American Express Membership Rewards - Woman sues AmEx for "letting" her spend...

Unreal...

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/35010.htm

Pretend princess Antoinette Millard is showing some real gall: She's suing American Express for $2 million for allowing her to go on a nearly $1 million shopping spree she couldn't afford at some of the city's priciest stores.

Millard, who's currently awaiting trial for insurance fraud, says she was "induced" into dropping more than $950,000 at stores such as Cartier, Chatila and Barneys when the company offered her its prestigious "black card," the virtually no-limit Centurion Card.



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I have a black card. I'll have to try that. :)

this is just crazy.........

judicial system will probably let her get outta this too....

I wonder if she files for bankruptcy, what happens to Amex obligation to pay the merchants.

this is just crazy.........

judicial system will probably let her get outta this too....

I wonder if she files for bankruptcy, what happens to Amex obligation to pay the merchants.

If the purchase is authorized by the online terminal Amex is obigated to pay the merchant.

DCT

Doesn't she sign a declaration to pay the bills? Everybody knows there is no limit, so this amazes me big time.

Amex actually seem to be one of the more responsible credit card providers and in my experience have always had a lower credit limit than my Visa and Mastercards! So I'm more inclined to wonder how the pretend princess in question managed to get that nice line of credit out of Amex.

Amex actually seem to be one of the more responsible credit card providers and in my experience have always had a lower credit limit than my Visa and Mastercards! So I'm more inclined to wonder how the pretend princess in question managed to get that nice line of credit out of Amex.

If you have a centurion card you have shown to be a good payer throughout years and showed a pattern of high spending before you get it. So this spending issue is pretty much self inflicted. You don't get it as a surprise. In the Netherlands VISA have been sending out 'surprise' credit cards to people that couldn't afford it and find the law to be an obstacle now. Amex doesn't just send out cards.

In the cases of certain celebrities, they do. I am confident that Jessica Simpson, Britney, etc did not fit directly into Centurion criteria. It's allll marketing with the black card. This just adds further to its taboo! The card with no limit! I want one, ohmygod, how do I get one?

I don't think she should get off the hook. Happy Thanksgiving, all!

EDIT:


By the time of her arrest, Millard had made a splash on the social scene as "Princess Antoinette," a tiara-wearing member of the Saudi royal family and a former Victoria's Secret model.

But prosecutors discovered Millard's claim was a fairy tale, and that she was really a divorcée from Buffalo who worked at a Wall Street firm.

Haha! What a slap in the face to Amex. I feel no sympathy for them on this one :D

stichris,

Okay those are exceptions and I suspect my prime minister to have one as well. But except those happy very very very very very very very very few it's still quite hard to get one. Those people also have some money to spend. I never forget that ultimately I have to pay the bill. If you do you're stupid. The fundamental difference with my VISA story was that they sent out cards to people in financial trouble and they saw a short term relieve in that case you bring misery on yourself (I mean VISA). No well thinking company does that.

Brenno - I agree. The VISA scam is pretty poor. I was simply amused that this woman essentially played Amex into giving her a black card.

Chris

I guess so and so she should bare the consequences. I have a black card and pay my bills as well.

The linked news story and several other posters make reference to the "unlimited" credit line provided by the Centurion card, but I don't think this is the case. I don't see any indication that it provides *any* extra credit than any other Amex product. At least, I don't think Amex has ever said that Centurion grants the holder a higher credit limit than they'd otherwise get.

I think it's the same as any of the other Amex charge card products: "No Pre-Set Spending Limit - Purchases are approved based on a variety of factors including account history, credit record, and personal resources." It's almost certainly true that the average Centurion card has a higher puchasing power at any given time due to the qualifications, but I don't think someone that can get one would automatically get a higher spending limit just by switching to Centurion.

Of course, I could be totally wrong...

Steve, this is absolutely correct .

Amex grants a minimum spending limit of $75,000 / €75,000 (depending on the card's base currency) for any Centurion card.

The actual spending limit is "adjusted" using customer's spending history, and in some way, known assets (the limit is much higher for Warren Buffett than for me, obviously...).

A "no limit" credit or charge Amex card does not exist.