American Express sucks donkey balls

[Matrix]

I now hate American Express.

In February 2008, I applied for and got an American Express card with a credit limit of $7,800.00

In October, I had surgery and charged a portion that my insurance didn't cover to my AmEx card. My total balance went up to $7,200.00. The balance stayed high for about 4 months, but I made payments well above the minimum monthly payments every month. I never made a late payment and I never went over my credit limit.

Last week, I received my tax returns and on Monday I nearly paid off my AmEx card down to a $900.00 balance. The NEXT DAY, they lowered my credit limit to $1,100.00!! This hurt my credit score significantly. When I called and spoke to the customer service supervisors, they told me it was because I carried a high balance for 4 months and they questioned my ability to pay the card. Even though I pointed out that I JUST nearly paid off the balance, never made a late payment and never exceeded my credit limit, they still doubt my ability to pay off the credit line.

They are refusing to reconsider the decision even though this is severely hurting my chances of getting the mortgage I am about to apply for.

This is absolutely ridiculous. In a time of severe economic crisis, people are defaulting on their credit lines, filing for bankruptcy to discharge their debts, and so on. Why on earth would they punish a responsible, paying customer? They are hurting my credit score simply because I am a customer!

In conclusion, American Express sucks donkey balls. I encourage everyone not to do business with such a crappy company.

Those bastards. (argh)

 

[daonly1around]

wow... i've never had problems like this with my amex, i carried a plus 3K for a long time and finaly paid it off and they didn't do anything like this... they usually raise your limit if anything... not lower it

 

[NVP5White]

Actually, I've heard of numerous news reports of credit limits being lowered. The problems are not limited to AmEx and are not limited to people with poor credit and/or poor payment histories. The key metric they consider (and the one that has changed) is debt-to-income-ratio. Banks have changed their criteria and the only things you can do about it 1) increase your income, or 2) reduce your debt.

 

[Kain]

Actually, I've heard of numerous news reports of credit limits being lowered. The problems are not limited to AmEx and are not limited to people with poor credit and/or poor payment histories. The key metric they consider (and the one that has changed) is debt-to-income-ratio. Banks have changed their criteria and the only things you can do about it 1) increase your income, or 2) reduce your debt.

Bingo.

AMEX doesn't shoulder all the blame in this. It is every lender pouring over actuarial tables looking for any nugget to not lend you money. Welcome to the feast-or-famine mentality of modern capitalism, and we're in for a looooong famine.

 

[DubbyDoo]

man if i had a credit card with 7k credit limit on it....how much if the fs fully built dogbox transmission again?

 

[Matrix]

Bingo.

AMEX doesn't shoulder all the blame in this. It is every lender pouring over actuarial tables looking for any nugget to not lend you money. Welcome to the feast-or-famine mentality of modern capitalism, and we're in for a looooong famine.

I can understand that if I had acted in anyway irresponsibly. But carrying a balance for 4 months while making healthy, on-time monthly payments? They need to MAKE money during this economic turmoil. The only way they can do that is with income they generate from intrest on balances carried over. Why on earth would they penalize someone who has paid up already?

On top of that, I am making more than I was when they first issued the card. Actually, I have paid off other debts in the meantime, so they should be willing to increase my credit limit, not lower it. This still makes no sense to me. (screwy)

 

[magnumP5]

man if i had a credit card with 7k credit limit on it....how much if the fs fully built dogbox transmission again?

LOL, worst idea evAr!

 

[shane02pro5]

Off topic but you don't want a dogbox driven on the street. No synchros and precise revmatching downshifts and upshifts.

 

[daonly1around]

man if i had a credit card with 7k credit limit on it....how much if the fs fully built dogbox transmission again?

yeah, and i should max out my two CC again and have a fully bolt on ms3 with wheels and coil overs....

 

[Kain]

I can understand that if I had acted in anyway irresponsibly. But carrying a balance for 4 months while making healthy, on-time monthly payments? They need to MAKE money during this economic turmoil. The only way they can do that is with income they generate from intrest on balances carried over. Why on earth would they penalize someone who has paid up already?

On top of that, I am making more than I was when they first issued the card. Actually, I have paid off other debts in the meantime, so they should be willing to increase my credit limit, not lower it. This still makes no sense to me. (screwy)

Understand that, right or wrong, every lender has tightened up their criteria across the board. What they may have felt comfortable lending you two years ago means zippo now, even if your financial situation stayed the same or even improved. They are responding to market conditions the only way they know how: by calling back any open credit. Unfortunately for you, revolving lines of credit such as your AMEX are the first to be recalled since the lender is not bound contractually to a fixed rate or amount. This is why bailing out the financial institutions was a HUGE mistake because they already had this plan in place, TARP stimulus or otherwise.

 

[DubbyDoo]

LOL, worst idea evAr!

aww come on a guy can wonder cant he haha

 

[Mikey444]

With all do respect. They owe nothing. If they wanted to give you zero credit that is their right as well. A credit card is a method to facilitate payments, not a loan. You were stuck though and I can understand. But if you need a small loan go to the ban
k, not to your credit card.

 

[magnumP5]

aww come on a guy can wonder cant he haha

No problem with wondering - it's just a horrible idea to max out credit cards for any reason, let alone car parts. I personally do not keep any balance on my cards (I pay them all off every time). If I would spend that much money with a credit card it would be on something that would increase in value, like a house, not my car.

