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Fear of the decline

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Fear of the decline

I'm so glad I'm not alone. 

 

Everytime I use my new American Express, I freak out.

 

$3 coffee- "What if AmEx isn't used to to these small charges?  They might decline me!"

$100 dinner- "What if AmEx isn't used to these expensive dinners on my account?  They might decline me!"

$50 lunch- "I've done three of these this week!  What if this puts me over that invisible credit limit thing?  They might decline me!"

 

Then, "If they decline me, they just might decide I'm not worth the risk and cancel my card!"

 

I mean, it's basically a fear of rejection manifesting itself in credit card terms.  (And I've spent several hours reading stories like, "I was a perfect customer for one million years, then I bought some gum and then AmEx cancelled my card.")  I told a friend that I had this fear and the reply was, "Who cares?  It's just a f#%$*&@ credit card."

 

And that's the truth-- it's not like a credit card decline is going to ruin anyone's life (and likewise, it's not like never getting a decline is going to massively improve your quality of life).  In the big scheme of things, what happens when I swipe my card at Starbucks has relatively little impact on me or anyone else.  AmEx is going to do what they what.  And I'm going to do what I want.  This relationship is only going to work if we're both looking for the same thing.

 

That said, when I get gas tomorrow, I can guarantee I'll be asking myself: "How much does Exxon authorize?  I bet AmEx is cool with $50, but what with fuel prices, I bet it'll be more like $100 and since I ate out twice yesterday..."

Message 11 of 22
andre181
Established Contributor

Re: Fear of the decline

I've only had a decline once on any card because of the daily limit on my debit card but I still fear declines too.

 

Whenever the person in front of me at the store gets declined, I feel SO bad for them. It must be so embarrassing.

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Message 12 of 22
brian2220
Regular Contributor

Re: Fear of the decline


@Anonymous wrote:

I'm so glad I'm not alone. 

 

Everytime I use my new American Express, I freak out.

 

$3 coffee- "What if AmEx isn't used to to these small charges?  They might decline me!"

$100 dinner- "What if AmEx isn't used to these expensive dinners on my account?  They might decline me!"

$50 lunch- "I've done three of these this week!  What if this puts me over that invisible credit limit thing?  They might decline me!"

 

Then, "If they decline me, they just might decide I'm not worth the risk and cancel my card!"

 

I mean, it's basically a fear of rejection manifesting itself in credit card terms.  (And I've spent several hours reading stories like, "I was a perfect customer for one million years, then I bought some gum and then AmEx cancelled my card.")  I told a friend that I had this fear and the reply was, "Who cares?  It's just a f#%$*&@ credit card."

 

And that's the truth-- it's not like a credit card decline is going to ruin anyone's life (and likewise, it's not like never getting a decline is going to massively improve your quality of life).  In the big scheme of things, what happens when I swipe my card at Starbucks has relatively little impact on me or anyone else.  AmEx is going to do what they what.  And I'm going to do what I want.  This relationship is only going to work if we're both looking for the same thing.

 

That said, when I get gas tomorrow, I can guarantee I'll be asking myself: "How much does Exxon authorize?  I bet AmEx is cool with $50, but what with fuel prices, I bet it'll be more like $100 and since I ate out twice yesterday..."


qt authorized 100 on my gold card 

 

and i never fear amex

i charged 1200 in about 25 purchases last month and didn't get declined once

if anyone wants to decline me for no reason they can leave my wallet and go to the shredder  Smiley Very Happy

 

 

@andre181 i feel sorry for them also 

i seen someone at the store the other day using a bunch of cards because they kept getting declined and the had to put stuff back and that was bad to see that 

 

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Message 13 of 22
FicoScore626
Frequent Contributor

Re: Fear of the decline

 


@andre181 wrote:

I've only had a decline once on any card because of the daily limit on my debit card but I still fear declines too.

 

Whenever the person in front of me at the store gets declined, I feel SO bad for them. It must be so embarrassing.


