American Express Membership Rewards - Problem with large charge

I know this is long but would appreciate some objective input.

Thanks!!

I am posting this for two reasons:

1) As a warning for all to be prepared in case you need to put through a large charge

2) Do I have any reason to be very, very annoyed with AMEX or am I over-reacting?

I have had one or more AMEX cards for 24 years straight and have never had even 1 late payment with them (or on any other card). My normal spending with them is about $30-40,000 per year so I admit I am not one who typically has large balances. I have other credit cards I often use instead of AMEX depending on who has the best deal with points at the time. I was making a very large purchase of low six figures and negotiated with them to let me put it all on AMEX. Since I pay AMEX a significant amount for the Platinum Card (? I think it is now $450) I assumed that I would not have a problem but told the vender I would call AMEX first. I was transferred to an "account rep" who quickly told me I would have to pre-pay the full amount before they would approve. Needless to say I was quite annoyed and said that was not going to happen as much of it was in a brokerage account that I would be transferring to checking over the next few weeks, but would pay the bill in full late October when it would be due. He then said he could do that if we could verify 4-5 times the amount I wanted to charge in "assets". I offered to conference call with him to my bank and Fidelity who easily did just that. "Hold on a moment while I get approval from my supervisor" I was told and then he came back and said they wanted me to pre-pay half the amount. I said why did I just waste 30 minutes with you and asked to speak with the supervisor. She eventually came on the line and initially refused to budge. She said he was wrong to do the asset verification and appologized but wouldn't budge. Yes, I could have sent her half but felt that really defeated the purpose of having a card. I finally offered to pay about 1/3rd as a phone payment and she did approve the charge.

My question is whether I am wrong to be upset after being a perfect credit risk to them for 24 years, hold their Platinum Card, Business Gold and Costco Green small business cards and had just wasted 30 minutes jumping through hoops for nothing. If so, who can I complain to and at what address or email?

Thanks all for any feedback. If that's just the way all the companies do it I will know to be better prepared in the future.

I'm no fan of the credit card operators, but, I don't think, on general principles, that Amex treated you badly (there may be some issues with the execution).

They have a right to be concerned when you change your spending pattern of many years in dramatic fashion, as you did in your example--sometimes when this happens it is an indicator that the cardholder is either in financial trouble or is the victim of some scam, with a chargeback problem looming in the future.

With that said: if it happened to me I might be irritated too. I know I am good for it--but Amex doesn't. :)

Had you not had to jump through the hoops and had not already been told that it would be an approved charge if you were to pay at the end of your billing cycle, then I'd say you were in the wrong. In my mind, if you charge 30-40k a year, and then suddenly want to charge 100k in one month (even with the perfect credit and phone call to Amex), I would be skeptical on their part.

The fact that they had approved it, then when back on their word and had you go through a huge hassle is, without a doubt, a huge flaw on Amex's part. That's where your complaint should come in, and as far as I know Amex keeps pretty good records of all phone conversations, so it shouldn't be hard for you to prove your point. While I'm not the one to answer who you need to write to, I say start at the top. Pick one of the highest positions and write accordingly, don't wait for it to get escalated from some low-level person to a higher-up. Or call and keep demanding to speak with supervisors. I'm not sure what type of compensation you'd get, but even if you just got an apology from there, that should be quite satisfactory. Sorry for your troubles.

They have the right to do this but my problem with Amex is the surprise factor. You don't know how much you can charge until you try to purchase something, or phone ahead of time as the OP did.

They claim to have "no fixed credit limit" but clearly there is a credit limit, they just do not let you know what that limit is.

I have never had a charge refused however I don't feel too confident traveling with my Amex card. What if I am on another continent and my purchase of a plane ticket home is refused? Am I supposed to send in my last 5 years income tax returns to Amex while I am stuck in some foreign country with no way to get home?

Amex needs to be very clear about what each cardholder's credit limit is. They need to print this on their monthly statements.

I have never had a charge refused however I don't feel too confident traveling with my Amex card. What if I am on another continent and my purchase of a plane ticket home is refused? Am I supposed to send in my last 5 years income tax returns to Amex while I am stuck in some foreign country with no way to get home?

Amex needs to be very clear about what each cardholder's credit limit is. They need to print this on their monthly statements.

I totally agree. My main quirk with them is that it can be at a minimum slightly embarrassing and at a maximum, potentially wreck a vacation abroad, if they play the ¨guess how much you can charge this month?¨ game. That's why I always tote along my AMEX credit cards, my Iberia Plus Visa, and debit Visa card, just in case.
While I agree with the first response that since you normally charge 40k a year, and then suddenly wanted to charge a six figure amount in one month's billing cycle, I can understand why that might raise an eyebrow or two, however I would be upset at them making you jump through hoops only to later say no.
If you ask me, having a no pre-set spending limit card should allow some leeway for ¨expect the unexpected¨ type of charges, particularly if you have a history with them.

I have never seen even one single problem. Sometimes I am amazed how big charges they will just accept without a blink. But then again ... I usually do not suddenly charge 3-4 times my annual total spending in a one single charge.

I carry other cards also but just in case my Amex isn't accepted somewhere. I trust my Amex also when travelling but I am not Amex US customer either so I don't have to be afraid many tricks here what they are pulling in the USA.

