Singing the American Express Blues (UPDATE -- Includes AmEx Spokesperson Comment)

As I've said before, readers send me quite a bit of email. Readers with all sorts of issues feel compelled to shoot me their stories (which I appreciate). Sometimes, the story is even compelling enough for me to write about. Often, though, I don't do anything with the story at all. Why? Because the story wouldn't exist if the customer had taken care of business. Take Fred Wilson's story, for example. He's singing the blues because American Express shut down all of his accounts. Wilson has been a loyal American Express customer for 26 years. Despite a recent late payment, he thinks that American Express should cut him some slack. American Express isn't budging.

From Wilson's story over at Seeking Alpha (hat tip Hegemony via Creditboards):

I've been a customer of American Express since 1983 and have never failed to pay a bill. Right now, between my business interests and family, I carry and pay for five American Express accounts. I'm not going to get into the monthly amounts that these accounts turn over, but I will say that they are significant.

The smallest of these accounts is an old Flatiron Partners account. We don't use that account very much anymore, but we do still use it occasionally. A month ago, we were accidentally late paying that account. And as a result American Express shut down all of my accounts without notifying me. My partners in Union Square Ventures could not use their cards, I could not use my personal card, they shut off all of the accounts I have with them even though they were not in any way related to the Flatiron account. I suspect the accounts are linked because they all funnel membership miles into one single account.

I would imagine that Wilson is not hurting for money. He's a well-known venture capitalist who has enjoyed a lot of success over the years. I suspect that he's looking for a break because he's not a deadbeat. Instead, he's simply guilty of not paying attention to a due date.

Many American Express customers have had their cards shut down for a lot less. Wilson committed a cardinal sin with American Express, though: he missed a payment. And for that, American Express has no tolerance. If Wilson had pitched me his story -- rather than writing it himself -- I might have been interested in one angle. Even with 26 years of perfect payment history, American Express was unwilling to take that into account.

American Express told me that it could not address Wilson's case specifically, but generally speaking "in this environment, we’re trying to strike the right balance between accommodating our cardmembers' spending needs and minimizing unpaid balances that ultimately have to be written-off," an American Express spokesman said. "When a customer is past due in paying their bills, for example, that’s often a red flag. The best advice I can offer is for cardmembers to contact us directly if they have questions or concerns about their account. That way we can have appropriate dialogue with that cardmember."

In other words, Wilson's best bet is to contact American Express directly. What's more, I'd recommend that he bypass front-line customer-service representatives. Ask for a supervisor immediately. Given American Express's recent history, I wouldn't expect a reversal. But who knows. Stranger things have happened. And for the record, I'd say that AmEx probably overreacted in Mr. Wilson's case. A customer of 26 years, with a flawless payment history, probably warrants a second chance.

That said, if you're unwilling to pay your bill on time, even if you're rich, should you get a break? Haven't we all been taught that it's not enough to have the money? You have to actually turn it over too.

What do my readers think? Should Wilson have been cut some slack here? Does his 26 years of on-time payments trump his recent late payment?

You tell me.

Read Wilson's story here.