topic Re: Afraid of my Amex!!! in Credit Cards

Afraid of my Amex!!!

fastalkintn — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 02:09:58 GMT

I always read and study to much and it has messed me up again. I've always wanted an Amex card and finally got my BCP in today. After reading all the horror stories on here I'm afraid to use it. What if I dont make the payment before my cut date? What if I have to carry a balance for a month or two? I added my wife as an AU, will that red flag me for an audit? What if I don't use it enough and they decrease my cl? Kidding of course, but are they really that hard to deal with? Some post make them sound like a loan shark.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

daybreakgonesXe — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 02:12:18 GMT

@fastalkintn wrote:
I always read and study to much and it has messed me up again. I've always wanted an Amex card and finally got my BCP in today. After reading all the horror stories on here I'm afraid to use it. What if I dont make the payment before my cut date? What if I have to carry a balance for a month or two? I added my wife as an AU, will that red flag me for an audit? What if I don't use it enough and they decrease my cl? Kidding of course, but are they really that hard to deal with? Some post make them sound like a loan shark.

Honestly, I have been utilizing their 0% APR for 15 months (i'm in my 9th month, i believe?) and not a peep from them! Even got the 3x CLI (went from $11k --> $25k). I always make sure to pay way above the minimum; I typically calculate my current balance and divide by the number of months left.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

Creditaddict — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 02:12:23 GMT

@fastalkintn wrote:
I always read and study to much and it has messed me up again. I've always wanted an Amex card and finally got my BCP in today. After reading all the horror stories on here I'm afraid to use it. What if I dont make the payment before my cut date? What if I have to carry a balance for a month or two? I added my wife as an AU, will that red flag me for an audit? What if I don't use it enough and they decrease my cl? Kidding of course, but are they really that hard to deal with? Some post make them sound like a loan shark.

no they are actually very easy to deal with... online is great, they offer SP cli's always, sp declines on new apps, backdating... they are fantastic!

the FR are over done... my partner even went through one that was not even 100% good but I still think they are fantastic and even recently gave him CLI after about a year or so since the FR.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

injustifiiable — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 02:13:06 GMT

@fastalkintn wrote:
I always read and study to much and it has messed me up again. I've always wanted an Amex card and finally got my BCP in today. After reading all the horror stories on here I'm afraid to use it. What if I dont make the payment before my cut date? What if I have to carry a balance for a month or two? I added my wife as an AU, will that red flag me for an audit? What if I don't use it enough and they decrease my cl? Kidding of course, but are they really that hard to deal with? Some post make them sound like a loan shark.

Worrying is overrated. Just use and PIF and you should be fine!

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

Involver — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 02:50:46 GMT

If you're going to worry that much about an issuing bank you probably shouldn't have apped their product.

Just use it responsibly, make your payments, don't abuse the account, and you should be fine.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

BigBS — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 02:55:01 GMT

Have had my BCP since 2007 and used it very liberally. CL went up to aroun $10k and I tried to use every bit of it. In 2011 got myself back together and started paying it off and my CL got reduced to $1500 and boy was that a shock. Got over it though and used sparingly, PIF'd each month, even carried a balance for a couple months early this year. CL is up to $34k now and have a Gold DELTA AMEX and Platinum. Be responsible and you will be fine.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

Rhaeny — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 03:03:38 GMT

@Involver wrote:
If you're going to worry that much about an issuing bank you probably shouldn't have apped their product.

Just use it responsibly, make your payments, don't abuse the account, and you should be fine.

I sure wouldn't let it stress me out. I would charge what I can pay off at the end of the month and just let it be.

I also used to worry about PIF before the statement cut, but geez, I just don't care anymore. Too much monitoring and all to do about nothing (unless you're apping for something ). The bill comes and I send them what I owe them. Done.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

fastalkintn — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 03:29:37 GMT

most of what I said was in jest. But everyone talks about making sure you pif Amex before cut date. Don't they make their living by people with a balance? I don't plan on not pif just seems funny to me all the horror stories about them cutting you off if you don't pif. Don't get me wrong I'm excited to have the card and will use it, just saying a lot of people make it sound like they will break your knees if you don't play by their unwritten rules.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

eagle2013 — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 04:06:33 GMT

@fastalkintn wrote:
most of what I said was in jest. But everyone talks about making sure you pif Amex before cut date. Don't they make their living by people with a balance? I don't plan on not pif just seems funny to me all the horror stories about them cutting you off if you don't pif. Don't get me wrong I'm excited to have the card and will use it, just saying a lot of people make it sound like they will break your knees if you don't play by their unwritten rules.

