First time I had to call Amex customer service for an issue...

[DeeBee78]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
On top of all that, being the human element into it, its possible after telling the CSR that if it doesnt work second time you wont call back and use another card probably rubbed the csr wrong and decided not to accept the second try. Sometimes if you catch a person on the wrong day or them just being unprofessional it can happen. Sorry DeeBee.

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I'm not going to call them multiple times to get a $600 charge to go through. I have a dozen non-Amex cards that are happy to oblige me, and since they have real limits, I know where I stand. 

[DeeBee78]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

I'm not sure how surprised to be.

On one hand, $2,800 isn't that much compared to other spending on the card, or the $5,000 spending check.

On the other, a $500 ED suggests they've had some major concerns with OP's credit, and it might not take much to tighten the strings on PRG.

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Also statement came out a couple of weeks ago and hasn't been payed yet.   Seems like paying the balance would be the easiest thing to do as it due in a couple of days anyway.  

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Why should I have to pay the balance a couple of days early for the "privilege" of using their card? The payment was already scheduled, I've never missed any payments (on any card), and I have ran the card up higheer than this before. I've even made multiple payments in the billing cycles before, because I didn't want to suffer the embarrasment of my card possibly being declined at a fancy dinner. 

I shouldn't have to walk on eggshells to use their card. 

[Anonymous]

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@DeeBee78 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

I'm not sure how surprised to be.

On one hand, $2,800 isn't that much compared to other spending on the card, or the $5,000 spending check.

On the other, a $500 ED suggests they've had some major concerns with OP's credit, and it might not take much to tighten the strings on PRG.

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Also statement came out a couple of weeks ago and hasn't been payed yet.   Seems like paying the balance would be the easiest thing to do as it due in a couple of days anyway.  

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Why should I have to pay the balance a couple of days early for the "privilege" of using their card? The payment was already scheduled, I've never missed any payments (on any card), and I have ran the card up higheer than this before. I've even made multiple payments in the billing cycles before, because I didn't want to suffer the embarrasment of my card possibly being declined at a fancy dinner. 

I shouldn't have to walk on eggshells to use their card. 

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You can do whatever you want but I am guessing you didn't run it up before two weeks after the statement hit.  It is their money if they decide you are a risk they can stop you from charging.  I don't see what the big deal is paying it two days before the due date to charge up big amount of money.  All you do is go online and click a button. I am sure if you were charging a couple hundred dollars on dinner they wouldn't have declined you.  The charge cards don't have set limits so that is the risk you take. Also some places don't take Amex so it is best to have other cards anyway. 

If you never missed any payments on anything why did they only give you 500 dollar limit on your other card?  Is your history very short?  

I can see why you might want to use other cards instead but I am not sure why you were angry with customer service agent.  

[DeeBee78]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@DeeBee78 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

I'm not sure how surprised to be.

On one hand, $2,800 isn't that much compared to other spending on the card, or the $5,000 spending check.

On the other, a $500 ED suggests they've had some major concerns with OP's credit, and it might not take much to tighten the strings on PRG.

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Also statement came out a couple of weeks ago and hasn't been payed yet.   Seems like paying the balance would be the easiest thing to do as it due in a couple of days anyway.  

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Why should I have to pay the balance a couple of days early for the "privilege" of using their card? The payment was already scheduled, I've never missed any payments (on any card), and I have ran the card up higheer than this before. I've even made multiple payments in the billing cycles before, because I didn't want to suffer the embarrasment of my card possibly being declined at a fancy dinner. 

I shouldn't have to walk on eggshells to use their card. 

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You can do whatever you want but I am guessing you didn't run it up before two weeks after the statement hit.  It is their money if they decide you are a risk they can stop you from charging.  I don't see what the big deal is paying it two days before the due date to charge up big amount of money.  All you do is go online and click a button. I am sure if you were charging a couple hundred dollars on dinner they wouldn't have declined you.  The charge cards don't have set limits so that is the risk you take. Also some places don't take Amex so it is best to have other cards anyway. 

If you never missed any payments on anything why did they only give you 500 dollar limit on your other card?  Is your history very short?  

I can see why you might want to use other cards instead but I am not sure why you were angry with customer service agent.  

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I wasn't angry with him, I simply told him I wouldn't be calling back a second time if the charge didn't go through. I wasn't going to spend another 15+ minutes on hold.

As far as that dinner, I wish it was only a few hundred dollars. It was a $2,000 retirement dinner for my grandmother, and I used it to meet my spend bonus, hence my concern about the charge going through. 

Amex was spooked by a recent app spree when I got their revolvers. Everything else in my profile was great. No baddies, no excessive utilization, no lates, nothing AAoA is about 2 years right now. 

But really, it's all good. I think I'm finding that there may only be room for one Amex card in my wallet, and it's probably going to the the BCE. I've come to realize that I really don't want to deal with the hassle of worrying whether or not Amex is going to approve my charges on a case by case basis. I don't micromanage my cards a whole lot, but with Amex, I've had to quite a bit. 

