BBVA NBA AMEX unauthorized credit limit increase request

[Littlewing745]

Wondering what the community thinks my next step should be:

I just called BBVA today to request a credit limit increase in preparation for the next two weeks of 5x rewards. I've only had the card about a month, but I was given a $5,000 initial limit, and I wanted to show some spend and pay habits. My first statement hasn't quite cut yet, but I have spent/paid about $500 since opening the account. I gave them a ring and was told that my credit limit request had been denied a few weeks ago.

Wait...what?

I was then told that a credit limit increase had been requested on the day of activation, which was May 8. I didn't authorize a credit limit increase *at all*. Based upon this revelation, BBVA then proceeded to tell me that my acount was now under watch alert and the card was blocked. I told them "no...I don't want my card blocked, and when was it put on watch alert?"

"You should have received an email or alert about this last night, sir."

"What? Why would I have received an alert about potential fraud last night when I'm just calling you right now?"

So the conversation proceeded this way until we zeroed in on the issue: when I called on May 8, I mentioned to the CSR that I was a little disappointed with starting limit and had been hoping for a bit more (this was the tail end of the BBVA gravy train). He said he'd have a look at the account for me. He told me - almost verbatim - "not sure we can increase it right now for you, but try back after a few months."

Apparently, this was code for, "I just put in a credit limit increase request without your permission and - OOPS - it came back denied."

SO...now I have to wait 90 days from May 8 to apply for a credit limit increase, apparently. Between me and the internet, I'm not *that* concerned, but it's the principle. This CSR clearly ran a credit limit increase - which for all I had known, could have been an HP - and never even asked! What should I do next? This seems outrageous, and the CSR I spoke with today seemed wholly unbothered by the situation. Not going to cancel the card, but boy...not happy.

TL;DR BBVA Compass performed a credit limit increase request w/o my permission about a month ago without my knowledge, and now has told me I'll need to wait 90 days to ask again - even though I didn't actually authorize the first request that was denied.

[tonyjones]

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@Littlewing745 wrote:

Wondering what the community thinks my next step should be:

I just called BBVA today to request a credit limit increase in preparation for the next two weeks of 5x rewards. I've only had the card about a month, but I was given a $5,000 initial limit, and I wanted to show some spend and pay habits. My first statement hasn't quite cut yet, but I have spent/paid about $500 since opening the account. I gave them a ring and was told that my credit limit request had been denied a few weeks ago.

Wait...what?

I was then told that a credit limit increase had been requested on the day of activation, which was May 8. I didn't authorize a credit limit increase *at all*. Based upon this revelation, BBVA then proceeded to tell me that my acount was now under watch alert and the card was blocked. I told them "no...I don't want my card blocked, and when was it put on watch alert?"

"You should have received an email or alert about this last night, sir."

"What? Why would I have received an alert about potential fraud last night when I'm just calling you right now?"

So the conversation proceeded this way until we zeroed in on the issue: when I called on May 8, I mentioned to the CSR that I was a little disappointed with starting limit and had been hoping for a bit more (this was the tail end of the BBVA gravy train). He said he'd have a look at the account for me. He told me - almost verbatim - "not sure we can increase it right now for you, but try back after a few months."

Apparently, this was code for, "I just put in a credit limit increase request without your permission and - OOPS - it came back denied."

SO...now I have to wait 90 days from May 8 to apply for a credit limit increase, apparently. Between me and the internet, I'm not *that* concerned, but it's the principle. This CSR clearly ran a credit limit increase - which for all I had known, could have been an HP - and never even asked! What should I do next? This seems outrageous, and the CSR I spoke with today seemed wholly unbothered by the situation. Not going to cancel the card, but boy...not happy.

TL;DR BBVA Compass performed a credit limit increase request w/o my permission about a month ago without my knowledge, and now has told me I'll need to wait 90 days to ask again - even though I didn't actually authorize the first request that was denied.

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When does the 5X point two week start, do you know?

[Littlewing745]

Literally today. June 4th through June 18th. In preparation, I moved pretty much every bill I had to these two weeks 

[tonyjones]

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@Littlewing745 wrote:

Literally today. June 4th through June 18th. In preparation, I moved pretty much every bill I had to these two weeks 

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Awesome, I just opened up the account last month, they gave me around the same SL like yours. Time to pay some bills now I guess lol

[Anonymous]

Not to sound unsympathetic but I really don't think you have too much to complain about.  Whether you intended to or not you really did ask for a credit limit increase when you stated that you were unhappy with the limit.  Had the original CSR came back and said 'great, I checked and I can raise your limit to $10,000', you probably wouldnt have complained.  Be thankful that they didn't do another HP because it's happened for less and there wouldn't have been much you could do about it.  90 days isn't that long.  Be patient and see what happens down the road.

Sure the original CSR should have been clear and the whole !watch alert' is absurd but sadly that's the nature of a lot of these banks today.  It should work out for you in the future.

[taxi818]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Not to sound unsympathetic but I really don't think you have too much to complain about.  Whether you intended to it not you really did ask for a credit limit increase when you stated that you were unhappy with the limit.  Had the original CSR came back and said 'great, I checked and I can raise your limit to $10,000', you probably wouldnt have complained.  Be thankful that they didn't do another HP because it's happened for less and there wouldn't have been much you could do about it.  90 days isn't that long.  Be patient and see what happens down the road.

Sure the original CSR should have been clear and the whole !watch alert' is absurd but sadly that's the nature of a lot of these banks today.  It should work out for you in the future.

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Totally agree. and hopefully it was not a HP> which would be worst. but reading here you should have known BBVA is kind of shady any way. maybe bad choice of words.

but scary. how many people have had their accounts suspended. calling and everything may had just awakened a sleeping giant. i hope they don't Take AA against you just for calling. But always remember. its their money. not yours. sorry you are going through this crap with them.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes one can push the envelope too far. Not trying to be mean but why ask for a cli on a brand new card with a $5000 limit?

At least wait 3-4 months to show payment history.

[Littlewing745]

Precisely for the reason I said above: there's a small window during which the rewards are great, but between bills and other large purchases I held off for this window, I'd be knocking at the limit door and very likely over. It's not the end of the world - I can spend and pay - but I wanted to have some breathing room, as I have no clue how quickly payments process with BBVA.

I understand why people think it's "weird" or not a good idea, but to be fair, a *lot* of people ask for increases immediately for no particular reason at all. I at least had one, whether other people agree with it or not. I'm not upset I didn't get it; I'm concerned why it was processed as a request a month ago and I was never told or sent a denial letter. I think that's legit.

Regardless, I appreciate everyone's feedback.

[Anonymous]

Is the card still blocked?

[Littlewing745]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Is the card still blocked?

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No, it ended up not being blocked at all. The real point of my story - which I guess I didn't make clear - is that it seems the BBVA AMEX customer service seems pretty bad. Someone posted earlier that apparently that's a known issue, which I was not aware of. At any rate, the card is working, I have the same limit I started with, no biggie. I'll definitely attempt an increase at 90 days, but I'm not super concerned about that. Just would prefer better service, you know? Oh well!