Some, but mostly merchant (swipe), foreign transaction and annual fees. Remember the majority of AMEX product distribution is still the charge card, which you have to PIF every month. It's their culture, and at least anecdotally, that also kind of applies to their revolvers as well.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

TiggerDat — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 12:20:30 GMT

I have only been with them for about nine months, but so far they have been fine. They even approved me for a BCP card. I got the 7-10 day message when I did, which translated into I think 7-10 minutes.... I thought that was funny, I was on the phone trying to recon for it and had already gotten an email telling me approved... Wierd.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

takeshi74 — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 12:59:54 GMT

@fastalkintn wrote:
After reading all the horror stories on here I'm afraid to use it.

I suggest not worrying over every possible negative outcome and just using it. Everyone's situation differs so you can't just assume that because person A had a problem that you'll have it as well. Read enough and you'll find horror stories on everything out there (not just AmEx and not just credit topics but life in general). Are you really going to let anecdotal evidence prevent you from doing anything in life?

Also, keep in mind with any discussion forum that people post when they have questions or problems and that always skews perception. People rarely post to say "everything's ok".

@fastalkintn wrote:
IWhat if I dont make the payment before my cut date?

Same as with any creditor -- a balance reports. Paying by the cut date isn't a requirement. It's useful if you need to lower reported utilization. I've never paid AmEx before statement cut.

@fastalkintn wrote:
What if I have to carry a balance for a month or two?

No big deal. I've carried a balance on my BCP (intro offer) for much more than a month or two. It's high utilization over prolonged periods of time that can get you in trouble and that's with any creditor and not specific to just AmEx. One or two months with balances is not a big deal though it's always advisable to not carry a balance since rewards are typically negated when carrying balances.

@fastalkintn wrote:
I added my wife as an AU, will that red flag me for an audit?

Simply adding an AU doesn't trigger an FR or else I and countless others would have gone through multiple FR's. It would be silly of AmEx to allow AU's if that was the case. Some have reported FR's due to AU's having drastically higher usage than the original member and/or paying more than the original member on the card. I think I've also read about adverse action due to adding a large number of AU's. There's nothing unusual or odd about adding an AU in and of itself that would raise red flags.

@fastalkintn wrote:
What if I don't use it enough and they decrease my cl?

AA from insufficent use seems unusual. Though if you have no use for the card then why did you apply for it?

@fastalkintn wrote:
Kidding of course, but are they really that hard to deal with?

Nope. Not unless your credit is poor and/or your activities raise red flags with them.

@fastalkintn wrote:
most of what I said was in jest. But everyone talks about making sure you pif Amex before cut date. Don't they make their living by people with a balance? I don't plan on not pif just seems funny to me all the horror stories about them cutting you off if you don't pif. Don't get me wrong I'm excited to have the card and will use it, just saying a lot of people make it sound like they will break your knees if you don't play by their unwritten rules.

People tend to overgeneralize on many topics. Always consider the source(s), validate and corrborate. AmEx, like any other creditor, does not live on interest alone. There are also the swipe fees and AF's.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

steve23111 — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:10:45 GMT

@fastalkintn wrote:
I always read and study to much and it has messed me up again. I've always wanted an Amex card and finally got my BCP in today. After reading all the horror stories on here I'm afraid to use it. What if I dont make the payment before my cut date? What if I have to carry a balance for a month or two? I added my wife as an AU, will that red flag me for an audit? What if I don't use it enough and they decrease my cl? Kidding of course, but are they really that hard to deal with? Some post make them sound like a loan shark.

Let me offer my perspective on this. Use the damn card. And here's why. I burned AMEX in a BK7 about 12 years ago. Before the BK was even completely off my record, I re-applied to AMEX, and they let me in. That was with one of the old AMEX Clear revolvers. They initially approved with a $5000 CL and then immediately (within a week) cited a "system error" and slashed the CL to about half IIRC. If they're watching anyone, it's me! Since then, I CLI'd the Clear, added a Zync, added a BCP (and CLI'd that twice), added a PRG, added and dropped ACM's, changed addresses, updated income info, hit the "check spending" button, used the cards all kinds of weird places, filed warranty claims, disputed some charges, used the Express Cash feature, PC'd the BCP to BCE, carried balances, transferred balances, paid in full, run the balance up on the NPSL (and PIF, of course)... basically used the heck out of mine and done all sorts of stuff everybody says to be afraid of, and they've left me alone. Use the card!

