Comments on CreditMattersBlog.com: Singing the American Express Blues (UPDATE -- Incl...

All American Express cardmembers by now should hav...

2009-09-11T19:52:01.372-04:00

All American Express cardmembers by now should have received the August 2009 letter from Amex stating the huge rate increase and the changes in the terms of the Amex contract. All members should be outraged at this despicable act by this company prior to the first stage of the Credit Card Reform Act of 2009.

There are many sites discussing this travesty by a company who as recent as

I had 2 Amex cards up until Memorial Day weekend. ...

2009-05-26T17:39:20.367-04:00

I had 2 Amex cards up until Memorial Day weekend. When, after 10 years of perfect payment history, they totally shut both of my cards down. I will admit, I have 1 creditor I am behind with, but none others that have any issues. Of course I was fed me the typical corporate line, but your actually history with the company does not matter one iota. This company has no principals when it comes to

I have been crazy busy this month with work and ac...

2009-05-24T11:08:39.583-04:00

I have been crazy busy this month with work and accidentally missed paying my AMEX BLUE card. I received a call from a "Mr. Blahblah" on a saturday morning (a week later) regarding my missed payment and enquiring when I could pay it. When I looked up my online statement, I saw that they had raised my interest rate to 27% and my minimum for the next payment was MORE than two times the minimum

I believe Amex intentionally stopped mailing me m...

2009-05-21T07:53:55.645-04:00

I believe Amex intentionally stopped mailing me my statements, in an attempt to make me miss a payment. They got me with my Blue card, I missed by one day, but they refunded me the late payment charge. Now this month I almost missed the due date on my Platinum, because I did not recieve a statement, but I paid it on time.
Keep an eye on your due dates, they may not send you a statement!

We always use debit at Costco because I don't want...

2009-05-05T14:42:00.000-04:00

We always use debit at Costco because I don't want an Amex card. I love discover. So far I have had very good luck with them. I am sure we would spend more at Costco if it didn't come out of debit which I see as cash. I know I could get a Sam's Club membership (I think they take discover) but I just don't like Sam's Club as much as Costco. Costco is the only major retailer that gets cash

Facebook group ... AMEX Sucks http://www.facebook...

2009-05-05T13:51:00.000-04:00

Facebook group ... AMEX Sucks

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=8847&uid=78778760529#/group.php?gid=78778760529&ref=mf

Amex is the worse. I had 2 business acounts, 1 Am...

2009-05-05T13:44:00.000-04:00

Amex is the worse. I had 2 business acounts, 1 Amex 1 chase. Due to business being tough coupled with a rough winter, I needed a few extra days to make payment on my Amex, I believe it was 5 days late, they immediately jumped my 8% intrested up to 29%. I had only had the card for a little over 1 year, but up until this period, had always paid on time. I expected a late charge, but never the

If you are a Costco member and have an AMEX issue:...

2009-05-05T13:10:00.000-04:00

If you are a Costco member and have an AMEX issue:

Call Costco corporate member services at
(800)774-2678 (have your Costco Member # handy) ... press 0 and an CSR will be with you.

I just had a great conversation! Professed my love of Costco, told them I hope they would look at their relationship with AMEX, referred them to this blog, and made sure they put on this

Drewbert, I got an American Express just because I...

2009-05-04T23:47:00.000-04:00

Drewbert, I got an American Express just because I shop at Costco. It is the only reason I wanted that card. Don't ask me why, but when I buy stuff with cash I don't spend as much. I wonder if Costco will notice less is purchased when cash is the method of payment? I don't like breaking hundred dollar bills, so I ask myself if I really need what I'm buying. I don't think that way when I pay with

I would also be interested to see what kind of imp...

2009-05-04T23:34:00.000-04:00

I would also be interested to see what kind of impact these reductions had on customer loyalty. Other than Costco I have almost completely stopped using Amex cards at retailers(Saves the retailer some transaction fee, and keeping usage low).

Also costco does take debit cards, I think they would be seeing an increase in debit usage. Since most people don't carry around large bills they

All I can add is that it's a good question. At som...

2009-05-04T23:12:00.000-04:00

All I can add is that it's a good question. At some point -- don't know what it is -- Costco, you'd think, would be impacted by these Amex moves. Would be interesting to know the percentage of purchases that are made (Amex vs. debit vs. cash vs. check). The analysts that cover Costco have to be asking these questions.

