topic Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX? in Credit Cards

AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

PayYouNever — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:40:42 GMT

Strangest thing happened to me today, I signed on to my online AMEX account to dispute a charge and I find out that the account had been canceled??!?!

Back in late October I changed my Delta Skymiles AMEX to an AMEX Blue Sky, but I never received the new card (I'm assuming that it was lost in the mail when I moved and filed that change of address with the post office).

Has anyone had AMEX close their account without notice? I had a paltry balance of $478 and I hadn't been late with a payment in over a year. I know my FICO has been dropping of late because of I've been disputing items on my CBRs and disputing with the OCs and CAs, so I know my FICO is probably in the low 500s, but this seems a little insane considering there was no notice from AMEX that they intended to do this.

Something similar happened earlier this year, when I paid down my $4000 balance to just under $600... AMEX lowered my CL to $600; no explanation, no notice, just on my next statement the CL has been dropped by $3400!

At the moment AMEX's computers are down, so I can't call to actually find out what's what.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Red1Blue — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:03:39 GMT

Lately Amex is going finiky and wierd. I feel bad for you about reducing the CL. That must hurt your scores real bad. Make sure you another card from Visa or MC.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 21:30:39 GMT

The second thing happened to my husband's AMEX account (I am AU). We completely paid if off when we refinanced our house and they immediately dropped the CL to one-half what it was before.

Chase and B of A dropped the CLs even more drastically. We had maxed out everything and we paid for it. The only card that didn't lower was Discover, and it was maxed out, too. I learned a valuable lesson here, because some of those CLs were over 20K, and they were lowered to, in some cases, $1,500. We had never been late on the AMEX and the other went 30 days during the refinance which was completely my fault. Our credit scores have really suffered, too.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 21:32:31 GMT

Try calling a rep. That may only be the old account showing closed because the new card has been issued. I would definitely call if you have an Amex lost in space.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 21:33:37 GMT

JemiBlue wrote:

The second thing happened to my husband's AMEX account (I am AU). We completely paid if off when we refinanced our house and they immediately dropped the CL to one-half what it was before.

Chase and B of A dropped the CLs even more drastically. We had maxed out everything and we paid for it. The only card that didn't lower was Discover, and it was maxed out, too. I learned a valuable lesson here, because some of those CLs were over 20K, and they were lowered to, in some cases, $1,500. We had never been late on the AMEX and the other went 30 days during the refinance which was completely my fault. Our credit scores have really suffered, too.

Sorry Jenny. that is why these are cards I will never have. Chase, BofA and Amex are just plain scary.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 22:45:34 GMT

Yes. My charge card was cancelled because it was late. They closed my blue card which was good and sent it to COLLECTIONS.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

inquring_minds — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 22:49:10 GMT

Hi Brammy,

If I may ask, what cards do you have that you choose not to do business with Chase & Amex?

You guys are scaring me as I have cards with Amex, Blue $3K CL and Optimum Platinum $2K CL.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:03:40 GMT

inquring_minds wrote:

Hi Brammy,

If I may ask, what cards do you have that you choose not to do business with Chase & Amex?

You guys are scaring me as I have cards with Amex, Blue $3K CL and Optimum Platinum $2K CL.

Actually inquiring, I try t research cards before I apply. Consensus is that BofA, Chase and Amex have very scary practices. Amex's famous F/R is self-explanatory (there are just certain things will not do and some don't seem to be triggered now that they are expanding their consumer base). Chase is infamous for rate-jacking. I have also read enough of their T&Cs on preapproved offers that they make me nervous. Not only on the boards but a close relative who has never been late and will only occasionally (I mean VERY occasionally) float a balance, like when she purchased a house full of furniture and paid it off in two billing cycles, didn't even know her rate was a whopping 19+ percent. Never paid attention to it. BofA is also infamous for CLDing and rate jacking.