I think the level of embarrassment might depend on whether they have backup cards or cash to pay for the item(s) they're trying to purchase or whether they have to leave the store empty-handed..It my case, I experienced no embarrassment when I tried to purchase a pair of boots for around $100 from Macy's one evening and the cashier/clerk told me that my Macy's store card was declined. I was perplexed as hell by that as my credit limit was $1500 and I had a balance of $845 on the card at the time. Come to find out after speaking with a rep over the phone that Macy's had decreased my credit limit to $850. The rep's genius idea was for me to charge $5.00 on my Macy's store card and charge the rest on one of my other credit cards. Why not just charge the whole thing on my visa card? LOL

 

I think my boss is INSANE. He travels abroad (Israel) and puts all of his faith on a single card. He did the same thing with his wife and they both ended up paying for it...

 

In the wife's case, he sent her to Israel alone with just an American Express card and the place she was staying at didn't accept American Express so she had to borrow the money from a cab driver that they knew...

 

In the cases of my boss, he recently went through the embarrassment of trying to be a big shot with some family members in Israel. They went out to eat, the dinner came out to around $400. He whipped out his trusty Berkshire credit card only to have it declined... One of the other family members took care of the bill and my boss called the office and had the secretary contact the bank to find out why the card was declined.. And then he told the secretary "it was SO embarrassing."

I don't even travel within the U.S. with a single card, heck, I don't even go to the local supermarket or 7-11 with a single card, lol.. I always have a few with me at the ready in case something goes wrong with one of them at checkout..

Message 14 of 22
TangMeister
Frequent Contributor

Re: Fear of the decline

 


@MidnightVoice wrote:

I don't use my Amex in public  Smiley Happy


I was behind someone in Target a while back, and he got declined for a small purchase on his Amex.  He was embarrassed and angry and apologized to me for holding up the checkout line since I was next.  I told him I'd recently read that Amex has flagged Target purchases for scrutiny because they've experienced a higher than normal level of fraud in those transactions, and that's probably all that was going on.  It's not personal!  And you know?  He was relieved and that made it worthwhile to speak up.  Sometimes we credit addicts do a good deed. Smiley Happy 

Message 15 of 22
dp321
Regular Contributor

Re: Fear of the decline

I used to be AU on a credit card from my mom and I have NO idea how much credit line is left on it... Sometimes my mom maxes it out or together we both do. My mom is the kind that let the bank draft the money on due day and never pays during the cycle. If I am by myself, espeically at groceries store or gas pumps, I would just try it even though I know there is a high change it will get declined. But then all the time I have three other cards to back it up. 

HOWEVER, when it comes to my own accounts, I check them DAILY online, sometimes BI or TRI daily. Once a gas pump put a $100 pre-auth and I called at 10 at night to see what's up because I didn't know any better then. Smiley Sad I must say even though I am not suffering from the fear of the decline, i am suffering from hmmm, excesive managing?


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Message 16 of 22
tinuviel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Fear of the decline


@Anonymous wrote:

I'm so glad I'm not alone. 

 

Everytime I use my new American Express, I freak out.

 

$3 coffee- "What if AmEx isn't used to to these small charges?  They might decline me!"

$100 dinner- "What if AmEx isn't used to these expensive dinners on my account?  They might decline me!"

$50 lunch- "I've done three of these this week!  What if this puts me over that invisible credit limit thing?  They might decline me!"

 

Then, "If they decline me, they just might decide I'm not worth the risk and cancel my card!"

 

I mean, it's basically a fear of rejection manifesting itself in credit card terms.  (And I've spent several hours reading stories like, "I was a perfect customer for one million years, then I bought some gum and then AmEx cancelled my card.")  I told a friend that I had this fear and the reply was, "Who cares?  It's just a f#%$*&@ credit card."

 

And that's the truth-- it's not like a credit card decline is going to ruin anyone's life (and likewise, it's not like never getting a decline is going to massively improve your quality of life).  In the big scheme of things, what happens when I swipe my card at Starbucks has relatively little impact on me or anyone else.  AmEx is going to do what they what.  And I'm going to do what I want.  This relationship is only going to work if we're both looking for the same thing.

 

That said, when I get gas tomorrow, I can guarantee I'll be asking myself: "How much does Exxon authorize?  I bet AmEx is cool with $50, but what with fuel prices, I bet it'll be more like $100 and since I ate out twice yesterday..."


Thanks for sharing that; I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one!