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

Stralem — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:39:00 GMT

@steve23111 wrote:
@fastalkintn wrote:
I always read and study to much and it has messed me up again. I've always wanted an Amex card and finally got my BCP in today. After reading all the horror stories on here I'm afraid to use it. What if I dont make the payment before my cut date? What if I have to carry a balance for a month or two? I added my wife as an AU, will that red flag me for an audit? What if I don't use it enough and they decrease my cl? Kidding of course, but are they really that hard to deal with? Some post make them sound like a loan shark.
Let me offer my perspective on this. Use the damn card. And here's why. I burned AMEX in a BK7 about 12 years ago. Before the BK was even completely off my record, I re-applied to AMEX, and they let me in. That was with one of the old AMEX Clear revolvers. They initially approved with a $5000 CL and then immediately (within a week) cited a "system error" and slashed the CL to about half IIRC. If they're watching anyone, it's me! Since then, I CLI'd the Clear, added a Zync, added a BCP (and CLI'd that twice), added a PRG, added and dropped ACM's, changed addresses, updated income info, hit the "check spending" button, used the cards all kinds of weird places, filed warranty claims, disputed some charges, used the Express Cash feature, PC'd the BCP to BCE, carried balances, transferred balances, paid in full, run the balance up on the NPSL (and PIF, of course)... basically used the heck out of mine and done all sorts of stuff everybody says to be afraid of, and they've left me alone. Use the card!

Yeah, what he said.

Also, it pays to remember that the people on this forum are far, far outside of the norm when it comes to credit users. Many of the posters here are churners who play the system as much they can without showing up on anyone's radar. Reward scumming, manufactured spending, selling AU spots on high limit cards, etc. Invariably, some of them get a little too frisky and do end up on the radar, and they tend to be the ones who gripe the most about adverse actions taken against them by lenders.

So stop stressing. Amex isn't going to be your new pimp.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

lhcole77 — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:47:06 GMT

Um, I think the OP was joking about most of the original post....let's not lose sight of that. I found it funny btw.

I have been with Amex since June. Occasionally carry a small balance, never a problem. They even reduced my APR from 15.24 to 12.24 permanenly. Haven't been able to get a CLI yet due to the fact that my UTL was 4% when I app'ed and it has been in the 20s last few months (since I have 0% on Citi and Barclay). No worries.

I love them! And hope you will too.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

steve23111 — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:48:33 GMT

@Stralem wrote:
@steve23111 wrote:
@fastalkintn wrote:
I always read and study to much and it has messed me up again. I've always wanted an Amex card and finally got my BCP in today. After reading all the horror stories on here I'm afraid to use it. What if I dont make the payment before my cut date? What if I have to carry a balance for a month or two? I added my wife as an AU, will that red flag me for an audit? What if I don't use it enough and they decrease my cl? Kidding of course, but are they really that hard to deal with? Some post make them sound like a loan shark.
Let me offer my perspective on this. Use the damn card. And here's why. I burned AMEX in a BK7 about 12 years ago. Before the BK was even completely off my record, I re-applied to AMEX, and they let me in. That was with one of the old AMEX Clear revolvers. They initially approved with a $5000 CL and then immediately (within a week) cited a "system error" and slashed the CL to about half IIRC. If they're watching anyone, it's me! Since then, I CLI'd the Clear, added a Zync, added a BCP (and CLI'd that twice), added a PRG, added and dropped ACM's, changed addresses, updated income info, hit the "check spending" button, used the cards all kinds of weird places, filed warranty claims, disputed some charges, used the Express Cash feature, PC'd the BCP to BCE, carried balances, transferred balances, paid in full, run the balance up on the NPSL (and PIF, of course)... basically used the heck out of mine and done all sorts of stuff everybody says to be afraid of, and they've left me alone. Use the card!
Yeah, what he said.

Also, it pays to remember that the people on this forum are far, far outside of the norm when it comes to credit users. Many of the posters here are churners who play the system as much they can without showing up on anyone's radar. Reward scumming, manufactured spending, selling AU spots on high limit cards, etc. Invariably, some of them get a little too frisky and do end up on the radar, and they tend to be the ones who gripe the most about adverse actions taken against them by lenders.

So stop stressing. Amex isn't going to be your new pimp.

This.

As long as you use your card normally (as in, "as designed") you'll be fine. If AMEX didn't want you to use the card, they would issue their cards with $10 CL's and set them to self-destruct after three uses in a month. But they don't. The more you swipe that card, the more they make. As long as you hold up your end of the deal by paying on time and being responsible and sensible about how long you carry balances, you'll be fine.

Re: Afraid of my Amex!!!

-Wade- — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:31:26 GMT

@fastalkintn wrote:
I always read and study to much and it has messed me up again. I've always wanted an Amex card and finally got my BCP in today. After reading all the horror stories on here I'm afraid to use it. What if I dont make the payment before my cut date? What if I have to carry a balance for a month or two? I added my wife as an AU, will that red flag me for an audit? What if I don't use it enough and they decrease my cl? Kidding of course, but are they really that hard to deal with? Some post make them sound like a loan shark.

Congrats on your new card just use it and stop worrying so much!