American Express has pissed me off....

[StukaJU87]

...for the last time. I have had an AE Optima card for about 10 or 12 years. My interest rate has always been reasonable. Like maybe 11%. They have had me in this stupid Rewards program for years, even though I have called to tell them I don't want to be a part of it. I guess I did not have a choice.

Today I got my bill for the month and noticed that the interest rate is 15.24% for purchases. WTF is this? So I call. I was very nice and inquired about the interest rate and I asked if we could get it back to where it was.I have NEVER been late and always pay above the minimum. My credit score is 801! I told her I have Christmas shopping to do and I am going to Vegas and Anaheim in January.

She told me there is nothing she could do. I told her I would be paying it off with this payment and I will be leaving my American Express card home for shopping and Vegas.

She said, "That'll be fine sir. Would you like to update your account with an email address?" Yeah, right. Bite me.

I just wrote the check for the payoff amount. I will not close the account. I will leave it open with a ZERO balance. FUGGEM!

[rjohnstone]

Scott, You have a PM.

[Inazone]

I had something similar happen a few years back. I was going to get an SL2GX through GuitarXpress, and decided to put the deposit on my Advanta (can't remember if it was Visa or MC) to keep it separate from my "regular" cards. I got the bill in the mail, and the interest rate was in the high teens. I called to ask why this was, and the response was that they increased my rate after going for a long period of time without activity on the card. I did a balance transfer to another card, and never used the Advanta card again.

[Jason1212]

Credit card companies do not make money off people that pay their bills on time and with an amount over the minimum. My friend had an AMEX account that he paid off each month and rarely used. They did the same thing to him and really did not seem to care when he closed the account. After getting laid off a few years back and having my credit go in the dumper from it I have sworn off revolving credit. I guess that's easy for me to do since I couldn't get it if I wanted it, but really to most companies you are only a good customer if they are bleeding you dry.

[Newc]

Credit card companies do not make money off people that pay their bills on time and with an amount over the minimum.

Hmmm, unfortunately for them, I cannot seem to care :ROTF:

[DonP]

I pay my Amex off every month. Fuck them and their interest. I also use a SkyMiles ($85 a year, first year fees waved) where I cancel it every year the fee is due and re-open it. Now I use the blue card and I'm starting to have them pay me. Damn straight.

[rjohnstone]

Actualy, Amex, Visa, MC and the others make money whether you pay on time or not.
There's this thing called a transaction fee.
Some of the board members here know what I'm talking about because they pay those fees everytime one of us buys something from them with a credit card.
The Amex charge cards, not credit cards, actualy make more money per transaction because most people who carry one tend to purchase more expensive items with them. Bigger $$$ purchase means bigger fee.
I've seen people purchase new cars with them even though they have the cash on hand... why... so they can get the reward points. And since they are charge cards, the payment is due in full every month, so there is no interest charge to make money from, only an annual fee and transaction fee.
And a very tiny portion of this goes to pay my salary.

[Jason1212]

Gotcha.

[rjohnstone]

And for the record... Yes, I work for Amex. Not in the card division directly, but I know how things over there work as some of the stuff I do involves all the divisions of Amex in one form or another.
As for Scotts case, as with almost all credit cards, his card is tied to a fixed rate plus the current prime rate... when the prime rate changes, his rate changes. He can call and get it adjusted, but you do have to get past the CS Reps first.
And no, they're not being assholes, a CS rep really can't change your rate, only a supervisor or higher can make that call, so be nice to them please. There are some really cool people working over there and they get way more grief than they deserve sometimes. But there are a few over there that lack certain people skills.

You can get a fixed rate card that will only go up or down based on your payment history, but those require a decent credit score to even qualify for one.

[StukaJU87]

You can get a fixed rate card that will only go up or down based on your payment history, but those require a decent credit score to even qualify for one.

801 is decent, no? They never offered me a fixed rate card.

[Sinistas]

And no, they're not being assholes, a CS rep really can't change your rate, only a supervisor or higher can make that call, so be nice to them please.

Well, if they can't do it, and that's what the person wants, shouldn't it be shipped off to a supervisor rather than letting the person walk? That's ridiculous.

[rjohnstone]

801 is decent, no? They never offered me a fixed rate card.

Yea... I'll say.
They typicaly won't offer it since they will make less money on it in the long run.

Well, if they can't do it, and that's what the person wants, shouldn't it be shipped off to a supervisor rather than letting the person walk? That's ridiculous.

They really don't care either way, so it's up to the customer to MAKE them get a supervisor. And yea... it is ridiculous.
I don't work in that card division, so I don't know all the reasons as to why they do things the way they do.

[shreddermon]

You think that's bad, Stuka? Last month, my CC company tried to charge me interest on a balance that had been paid in full. I was like WTF?

I called to dispute it, and the CS rep had no explanation at all - just credited it back to me. I mean, HTF does a mistake like that even happen? No explanation whatsoever.

Needless to say, I'll be keeping a much closer eye on this account now. If that happens again, me and my high credit score will closing out that account and going to another bank.