 

I just got back in with Amex, after a two decades long parting of the ways. I don't want to do anything to rattle them, so I think that I'm becoming a little bit paranoid about using the card. Enough? Not enough? Too much??? Well, really not too much, mostly because I'm afraid of using it. But I mentally go through the exact same scenario that you painted above!!!

 

Add to that the fact that I've logged onto their website frequently to check on my account and to familiarize myself with my card's features/benefits. Now I'm wondering if they're going to notice that I log on more than once a day, and will they flag that as "suspicious activity." Am I being paranoid?

 

Well, here's where I'm at... My Cap1 rewards card is going on its monthly "vacation" today, so that it will have time to allow my recent charges to post and I can PIF before my statement cuts. Currently I have < $300 balance from this month's charges on my Amex Green. My DH and I are going out to dinner tomorrow to celebrate our anniversary. I've been wanting to pay with my Amex so that I can get a little bit more activity on it and earn a few more rewards points. BUT... I don't know where my invisible CL is with them! Will I get declined??? I'm starting to think that I'm getting silly and overthinking this. If Amex won't let me charge between 300 - 400 in a month with them, then that would strike me as subprime. No, I think that I'll be ok and go ahead and use the card tomorrow. If there is a problem, I've got plenty of other options sitting in my wallet. Smiley Happy


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Message 17 of 22
thobbs
New Contributor

Re: Fear of the decline


@TangMeister wrote:

 


@MidnightVoice wrote:

I don't use my Amex in public  Smiley Happy


I was behind someone in Target a while back, and he got declined for a small purchase on his Amex.  He was embarrassed and angry and apologized to me for holding up the checkout line since I was next.  I told him I'd recently read that Amex has flagged Target purchases for scrutiny because they've experienced a higher than normal level of fraud in those transactions, and that's probably all that was going on.  It's not personal!  And you know?  He was relieved and that made it worthwhile to speak up.  Sometimes we credit addicts do a good deed. Smiley Happy 


This happened to me at Target with my AMEX.  I had no balance of what I can remember, and a $9300 CL.  Target was the only one who had the particular iPad model in stock that I wanted and I tried to use my AMEX Blue Sky... rejected.  Used my BoA card and got approved but received a text message saying to call them immediately.  Had to call AMEX too, to get my card unfrozen.  That sucked.

Message 18 of 22
cashnocredit
Valued Contributor

Re: Fear of the decline

20 years ago, back when I had a bunch of CCs I strongly favored using my non AMEX CCs over AMEX since I had no idea what my CL actually was with them.

 

Skip to last year. I had let all my credit lapse over 10 years ago and had recently picked up a few secured cards including a Citi 25k one. In a last minute rush I had to make arrangements to charter a medical flight for my mom to transport her to my home for 7/24 care. With only hours to do it and after the banks had closed I was able to arrange a charter with a partial (2/3) payment on my Citi card and the remainder by check. They called their CC service company for authorization and - DECLINED- at which point they called me back to get another card. I had no other card with anywhere near the CL needed.

 

I called the Citi CSR number and was immediately  escalated. They could see no reason the charge was declined though they could see the attempt and decline on their computers. So, in a three way call, we tried again and again it was declined. They then asked if the charter company would take a manual authorization but they couldn't because the CC was handled entirely by another party. The Citi guy then started investigating why the automatic system was declining the charge when everything they could see was a go. After 10 minutes the CSR came back on and said he had tracked down the problem and they would need to tweak something that would take another 5 mins. After he came back on he indicated the charter company should re-submit the bill and he would standby to make sure it went through. It did and everyone was happy.

 

Citi had changed their secured card program and cut the max for new applicants from 25k to 5k on the card a few months earlier. At the time they also reset the maximum cash advance to either 5k or the CL, whichever was higher. Since this was a service purchase, not a product purchase, and was "card not present" as well it apparently triggered the decline.

 

In any case I understand the need to handle risk and greatly appreciate Citi's very professional approach to dealing with the problem. I was able to get my mom home and not have her dumped somewhere in the interim.

 


I have reestablished credit over the last couple years
so my moniker is, well, rather out of date.

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Message 19 of 22
minimock
Frequent Contributor

Re: Fear of the decline

Rejectophobia, LOL, I think everyone suffers from it to one degree or the another. I wouldnt feel too badly about it. Just means your human.

Message 20 of 22
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