"Stay Away From American Express"

Comment 1 by meya

Hehehehehehehehe! on 2009-01-06

Sorry for laughing, but you had me crying when you said, "I hope they go down in flames!" I could only crack up laughing at that comment. I clearly understand how you feel, and trust me, you are not the only one here who they messed over like that. I have heard horror stories about Amex slicing customers with warrior swords.

Did they ever tell you why they decreased your limit? I would hope you did not go to a bargain store and used the card, I heard they cut your limit just for that reason. Ewww, this card gets on my last nerve. I don't not ever want to own an American Express.

Comment 2 by charonh

So Sorry! on 2009-01-07

I am just wondering who Amex will have as cardholders when the economy picks up. They are pissing so many people off. Your score will regain those points as you pay your card down. Keep your head up and work hard to pay down your balances. It will be ok.

Comment 3 by finance globe

Paying Online on 2009-01-07

I hate to be another one to be negative, but their online payment system has been disabled for about 2 months now. A rep said this is going to be fixed, but that was 6 weeks ago! I don't know if this is intentional or not, but can increase the number of late fees for them.

Comment 4 by kellbell

Online Payments At Amex on 2009-01-07

I haven't had a problem paying online, but it does take awhile to post!

Comment 5 by cabana7

Avoid on 2009-01-07

I used to have a brokerage account with American Express and they were horrible... Very arrogant and had very bad customer service... I switched to scottrade which has been excellent... I think they are ruining long term relationships and banking on consumers having short memories when the economy turns around... If you have good credit, your employed and you are paying your account in a timely manner than this action may come back to haunt them later...

Comment 6 by colonative

Amex/ Finance Globe on 2009-01-07

I have never had a problem with Amex (knock wood). I had a Gold card from 1999-2005 and I just opened my Blue in 9/08 (they backdated the opening date on my credit reports to 9/99 because I had the Gold card from 1999). So far so good. No CLD's or any other problems.

Finance Globe; I just made an online payment on Monday and it posted fine.

Comment 7 by thomas1

AMEX on 2009-01-07

My Citi Amex payment posts the same day, lol

I will never go back to Amex, although they send me

invites all the time. They get pitched.

Yup, they are in a lot of financial trouble and are trying to cut their losses by doing these things to good cardholders.

My Citi Amex credit line keeps growing, almost up to 16k, and I've only had it about 4-5 months now. Everybody keep your balances low

Comment 8 by brian23

Sorry To Hear... on 2009-01-08

Of your bad experiences with AMEX. But, as everyone has mentioned on the board, just focus on paying your balance down and you will regain the points back on your card.

Comment 9 by mark

Decresed My CL After Paying 2300 on 2009-01-08

I'm sure my story is not "out of the ordinary"..

it seems this is American Express "RULE" for 2009..

my credit limit right now was decreased to $600..

and that is after I made a payment of $2300 and left a balance of $450..

thanks to them my balance to credit limit ratio Higher than it's original one!

they said they're going to send the explanation on the mail..

i'm so angry with them!!

i was cleaning my credits and this is what I get!

i have good scores, around 700-720..

and I even got increases from my HSBC MasterCard and from my

Capital One Card just this year... Right before AMEX decreased my CL.

i hate this Company!

Comment 10 by hjm331

RE: on 2009-01-09

I have posted my experience with AMEX in the forum but I'll be happy to share it one more time. I had a $1k CL on my Delta SkyMiles card and no balance. The account was about 10 months old and I was looking at their selection to see what card I should convert to until they cut my limit from $1k to $500. That made me angry and I told myself that this card isn't worth keeping since they can never be trusted because they already had suspended my account and asked for my tax forms before the first statement closed! I closed the card and have never looked back since.

I love my BOA AMEX but thinking about combining it with my Visa since I don't want AMEX to profit off my business.

Comment 11 by alit123

Worst Card on 2009-01-09

I totally agree... AMEX is the worst card out there... I had a AMEX sky blue with a 7k and was closed in 3 weeks after I got it... Nothing changed on my credit report... It was better then before... I called and asked for the reason and was told the economy is bad... Why send out a preapproval if the economy is bad... Never having an AMEX again!! All my family members called and canceled before they did..

