there may only be room for one Amex card in my wallet, and it's probably going to the the BCE. I've come to realize that I really don't want to deal with the hassle of worrying whether or not Amex is going to approve my charges on a case by case basis. I don't micromanage my cards a whole lot, but with Amex, I've had to quite a bit.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

UpperNwGuy — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 20:07:21 GMT

I think Amex acted fairly given the facts of the case. They gave OP a paltry $500 limit on the ED, so that should have been a warning signal of Amex'a nervousness. Then Amex offered to let the Southwest.com charge go through on the PRG if OP would pay off the balance, but OP didn't pay. Pushing back at Amex was not a good negotiating tactic.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

DeeBee78 — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 20:15:06 GMT

@UpperNwGuy wrote:
I think Amex acted fairly given the facts of the case. They gave OP a paltry $500 limit on the ED, so that should have been a warning signal of Amex'a nervousness. Then Amex offered to let the Southwest.com charge go through on the PRG if OP would pay off the balance, but OP didn't pay. Pushing back at Amex was not a good negotiating tactic.

This is where we disagree. I've been an exemplary customer, always PIF'ing and higher amounts than the $2,800 they were having concerns over. I pay my Amex bills when they're due, and I'm not going to change that to get a $600 charge to post. If Amex has a problem waiting two more days for the regularly scheduled payment, that's their problem, not mine.

The low limits on the revolvers are due to Amex being last in an app spree. There's nothing in my profile keeping those limits there, and I will be closing the ED soon, and requesting a CLI on the BCE. I could probably app another one of their revolvers right now and get a $5K+ starting limit.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 20:18:44 GMT

While you may so far be an exemplary customer, the credit/risk department's computers don't know that yet. Your account has barely been open 6 months -- your first automated internal account review doesn't happen until 6 months.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

wasCB14 — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 20:32:10 GMT

@DeeBee78 wrote:
As far as that dinner, I wish it was only a few hundred dollars. It was a $2,000 retirement dinner for my grandmother, and I used it to meet my spend bonus, hence my concern about the charge going through.
Amex was spooked by a recent app spree when I got their revolvers. Everything else in my profile was great. No baddies, no excessive utilization, no lates, nothing AAoA is about 2 years right now.
But really, it's all good. I think I'm finding that there may only be room for one Amex card in my wallet, and it's probably going to the the BCE. I've come to realize that I really don't want to deal with the hassle of worrying whether or not Amex is going to approve my charges on a case by case basis. I don't micromanage my cards a whole lot, but with Amex, I've had to quite a bit.

I would say a $500 ED and $1k BCE are indications that they had concerns at the time you apped...not just later when they saw all the inquiries and new accounts. Amex generally doesn't give those kinds of limits to customers they are comfortable with.

That said, I'm not sure what concerned them (other than whatever got your scores down to the 500's before rebuilding).

I like Amex, but they've never tried to keep me on a short leash. In your shoes, I probably wouldn't keep PRG. It's pretty clear they don't like your profile, but that other issuers do.

*Or are you saying you did the spree...let the new accounts reports...and then apped for BCE+ED?

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

sunkissed — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 20:42:31 GMT

DeeBee, it’s unfortunate Amex is not working out for you. Thankfully you have cards with other lenders that suit your spend better. You’ve got a little while before your annual fee is due. You can hang on to see if they become more welcoming before you move on. Of course, if you don’t want to give them another chance to earn your business, you’re free to cut them loose.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

Re: First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 21:09:14 GMT

@DeeBee78 wrote:
@UpperNwGuy wrote:
I think Amex acted fairly given the facts of the case. They gave OP a paltry $500 limit on the ED, so that should have been a warning signal of Amex'a nervousness. Then Amex offered to let the Southwest.com charge go through on the PRG if OP would pay off the balance, but OP didn't pay. Pushing back at Amex was not a good negotiating tactic.
This is where we disagree. I've been an exemplary customer, always PIF'ing and higher amounts than the $2,800 they were having concerns over. I pay my Amex bills when they're due, and I'm not going to change that to get a $600 charge to post. If Amex has a problem waiting two more days for the regularly scheduled payment, that's their problem, not mine.

The low limits on the revolvers are due to Amex being last in an app spree. There's nothing in my profile keeping those limits there, and I will be closing the ED soon, and requesting a CLI on the BCE. I could probably app another one of their revolvers right now and get a $5K+ starting limit.

I agree with everything you are saying except paying your bill two days before the due date. As you are paying it in two days anyway what does it matter to pay it when they ask you on the phone. You are already wasted 15 minutes on hold plus however long you were talking to the person on the phone why not spend 30 seconds to log onto the website and pay your bill. You get what you want they get what they want everyone is happy.

The 500 dollar limit and how you can't depend on them are valid concerns. My main concern with them is how the membership points don't post even after the statement posts and it is paid. If you are a Delta Flyer or use British Airways reguralry it is probably a decent card (PRG) to keep. Otherwise I am not sure if the net 95 dollar annual fee is worth it.

Perhaps I am more forgiving of the whole thing as I have had an Amex Corporate Card for various companies for the last 20 years. I am used to knowing I could be potentially turned down for any charge.