American Express unexpectedly lowers credit limit, loses life-long customer

eddie — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:29:17 +0000

I’ve been an American Express customer for nearly 10 years. No, “customer” isn’t quite the right word – I’ve been more of an American Express “evangelist.” I use my AMEX exclusively. I shy away from businesses that don’t accept American Express. I am always telling my friends about the benefits of American Express – from automatic warranty extensions to their no-questions-asked charge dispute approach. Also, as a small business owner, I also choose to pay higher fees to accept American Express cards than I do to accept Visa and Mastercard. (They make merchants sign a separate, more stringent, more expensive, agreement.)

But all of that changed today – as of today, American Express and I are no more. We’re done, we’re over, we’re through. I wish them the best, but I just can’t continue in this relationship.

I currently have two AMEX cards – an AMEX Blue and a Costco TrueEarnings Business Card, with limits of $10,000 and $25,000, respectively. I spend about $2,000 per month on my AMEX, and I’ve always paid my bills in-full and on-time. As of 10 minutes ago, my FICO (FAKO?) scores were all around 740 or higher. (Credit scores courtesy of the $11.99/month American Express “Credit Secure” service that I subscribed to until about 10 minutes ago.) I have very little non-student loan debt. A pretty good credit profile, right? I thought so.

So imagine my surprise when I received the call telling me that American Express had “reviewed my account” and decided to slash the credit limit on my Costco TrueEarnings card by 75%. The stated reason: Over the last 3 months, I ran up a balance of $4,500, and made only the minimum payment on the card. They also noticed a few new “inquiries” from other creditors. I explained that I had recently purchased a house, and that was the source of both the inquiries and the minimum payments – my mortgage company chose to pull my credit report several times, and I chose to stay cash-heavy during the process so I could make a larger down payment. Rest assured, I told them, I’ll be paying off the card in full this month.

“Thanks!” multiple levels of customer support told me, “but we’re still cutting your credit limit.” As I pushed each for reconsideration, they told me that my only option was to send in a copy of my credit score and “file an appeal” with their “review department.”

Really? You want me to BEG for the privilege of using your card? Sorry, AMEX, but I have another option – I can cut up my American Express cards, use a different card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, anyone?) for my daily spending, and stop accepting American Express at my business. I think I’ll go that route instead. You know, I think I’m going to cancel my Costco membership as well. Sam’s Club has better prices anyway.

“But it’s not personal, sir.” Isn’t it? You’ve spent millions of dollars marketing yourself as my “trusted partner,” telling me that we’re friends and that you’re looking out for me. But you’ve been lying through your teeth. What a fool I’ve been. Your credit limits and minimum payment amounts mean nothing. Sorry, AMEX, but I need a partner I can rely on. And after this incident, I just can’t trust you.

Superior customer service used to set American Express apart. Now that that’s gone, the only things distinguishing them are a yearly fee and the shrinking number of merchants who accept AMEX.

Good luck with that, guys.

I’m not the only one affected by this practice.

Planet Feedback has tons of complaints

Consumerist is full of American Express complaints.

Compaints Board – Full of complaints.

Complaints at Yahoo

Got more stories? Post ‘em in the comments.

Craigslist and its merry band of Wii reseller flaggers

eddie — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:21:08 +0000

Lucky me – I happen to have a pretty reliable source of Nintendo Wiis. For the last few months I’ve been getting about 3 Wiis per week. Most of these have gone to clients and friends as gifts, but I’ve sold a few as well.

I used to sell them primarily on eBay, but lately there have been so many fake bidders that you have to watch your auction like a hawk and cancel any bids from a new user or a user with zero feedback. Whether this phenomenon is the result of a slew of new eBay users who just don’t understand the process, or whether it’s primarily nutjob anti-capitalists, I can’t say for sure. (I suspect the latter.) Either way, this, along with eBay’s ridiculous fee structure, has pushed me away. I now sell my Wiis on Craigslist.

Until today, I’ve sold about 6 Wiis on Craigslist without incident. Today, however, some merry band of idiots is out there flagging my Wii ads as “inappropriate,” and they’re being automatically removed from the site. It appears that I am not alone. What is it about reselling Wiis that causes so many otherwise reasonable people to fly into unchecked rages? I have to wonder where these people do their weekly shopping – surely it must be hard to go through life with the attitude that people should sell you whatever you want at cost.

Anyway, I did learn an interesting trick to keep your posts from being removed from Craigslist – just edit the ad every so often, and the “flag counter” will be reset.

Eddie On Everything » business

American Express unexpectedly lowers credit limit, loses life-long customer

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Craigslist and its merry band of Wii reseller flaggers

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