Comment 12 by wanderer

Scares Me on 2009-01-10

As we see a shake out in the financial bank and nonbank market place, we also see less choices and ridiculous requirements. I was told by Wells Fargo it would help my case if I had had real estate too. Real estate in today's market makes me a better customer??? Hmm...

Comment 13 by ryanco

I Know This Is Crazy... on 2009-01-13

... But I want an American Express. THE ONLY REASON is because I look at as a status symbol. Anytime someone pulls one out to pay, it's like flashing, "Good credit, good credit."

Comment 14 by cireone

AMEX, GOOD CREDIT, PLEASE on 2009-01-13

AmEx isn't all about having good credit. Heck, I got one with just a mid-500 score. What theyll do to you is allow you to use the card you pay the balance down and then just when it seems you in reach of paying in full, they decrease your CL. This was done to me twice. Their reasons is that demographically people with the card that are my age generally default on the card. What a CROCK!!!

Comment 15 by princeton3

I Agree! Stay Away!! on 2009-01-16

When I was a young teenager a friend of mine had a green American Express as an additional user through his father. I wanted an AMEX so bad but it wasn't to be at the time. A couple years later my mom signed me on to get a Citibank Visa. That was were my credit problems began. Years and years of late payments, etc., until Citibank refused to renew when me card expired. About 6 years ago, I couldn't get a credit card to save my life. Then finally Macy's gave me a shot with $500 CL. I financed several cars and two homes (A- paper loans) during this time period but could not get a credit card. Capital One even approved me online for $30K auto loan (that I ended up not using). Then I applied for Capital One cc thinking if they approved me for a car loan then surely they'd give me a CC. No such luck, denied! About two years ago, I decided to go the Orchard bank route with a secured CC. I was approved. Then I went for First Premier a few days later and was approved. I then waited about 5 months and tried Capital One and got the card (with $1000 limit). My wife, whose credit was similar to mine but not as bad tried for Marriott rewards through Chase and got approved for $5000. I said what the hell, I'm going to try too! I did and was approved for $5000. Prior to that (about a month) I had tried for another Citibank (to redeem myself) and Amex (that I always wanted) and was denied. After getting the Chase card, about a month later I got an offer for the Delta Skymiles card and thought about applying for hours and hours. Finally, I decided to apply by phone and was instantly approved but I didn't know my CL. I got the card in the mail days later and realized I had a $10,000 CL. I had arrived!! I put the other cards in the drawer now that I had my prized amex. Well, I ended up charging about 5,000 on the card, NEVER missed a payment, ALWAYS paid more than the minimum due and low and behold, Amex cut my limit from 10K to 5600. I was so furious that I decided to apply for another card (Chase again) and do a balance transfer. I was determined to not give AMEX another cent for the way they did me. I was approved for the Chase card (this all just happened very recently) and am still waiting for it so I don't know my new CL but I guess its more than the AMEX balance that I'm transfering. My goal is to charge maybe 100 per month on the AMex, NO MORE. I'd heard horror stories of people being on vacation and having their accounts frozen, balances cut, etc., but I thought it wouldn't happen to me and then this!! Amex is just too wishy washy a creditor to have as your main card. If you can get another card I would suggest using that as your primary and only using AMex when absolutely necessary. They hate when you carry a balance and they hate high utilization, but if I wanted to pay my bill in full each month I would have gotten a charge card instead. Anyway, just my.02 hope this helps someone. My first post - so very long...:)

Comment 16 by jmcockerham

Re: My Business Was Ruined By American Express - Need Help From Others on 2014-10-01

In December 2008, my business was ruined by American Express who had extended us unlimited credit, only to withdraw the credit without any reason or warning. I lost everythingmy retirement, life savings, my credit rating and my home. Claiming unjust enrichment AmEx then suited me for the unpaid balance.
I have been in court for 5 years trying to represent myself. Finally I have a prominent law firm interested in the case and even a class action suit. I need the stories of others that have been damaged personally or in their business. It can be in the form of a letter, but to be considered as evidence in the case, I need stories notarized as an Affidavit. (click on the link below to see my affidavit.) http://constitutionalinjustice.blogspot.com/2014/09/american-express-nightmare.html
Also, should you have any contacts, I need the medias coverage. Please let us know if anyone can help.
John Cockerham
allproelectric6445@att.net
(954)-963-4025

Please login or register for free to view your stats, add reviews and card application results, or post comments.