 

[genericuser]

Look at it from the card company's perspective. You let 7800 bucks sit for four months while you were making minimum payments. Technically, that's a liability on their books. They have already paid out that money, and you promised them you'd pay them back.

In the current economic climate, it isn't a good idea to have a lot of liabilities on your books, as that decreases your overall liquidity. You were put into a high risk pool and it bit you in the ass.

Conversely, AMEX cancelled my card within minutes of a fraudulent charge being filed on my card. Their customer service department is top notch. I recommend AMEX to anyone.

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

Look at it from the card company's perspective. You let 7800 bucks sit for four months while you were making minimum payments. Technically, that's a liability on their books. They have already paid out that money, and you promised them you'd pay them back.

In the current economic climate, it isn't a good idea to have a lot of liabilities on your books, as that decreases your overall liquidity. You were put into a high risk pool and it bit you in the ass.

Unfortunately, this is the case. All the lending instutions are running scared right now. That's a crappy situation, but look on the bright side...at least they didn't lower your limit before you had paid off the $7k. Some companies are doing that, and it's immediately putting cardholders into a situation where they owe tons of fees on a balance that was below their limit just a month prior.

 

[genericuser]

Exactly. I'm not sure any other credit card company would have treated the situation any differently.

 

[Matrix]

With all do respect. They owe nothing. If they wanted to give you zero credit that is their right as well. A credit card is a method to facilitate payments, not a loan. You were stuck though and I can understand. But if you need a small loan go to the bank, not to your credit card.

I am not saying they owe me anything. What I am saying is that this is bad for business. I never said this was a loan. Do you understand the nature of credit? The very purpose of the credit card is to allow the cardholder to carry a balance and pay it off in time, subject to the intrest rate of the agreement. If everyone paid cash for their purchase up front, there would be no need for credit lines. What I used my credit card for was the very purpose credit lines are extended in the first place, and they damaged my credit score for it.

Look at it from the card company's perspective. You let 7800 bucks sit for four months while you were making minimum payments. Technically, that's a liability on their books. They have already paid out that money, and you promised them you'd pay them back.

In the current economic climate, it isn't a good idea to have a lot of liabilities on your books, as that decreases your overall liquidity. You were put into a high risk pool and it bit you in the ass.

Conversely, AMEX cancelled my card within minutes of a fraudulent charge being filed on my card. Their customer service department is top notch. I recommend AMEX to anyone.

First of all, if you read my post, you would know that I didn't "let 7800 bucks sit" there. I paid 5 times my minimum monthly payments every month and on time. Then, I nearly paid the whole thing off. There's no high risk involved in carrying a balance for four months. That's the point of a credit line.

And of course AMEX canceled your card immediately. It's called covering your ass. You're not liable for fraudulent charges provided you report it immediately upon your discovery of the fraud. They didn't want to eat any additional fraudulent charges so they naturally canceled your card immediately. That had nothing to do with the quality of customer service.

 

[JDM-P5]

well at least you didn't get a charge off. That's even worse!
I can't wait tip next month...the P5 will be paid off then I can pay off my $1,200 CC bill, then all I'll have is my Military Star Card to manage.

 

[genericuser]

First of all, if you read my post, you would know that I didn't "let 7800 bucks sit" there. I paid 5 times my minimum monthly payments every month and on time. Then, I nearly paid the whole thing off. There's no high risk involved in carrying a balance for four months. That's the point of a credit line.

Why sure there is. What is to stop you from just paying your minimum monthly payment and letting that several thousand dollar balance increase at 20% APR?

They made a business decision. The majority of your balance was still on the card after 3-4 months. They see you as nearly maxing out the card, and still having most of the balance on the card several months later.

I am sure you are responsible and pay your bills on time, but there are exponentially more people who don't. You probably followed a pre-established behavioral pattern that red flagged you, and they decided to mitigate their risk. It is no different than your insurance company charging you more money if you get a ticket.

Sure, you've never had an accident, but statistically do people with tickets get in more accidents? You bet! Could this ticket be a fluke? Sure. However, the company still sees a direct link between tickets and accidents. American Express saw a behavioral risk factor, and they acted on it.

If companies trusted everyone, none of them would make any money. That's why insurance and risk factors exist. Not everyone is an upstanding citizen.

 

[NCZ13]

Why sure there is. What is to stop you from just paying your minimum monthly payment and letting that several thousand dollar balance increase at 20% APR?

They made a business decision. The majority of your balance was still on the card after 3-4 months. They see you as nearly maxing out the card, and still having most of the balance on the card several months later.

I am sure you are responsible and pay your bills on time, but there are exponentially more people who don't. You probably followed a pre-established behavioral pattern that red flagged you, and they decided to mitigate their risk. It is no different than your insurance company charging you more money if you get a ticket.

Sure, you've never had an accident, but statistically do people with tickets get in more accidents? You bet! Could this ticket be a fluke? Sure. However, the company still sees a direct link between tickets and accidents. American Express saw a behavioral risk factor, and they acted on it.

If companies trusted everyone, none of them would make any money. That's why insurance and risk factors exist. Not everyone is an upstanding citizen.

big +1.

sometimes people forget they are apart of a larger crowd.