That brings up a good point. I wonder what kind of...

2009-05-04T23:03:00.000-04:00

That brings up a good point. I wonder what kind of effect AMEX's actions have on a captive retailer like Costco.

michele, I have never been late on any payment, ye...

2009-05-04T21:10:00.000-04:00

michele, I have never been late on any payment, yet American Express canceled my account. I always pay in full, so they didn't have the chance to balance chase me. I wrote a letter to Costco telling them I no longer use American Express and asking them to change to a different network. If thousands of people protest to companies like Costco, I believe American Express will get the message. Fight

I have been a victim/volunteer of AMEX and frankly...

2009-05-04T19:04:00.000-04:00

I have been a victim/volunteer of AMEX and frankly I don't buy what they are selling. They are taking good customers, making them very angry.

I had a late payment because of an online bill payment snafu on the Amex website, a payment didn't get made, it actually posted 3 days after the due date and you would think I was some kind of criminal. Most of their actions were uncalled for.

While I think AmEx is making a mistake here, I als...

2009-05-04T17:52:00.000-04:00

While I think AmEx is making a mistake here, I also think it's wrong to pick on them. I've heard plenty of stories of people having accounts closed by Chase, Citi, B of A, and Capital One. I have to think there's a lot of this going on with smaller banks as well, and we just hear about it more with the biggest card issuers.

Let's face it: all of the issuing banks need to trim their

American Express is running their business like t...

2009-05-04T16:09:00.000-04:00

American Express is running their business like they want to be put out of business--
In addition, American Express can also continue to receive tax-payer money (TARP).
No Executives at Amex headquarters are ever available.
The majority shareholder at Amex is a California Hedge Fund which has been in financial trouble and possibly may be dominated by Asian Interests--and there's

So they get to choose when payment history is impo...

2009-05-04T15:48:00.000-04:00

So they get to choose when payment history is important. Perfect history wont get you anything, but a missed payment will get you all kinds of attention.

It reminds me of cell phone service, rent and utilities. They only report to the CRA's if you miss a payment. Perfect payment gets ignored.

I can agree more with Far Left Texas- If I was a...

2009-05-04T15:28:00.000-04:00

I can agree more with Far Left Texas-

If I was a shareholder- I would be very pissed.
Defaults will continue to rise and AMEX will continue to cut profits from good and bad customers-

Thier computer is STILL doing a poor job of detriming risk-

The whole problem here, as has been previously men...

2009-05-04T15:22:00.000-04:00

The whole problem here, as has been previously mentioned is that it is a poor business decision. Amex makes most of their money on annual fees and transaction fees. High volume accounts that pay on time are good for them, particularly since they have said they want to go back to being primarily a charge card company (vs. credit card/revolving credit). Wealthy customers are not ones who are likely

Anon, thanks for the heads up.

2009-05-04T15:13:00.001-04:00

Anon, thanks for the heads up.

CM, I never used blogger, but there has to be a to...

2009-05-04T15:13:00.000-04:00

CM, I never used blogger, but there has to be a ton of plugins out there. A quick google search found these

http://www.bloggerplugins.org/2007/10/rate-your-blog-post-widget-plugin.html

and

http://www.outbrain.com/get/ratings

I am no Amex apologist and I believe they are doin...

2009-05-04T15:02:00.000-04:00

I am no Amex apologist and I believe they are doing irreperable harm to their brand-

but now that they've added an easy way to set up autopay why in the world would anybody set themselves up for this excuse for Adverse action?

If you pay before the autopay date they do not take the payment (unlike BofA)

It's just there as insurance against this type of goof up.<

I don't think this guy should get preferential tre...

2009-05-04T15:01:00.000-04:00

I don't think this guy should get preferential treatment because he is wealthy, but I'm shocked he didn't get it. Across the board, banks nickel and dine poorer customers with fees while wealthy clients get reward points and interest checking.

That being said, it is ridiculous for Amex to close an account for one late payment after years of responsible management.

Thanks, anon. I am using a blogger blog. Don't thi...

2009-05-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

Thanks, anon. I am using a blogger blog. Don't think those wordpress apps will work here. Right?

You could use something like this- http://wordpre...

2009-05-04T14:56:00.000-04:00

You could use something like this-

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/gd-star-rating/

or

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-polls/

You can search for more plugins at

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/