Those plus Junny are banks I don't care to do business with. The rates aren't that great unless your profile is uber-prime. I don'tlike doing a dance to keep anyone happy. Right now I have decent rates for my profile and am building some pretty good relationships. I can't imagine what would have happened to either of those accounts this month if the balances that I mistakenly allowed to report this month had shown up with them as alternate lenders.

These banks seem very unforgiving about temporay drops in score and I don't care who you are, that score will fluctuate, especially around the holidays.

BTW Chase just peeves me off to boot due to my CC card....

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:48:40 GMT

Hi, Brammy, can you clarify on what sets BofA off? (also looking at jenny's post)

DH has a AAA BofA that he BT'd his Discover balance to. The twelve months are up at the end of March. He has used it some for new purchases, until he wised up. If he (read: I) pays off the balance before the 0% BT period, are they going to CLD the card? That's what I thought I read, but I'm not sure about the sequence of events.They've CLI'd him to $16.6K, I think it is.

If this is what they do, how does he prevent this? Go out and buy me something really nice on March 28? (that would be my vote! )

I'm also looking at the possibility of getting one in my name to use for appliance purchases etc come remodel time. I'd like to be able to keep a balance on the fool thing throughout the 0% period without them telling me to bend over and cough! thx

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Lawlover2 — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:51:59 GMT

Amex cancelled my OASIS card 8 months into it - even though I paid an annual fee up front. When I called, it was past their time for review but they told me if I would have called w/in 3 months of cancellation, they would have reconsidered. What is interesting about it is that I was never late and never went over 1/3 of the $800 CL. My credit score didn't drop, I didn't have any new credit or credit requests - it was just unexplainable. I am DONE w/ Amex. If truly want the card, call and ask for reconsideration immediately.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

notmyname — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:51:59 GMT

from inquiring minds

Hi Brammy,

If I may ask, what cards do you have that you choose not to do business with Chase & Amex?

You guys are scaring me as I have cards with Amex, Blue $3K CL and Optimum Platinum $2K CL.

I thought the question was what cards you do choose to use; not a repeat of what you don't.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:57:26 GMT

notmyname wrote:

from inquiring minds

Hi Brammy,

If I may ask, what cards do you have that you choose not to do business with Chase & Amex?

You guys are scaring me as I have cards with Amex, Blue $3K CL and Optimum Platinum $2K CL.

I thought the question was what cards you do choose to use; not a repeat of what you don't.

RP

Well that would be a pretty stupid question since in the previous post I said those were cards I chose NOT TO HAVE. Wouldn't it? I answered the questions based on my previous statement otherwise the question was unanswerable.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:04:20 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:
Hi, Brammy, can you clarify on what sets BofA off? (also looking at jenny's post)

DH has a AAA BofA that he BT'd his Discover balance to. The twelve months are up at the end of March. He has used it some for new purchases, until he wised up. If he (read: I) pays off the balance before the 0% BT period, are they going to CLD the card? That's what I thought I read, but I'm not sure about the sequence of events.They've CLI'd him to $16.6K, I think it is.

If this is what they do, how does he prevent this? Go out and buy me something really nice on March 28? (that would be my vote! )

I'm also looking at the possibility of getting one in my name to use for appliance purchases etc come remodel time. I'd like to be able to keep a balance on the fool thing throughout the 0% period without them telling me to bend over and cough! thx

thats what bothers me there really doesn seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason. Some peopel have great luck with them others horror stories. I'm kinda weird, I liek a comfort zone where I knw what is expected of me.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

notmyname — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 06:57:38 GMT

Again, bare with a " stupid question" (as you put it) ; what puts you in a comfort zone. What cards ?

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 19:44:40 GMT

notmyname wrote:

Again, bare with a " stupid question" (as you put it) ; what puts you in a comfort zone. What cards ?

RP

Sorry didn't mean your questin was stupid... I am willing to take a chance on just about anything, however, when the consensus is that a card will make you dance on a string or do weird things to you without forewarning orreason, that definitely takes me out of my comfort zone.

