@FinStar wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@FinStar wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:The statement is simply that if there is not a payment made to bring the current balance down, charging privileges may be interrupted. To avoid a possible interruption for future charges, they just need the balance brought down. This would not be any different than having a message from another lender who has issued you a revolving credit card stating that you have reached your credit limit and will not be able to make additional charges until you have available credit again. Nowhere has a promise of increased spending ability been made as a result of payment, and there is no dishonesty there.
Just because someone chooses not to reply to every Amex thread with "NPSL bad. Amex bad." doesn't make one an "Amex defender." Stating facts based on the cardholder agreements, prior experiences, and shared knowledge helps everyone to better understand credit products and make informed lending decisions.
I didn't say there was a promise of increased spending ability. I was addressing the actual statement Amex made : "...it is important that you make a payment on your account soon to continue to enjoy uninterrupted use of your Card." Which is simply not so. Because even if the OP paid the account down to zero instantly, he or she would not be assured of the ability to "enjoy uninterrupted use". Amex will interrupt one's use of the NPSL cards whenever if feels like it, in accordance with its secret, shifting, internal formulae.
That's actually a very inaccurate statement since you're generalizing your past experience with everyone. Unless you work directly for AENB and/or are part of a group that develops the algorithms or the AI dynamic technology, it just screams sour grapes from the 'incident' you experienced that led you to cancel your Gold Card. Charge Cards (or some lenders for that matter) are not for everyone and not every product will be a good fit for all.
There are millions of charge cards (any flavor) in use worldwide, and I bet, the great majority have encountered no issues that the OP experienced (not in the past 25 years IME). I enjoy having the flexibility of using charge cards the way they're intended and I've encountered no interruptions. This even goes for similar processing and payment methodologies used by Diners Club/Carte Blanche charge cards when they were in active circulation.
Yes and you say that every single time someone posts on this forum that they have encountered the exact same issue.
At least there is consistency in balanced responses since there aren't 100s upon 100s of threads/posts (here or elsewhere) that report similar experiences. Other members have already provided their feedback upthread on similar instances.
As has been mentioned upthread and in other topics, if the way a CC and/or lender operates causes more headaches than what it's worth, folks have options - plenty of them. No one is forced to receive reminders such as those AmEx generates based on the experience the OP has shared if they don't want to deal with AmEx. Similarly, no one is forcing an individual to use AmEx charge cards if the way they're designed to operate becomes more of an annoyance factor than what was initially expected. We all have choices at the end of the day. AmEx isn't going to radically change their NPSL methodology so there's that. Some folks like charge cards, others do not, and that's perfectly fine. The world still spins.
Agreed.
And the world still spins, indeed it spins even a little more smoothly, if customers can air their grievances openly without being branded as "outliers". And if forum members can learn about the downside of a product before, rather than after, they've signed on for it.
@Credit12Fico wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:I wouldn't say that's ambiguous,
"However, it is important that you make a payment on your account soon to continue to enjoy uninterrupted use of your Card."
That's fairly ambiguous to me. They could have put a dollar amount of remaining spend before they "interrupt" my use of the card.
AND they could've said WHEN "soon" is! Is "soon" tomorrow? Or is "soon" this month? This year?
I agree, it is ambiguous. I understand its point, but it is poorly worded and lacking information.
That three month rolling average gets repeated so often around here, I'm wondering if it somehow made it into the CSR script? If so, it's definitely not the whole picture as so many of us have very different experiences. While not a button to play with, there's too many instances of hitting the Check Spending Ability button and getting back like $100k approved when charges have been nowhere in that neighborhood (or even time zone). I type this one so much, I will just quote myself:
While CSRs will generally give the blanket answer that your charging ability is based on your spending and payment history with Amex, it's only one factor in Amex's very sophisticated algorithm that determines it, and they are transparent about this in your cardmember agreement and the terms when applying for a charge card: "No pre-set spending limit on purchases does not mean unlimited spending. Your purchases are approved based on a variety of factors, including current spending patterns, your payment history, credit record, and financial resources known to us."
Any statements that their formulas are simply based on an average of X spending in the past Y months have been dispelled again and again. I've gone a long time without using my Platinum card (or very minimally) in the past and then didn't think twice about plopping down a $5-15k charge on it. I have an AU charge card for work that might see $1000 a month spending for a year or more and then I don't think twice when I need to make a $75k equipment purchase. Those are approved based upon all of the other factors known to Amex, not previous spending on the card.
@K-in-Boston wrote:That three month rolling average gets repeated so often around here, I'm wondering if it somehow made it into the CSR script? If so, it's definitely not the whole picture as so many of us have very different experiences. While not a button to play with, there's too many instances of hitting the Check Spending Ability button and getting back like $100k approved when charges have been nowhere in that neighborhood (or even time zone). I type this one so much, I will just quote myself:
While CSRs will generally give the blanket answer that your charging ability is based on your spending and payment history with Amex, it's only one factor in Amex's very sophisticated algorithm that determines it, and they are transparent about this in your cardmember agreement and the terms when applying for a charge card: "No pre-set spending limit on purchases does not mean unlimited spending. Your purchases are approved based on a variety of factors, including current spending patterns, your payment history, credit record, and financial resources known to us."
Any statements that their formulas are simply based on an average of X spending in the past Y months have been dispelled again and again. I've gone a long time without using my Platinum card (or very minimally) in the past and then didn't think twice about plopping down a $5-15k charge on it. I have an AU charge card for work that might see $1000 a month spending for a year or more and then I don't think twice when I need to make a $75k equipment purchase. Those are approved based upon all of the other factors known to Amex, not previous spending on the card.
When I used to have the Business Platinum card I frequently played with the 'check spending' button, before I learned in this forum that it's not good to play with that button too much. I found it hysterical to be approved for incredibly large numbers unimaginable for my small business, numbers so large that if I ever actually spent that much ... I'd have to leave town 
Makes me wonder what goes into that algorithm of theirs.
😂 Yes, that's a recurring theme (and again why your incident a while back was so out of the norm given most of our experiences). I remember when they added the "Yes, we'll approve your charge for $X. In fact we'll approve a charge up to $Y" screen to that a few years back (not sure if it is still like that), my post here was something like "Amex seems to have more confidence in my ability to repay than I do."