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@jnkp2001 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. You borrowed money from someone (Amex), paid it back very slowly (2yrs), and then started asking other people for money too (Nordstrom/Penfed)?
Put yourself in their shoes. If you lent someone a bunch of money, how would you act if they took forever to pay you back and then asked other people for money before paying you back? I'm sure you'd probably be a little concerned, and might hesitate to lend them a lot of money anytime soon again...or ever again.
Amex is pickier than most. Whether they are worth the "hassle" is up to you. If you treat them like a prime lender, they'll treat you like a prime borrower. If not...well, this is what happens (or worse).
a little bit apples and oranges, isn't it? How many "other people" that you borrow money from, charge interest?
Of course it's not an exact replica of what's going on. It's not meant to be. It's meant for you to look at it from their perspective.
However, I've loaned people money with interest before. Not 20% mind you, but 3% and such, relative to what a bank account would have earned at the time. Not because making money was my goal. I would have made more money not loaning you anything. Your interest makes up for what I lose by not investing that money elsewhere. It's also a deterrent for you to drag the payments out a couple years.
Won't even get into the costs of collections when you don't pay at all. Sure, they make money off fees. But it isn't what keeps them happy, and anyone who uses Amex should be well aware of this.
My DW havd a Costco True Earning with a limit of 30K and they drop it to 1,800. For no apparent reasong, her CC util was no more than 20% at any given time. Her total CL was around 150K between six cards. That is sad because we spend more than that just for our business at Costco.
At any given balance, assuming 20% APR interest one would have to successfully carry that balance for 5 years before it offset the potential loss from a customer default.
CC's weren't designed as a product for long term balance carrying as a general rule though there are some exceptions to this; however at 20% it is punative and prohibitively expensive to carry that balance: there are simply better options available for the average consumer though those of us rebuilding may not have access to them.
Penfed is the most infamous on this forum for hating 'pyramiding' of debt but Amex isn't keen on it either. Whoever posted that Amex is based on charge card like business model is right: they make most of their money on transactions rather than balance carrying like other institutions. Actually I think that can be determined by who offers BT incentives, and I don't think Amex has ever done one of those, or at least not in any significant fashion.
Citi on the other hand, different animal
@webhopper wrote:
Guys; lay off the OP... he is using the tool (credit card) in a way that fits his needs. Unfortunately; amex does not like customers who use their cards in this way. Oh well; as a consumer he can choose any number of Other institutions who may be a better fit. As a customer; he should worry about his needs vs the banks needs. If I'm him; I would put my needs over amex;s... that's just how I roll.
Excatly I agree 1000000%. I'm the customer and I expect to be treated a certain way. Any decreased CL or FR and I'll move on to a buisness that doesn't make being a customer feel like a hassle. Why even have interest rates if people can't carry a balance? Why not make every card a charge card? Thats like giving someone a 3 year car loan and expecting them to pay it off in 1 month.
If I were the OP I'd do buisness elsewhere, try a credit union or another bank with better customer care. I like amex but I wouldn't use their products if I was treated that way.
It's not uncommon for a credit card company to slash your limit. I know during the almost great depression II, they were cutting alot of card limits. My sister had a $20k limit with BofA...though she never spent 20k...it was nice to have...Had her limit slashed to 10k and received a letter stating she'd never use the limit so they would be decreasing it.
I'd call AMEX and ask their reason for slashing your limit.
The same thing has happened to me - my wife's account. We do carry a balance, but that is what the Blue card is supposed to be for! We used to have a 12k limit, but they widdled it down over the past 3-4 years to $1000! This last one just happened where it dropped from 7k to 1k. I'm done with AMEX.