[UpperNwGuy]

I think Amex acted fairly given the facts of the case.  They gave OP a paltry $500 limit on the ED, so that should have been a warning signal of Amex'a nervousness.  Then Amex offered to let the Southwest.com charge go through on the PRG if OP would pay off the balance, but OP didn't pay.  Pushing back at Amex was not a good negotiating tactic.

[DeeBee78]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I think Amex acted fairly given the facts of the case.  They gave OP a paltry $500 limit on the ED, so that should have been a warning signal of Amex'a nervousness.  Then Amex offered to let the Southwest.com charge go through on the PRG if OP would pay off the balance, but OP didn't pay.  Pushing back at Amex was not a good negotiating tactic.

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This is where we disagree. I've been an exemplary customer, always PIF'ing and higher amounts than the $2,800 they were having concerns over. I pay my Amex bills when they're due, and I'm not going to change that to get a $600 charge to post. If Amex has a problem waiting two more days for the regularly scheduled payment, that's their problem, not mine. 

The low limits on the revolvers are due to Amex being last in an app spree. There's nothing in my profile keeping those limits there, and I will be closing the ED soon, and requesting a CLI on the BCE. I could probably app another one of their revolvers right now and get a $5K+ starting limit. 

[Anonymous]

While you may so far be an exemplary customer, the credit/risk department's computers don't know that yet. Your account has barely been open 6 months -- your first automated internal account review doesn't happen until 6 months.

[wasCB14]

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@DeeBee78 wrote:
As far as that dinner, I wish it was only a few hundred dollars. It was a $2,000 retirement dinner for my grandmother, and I used it to meet my spend bonus, hence my concern about the charge going through.
Amex was spooked by a recent app spree when I got their revolvers. Everything else in my profile was great. No baddies, no excessive utilization, no lates, nothing AAoA is about 2 years right now.
But really, it's all good. I think I'm finding that there may only be room for one Amex card in my wallet, and it's probably going to the the BCE. I've come to realize that I really don't want to deal with the hassle of worrying whether or not Amex is going to approve my charges on a case by case basis. I don't micromanage my cards a whole lot, but with Amex, I've had to quite a bit. 

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I would say a $500 ED and $1k BCE are indications that they had concerns at the time you apped...not just later when they saw all the inquiries and new accounts. Amex generally doesn't give those kinds of limits to customers they are comfortable with.

That said, I'm not sure what concerned them (other than whatever got your scores down to the 500's before rebuilding).

I like Amex, but they've never tried to keep me on a short leash. In your shoes, I probably wouldn't keep PRG. It's pretty clear they don't like your profile, but that other issuers do.

*Or are you saying you did the spree...let the new accounts reports...and then apped for BCE+ED?

[sunkissed]

DeeBee, it’s unfortunate Amex is not working out for you. Thankfully you have cards with other lenders that suit your spend better. You’ve got a little while before your annual fee is due. You can hang on to see if they become more welcoming before you move on. Of course, if you don’t want to give them another chance to earn your business, you’re free to cut them loose.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

[Anonymous]

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@DeeBee78 wrote:

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I think Amex acted fairly given the facts of the case.  They gave OP a paltry $500 limit on the ED, so that should have been a warning signal of Amex'a nervousness.  Then Amex offered to let the Southwest.com charge go through on the PRG if OP would pay off the balance, but OP didn't pay.  Pushing back at Amex was not a good negotiating tactic.

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This is where we disagree. I've been an exemplary customer, always PIF'ing and higher amounts than the $2,800 they were having concerns over. I pay my Amex bills when they're due, and I'm not going to change that to get a $600 charge to post. If Amex has a problem waiting two more days for the regularly scheduled payment, that's their problem, not mine. 

The low limits on the revolvers are due to Amex being last in an app spree. There's nothing in my profile keeping those limits there, and I will be closing the ED soon, and requesting a CLI on the BCE. I could probably app another one of their revolvers right now and get a $5K+ starting limit. 

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I agree with everything you are saying except paying your bill two days before the due date. As you are paying it in two days anyway what does it matter to pay it when they ask you on the phone. You are already wasted 15 minutes on hold plus however long you were talking to the person on the phone why not spend 30 seconds to log onto the website and pay your bill.  You get what you want they get what they want everyone is happy.

The 500 dollar limit and how you can't depend on them are valid concerns.   My main concern with them is how the membership points don't post even after the statement posts and it is paid.  If you are a Delta Flyer or use British Airways reguralry it is probably a decent card  (PRG) to keep. Otherwise I am not sure if the net 95 dollar annual fee is worth it. 

Perhaps I am more forgiving of the whole thing as I have had an Amex Corporate Card for various companies for the last 20 years. I am used to knowing I could be potentially turned down for any charge.