Don't get me wrong, if I know that there is a high level of activity on my files or high uti, I realize whatI may be opening myself up to. But not having any idea what will set an issuer off really spooks me.

Call me OCD, but I like things to make sense. I tend to stay away from banks who have been repeatedly reported as doing such things.

That being said, if I were to open an Amex, I would full well expect a financial review sometime in my future. Do I want to take a chance that this will happen with no warning? Or no bad behaviour that is discernable on my part? No.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

jackg — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 19:52:04 GMT

A better option is a CLI with a current card

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Red1Blue — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:48:20 GMT

I totally agree with Brammy. I would like to have a certain amount confidence that my card will not stop working when I am on the road. They are certainly welcome to write a letter or call ahead of time and ask for what ever the information they want. If they suspect fraud, they can certainly ask for validation. Other than that, randomly suspending the cards does not make me feel comfortable. I have paid off $10k on my old card and I should be getting a $5K Oasis card. Once I get it, it is going staright to my Sock Drawer. I travel quite a bit for business, and I would trust my Citi Card than the Amex at this time.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:02:08 GMT

I'm a bit bumfuzzled about exactly what percentage of a CL you can actually use on a new 0% intro APR card. I would think that a CCC offering this product would realize that a card-holder would want to load it up and stretch out that 0% as long as possible.

But if we have to live in fear of the CCC randomly saying, "Whoops, we've decided to lower your CL" to the current balance or even lower, that certainly destroys the usefulness of the card.

I'm not talking about a borrower with a dozen cards, all with 95% and above util, app'ing everything in sight. I'm talking about a cardholder who has deliberately chosen to use 0% cards as a personal finance strategy to lower overall interest expense.

If my payment history on a card is clean, and it's currently clean on other cards as well, and I'm paying well over the minimum each month, I frankly don't see why a CCC would even want to pull this kind of crap, and even less do I understand how they justify it.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:13:13 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:
I'm a bit bumfuzzled about exactly what percentage of a CL you can actually use on a new 0% intro APR card. I would think that a CCC offering this product would realize that a card-holder would want to load it up and stretch out that 0% as long as possible.

But if we have to live in fear of the CCC randomly saying, "Whoops, we've decided to lower your CL" to the current balance or even lower, that certainly destroys the usefulness of the card.

I'm not talking about a borrower with a dozen cards, all with 95% and above util, app'ing everything in sight. I'm talking about a cardholder who has deliberately chosen to use 0% cards as a personal finance strategy to lower overall interest expense.

If my payment history on a card is clean, and it's currently clean on other cards as well, and I'm paying well over the minimum each month, I frankly don't see why a CCC would even want to pull this kind of crap, and even less do I understand how they justify it.

Re: AMEX cancelled by AMEX?

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:56:09 GMT

AMEX and Diners is like a prestigious neighborhood, you may have the money to move in but you have to abide by their rules or kick rocks. I am almost positive that from a business stand point it is much cheaper for AMEX not to do freezes, with the paper work and having to pay the man power they would rather not. On the other hand they do it to weed out the riff raff, people lie all the time about income and all sorts of things.

Has anyone watched CNBC lately? The credit woes are real and a lot of other card companies are soon to follow suite. Don't be mad at them for watching their backs, that is what being a business owner and having a financial team behind you is supposed to do.

If AMEX wanted everyone to have their cards they would make it easy for them to get. They don't even want everyone accepting their cards, what does that tell you?

They would rather deal with consistent customers. Everybody that don't want their cards is what they want. Has anyone taken a look at their financial statements lately? They are far from hurting for business that is why they advertise with Beyonce, Ellen, Tiger Woods, Tina Fey and a host of other celebs, that is the money they want--THE BIG DOGS. Remember their only card at one point was the one you had to pay off monthly, so no they do not like balances.

So yes they will give you a card with certain scores but in order to stomp with the big dogs you have to play like em.

If not, go to Discover or any of the other cards that is not quite AMEX.