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Thomas of Mcmurray, PA November 15, 2008
Thomas of Mcmurray PA (11/15/08)
Two months ago we received a letter from American Express that they were lowering our credit limit. Not much of a big deal but some of the explanations as to why were rather comical. One being not enough history with the company. You would think after having a AMEX card for over ten years would suffice as enough history. We pulled our credit report from Experian which showed nothing unusual and no negative marks.
In the same month two of our visa cards increased our credit limit (I guess we are poor risks). We have not been late on a payment and pay more then the required balance every month. We have two cards and with our statements they have invoked their rights to increase our rates by 2%. Which if our payments were late I could understand but for no reason is not right. Is there anyone that can help with this?
Financial loss. Thomas of Miami, FL November 13, 2008
Thomas of Miami FL (11/13/08)
well after 20 years about 1.5 million platinum status i am now person no gratia iwth american express. they base it on experian credit report-e debt too high. My debt with amex is 50% what it was 6 months ago i have only amortgage and some credit cards and somehow they rationalize that i am a credit risk and have reduced my balance. even though I have paid my account mostly more than the required payment the amount of credit avaialable is zero. I will be canceling american personally and for business and will discourage my employees from using for travel. This company has radically changed in a matter of months and there appears to be panic. They seemed relieved that i will be canceling my acccoutn paying off what i owe. Pehaps they need the money more than i do. I have their stock which is down 60% and they are seeking a bailout of 3,5 billion. Government needs to tell them the moeny is for ensuring liquidity not for ceo pay or buying other banks .
sell securities at bottom of market to clear my debt to them. Their idiot credit representative said have I not heard that broker accoutn money does not get consider in the process of givingf credit as the market has tanked. However the worse damaage if you read all your writers it that credid card holders are feeling insulted and wish to toss their cards and reduce short term spending which is bad for the economy. The freezing of credit is bad enough but the unfounded radical reduction in credit lines will further destroy confidence in the economy. I have kept the stock as it may also be at bottom of market; when they get handout it may go up Lee of Morrisville, PA November 10, 2008
Lee of Morrisville PA (11/10/08)
I am a real estate investor and used checks American Express provided for rehab purposes up to my credit limit with no problem a few months ago and last month paid the entire amount off. I decided to reuse the credit line for other expenses and called to make sure the checks were still good. I was told they were good until December 31 when American Express was going to discontinue them due to the current credit crisis. I used four checks to pay bills to vendors (including real estate taxes and insurance) for various properties I own the day following my phone call on October 31.
On November 8 I received a letter from American Express dated November 4 that they had rejected one of the three checks and reduced my credit line to 1000. They ultimately rejected all four checks to the vendors. They claimed this was the result of pulling an Experian credit report, even though the credit report I pulled from the company as result of this said 0 potentially negative items and I had a perfect payment history with AMEX and all other creditors. Balances and credit lines were due to rehab projects and refinanced mortgages - all current and all credit lines under 4% APR.
Potential harm - while I have yet to contact the four vendors, since the tax payment was due on October 31, it is now in the 10% penalty phase and I could incur over 500 in fees as a result. The real estate insurance company may have already sent notices to the mortgage companies associated with the various insurance payments covered by the check AMEX rejected, indicating a lapse of insurance coverage and causing me many hours to rectify the situation and causing me to lose face and credibility with those who think my payments are untrustworthy as a result of AMEX's actions.
AMEX personnel, although courteous, could only say sorry and repeat the fine print that they can reduce credit lines at any time without notice. Thomas of Myrtle Beach, SC November 5, 2008
Thomas of Myrtle Beach SC (11/05/08)
I have had American Express Cards since 2004. My average spending per year across all cards is about 150k. I pay off my balance every month and on small occasions I would keep some small balances because I am in business for myself and it helps in the slow months with cash flow. As of this last month they have taken an aggressive approach to try and get rid of their good customers like me. Good customers means people with at least a mid 700's credit score, pays their bills on time, and never have any late payments anywhere.
Up until a month ago I had 100k in credit limits plus a platinum card with no preset limit. My credit limits were brought down from a total of 100k to 3k last month and my no preset limit on the charge card now has a limit on it. As of November 1st I will pay off all my accounts with them and close them to be done with them. Their actions indicate to me that they are in financial trouble and do not have the money to lend anymore. The letters they sent me as to give me a reason for their action was that the places I have recently shopped other members who do not have a good payment history with American Express have also shopped their and therefore made the decision to decrease my credit limit.
I would recommend to everyone who has an American Express card not to use it and to close your account. The annual fees they charge are too much and you are no longer getting anything for it except aggravation. These are just my personal opinions based on my experiences and the experiences of others including research done.
I was using American Express for my larger purchases and now I have to find an alternate source. Also a lot of my cards are attached to rewards programs and I am having a hard time matching them. Nicole of Bedford Hts, OH October 27, 2008
Nicole of Bedford Hts OH (10/27/08)
I called to inquiry about a balance transfer with a credit limit I had with American Express of 30,000. I called the next day to complete a balance transfer into American Express and the Company had decreased my limit to 6,100. I was outraged. They took my available credit in less than 24 hours. They never contacted me by phone or written notification. I have been with this company for 3 years and have always paid ontime and I have excellent credit. The rep told me because of the report. They only took my credit from me because I had alerted them the day before that I was going to do a balance transfer.
This is bad business and i hope and attorney picks up these cases. I am outraged and want my credit restore to the original limit and a monetary compesation. I use this card as a source of living, daily for all or most expenses and i have earned it. All my basic expenses from day to day, is used with this card. I want my credit score to be restored to it orginal score before this happened.
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