This is taken from my Amex account. Go to Account Services ->Credit Management (on the right hand side) -> Check your spending ability:

"Charges will be approved if the status of your account does not change.

What would cause a change of status? Your account status is based on many factors. For instance, your account status would change if your Card is lost or stolen, if your Card is expired, if a payment is past due, or if there is a sudden change in your regular spending pattern."

So it does specifically say that the charge can be declined if there is a sudden change in your regular spending. So I guess OP did very well by them letting the charge go through after he prepaid 1/3.

Thanks all for your input. I will call them and complain about the fact they had me jump through hoops and then changed their mind. Wasted my time doing what they asked and then the guy said his "supervisor" wouldn't allow it. As one person said, I do think hearing "sorry" is in order.

Thanks to all!

Since I pay AMEX a significant amount for the Platinum Card (? I think it is now $450) I assumed that I would not have a problem...You think by paying $450 a year for a card that you are now entitiled to make a one-time charge that is more than 25 times your normal monthly spending?

Thanks all for your input. I will call them ...

IMHO, no calls (didn't work for you before). This is a short, polite letter to CEO situation. That might actually get you some results. Calling, IMHO, will just get you more agitated. And who needs that? :)

But isn't Amex the one with the commercial that specifically promotes being able to put large purchases on your card? I'm thinking of the one where the guy's "other card" is declined when purchasing his fiance's wedding ring, but Amex lets him do it....granted the price may not be as large as what we're talking about here, but it does seem like there's a little dishonesty in the advertising there.

so why are you paying them $450 or such a year when the service is so bad? If people speak with their feet they MIGHT get the message!

I can get *wood points on amex for no or minimal yearly fee and I have a spending limit that isn't a mystery, ditto for AA, etc. So if airline miles are your goal amex is a bust (eg just transferred miles from a plat card I am about to close - was charged a fee to do this and no bonus miles - as I would have received with the *wood card)

So... if there are other benefits that are worth the price of admission - fine but I vote with my feet.

Amex was right in theory as the spending pattern was too different...but the hassle was definitly a no-no on their part.

Someone who has been with you for 25yrs, pays on time and has the assets to cover it, the ability to charge has to be a no-brainer.

BAD AMEX !! BAD AMEX !!

For expample, I have been charging approx 100k a yr on my Chairman and this yr I am custom building a house...so I let them know 1 month before the charges start to hit.

Last month's bill was 45k and none of the charges were stopped, held or refused. Nor did I get a call from them on any of those charges. I have yet had any problems with large charges coming thru my chairman card.

One of the many reasons I refuse to carry/travel with an AMEX.

I had something similar happen recently.

I needed to pay for a week's worth of conference rooms in Tokyo that amounted to about five times my regular monthly spend and probably 2.5 times my highest monthly spend ever. I called Amex in advance of incurring the charge and told it would be approved. About ten days later, I received a call from Amex saying they were concerned about the large charge amount and asking when I would pay, implying that it needed to be paid ASAP (and before the regular payment date) if I wanted to continue using my card. They were willing to let me charge up to $5,000 more since I was going on vacation.

Fortunately, I could pay the amount because our corporate reimbursement process is fairly quick. But I was amazed to receive the call after I had taken the time to call beforehand to get the amount approved. I was told no one had written anything about the approved charge in my record. The agent acknowledged that this was Amex's fault but still insisted I pay the amount as quickly as possible if I wanted to keep using the card.

Not great treatment of a long standing Platinum member.

After being a loyal Amex customer for about 20 years, and with a letter of credit from my bank in my pocket for a sea-land container load of computers from Taiwan, I was between flights in LAX when I came upon a very, very good deal from a company I knew and had done business with before.

I called the vendor and told them to put it on my Amex. The charge was declined, even though the amount was about half of what the LC was good for. I had a plane to catch, so there was no time for maneuvering. Since not being able to make the deal cost me about $10k, I canceled Amex when I got home and never looked back. This was in 1987. Fool me once...

As others have said: that "no fixed limit" stuff is unadulterated hype. :mad:

You think by paying $450 a year for a card that you are now entitiled to make a one-time charge that is more than 25 times your normal monthly spending?

Of course I didn't and that was why I called first and provided them with proof of the required liquid assets as requested. I understood the need for that request but then the supervisor overrulled the guy I was speaking with. If the authority was above his paygrade he should have immediately transferred me to the appropriate person.

And yes I agree I will write a short letter to the CEO.

Thank you!

After being a loyal Amex customer for about 20 years, and with a letter of credit from my bank in my pocket for a sea-land container load of computers from Taiwan, I was between flights in LAX when I came upon a very, very good deal from a company I knew and had done business with before.

I called the vendor and told them to put it on my Amex. The charge was declined, even though the amount was about half of what the LC was good for. I had a plane to catch, so there was no time for maneuvering. Since not being able to make the deal cost me about $10k, I canceled Amex when I got home and never looked back. This was in 1987. Fool me once...

As others have said: that "no fixed limit" stuff is unadulterated hype. :mad:


Actually what you describe was with the best of my knowledge a very common fraud pattern at the time and Amex and other credit card companies were eating the loss. People were using stollen numbers and purchasing Intel Pentium processors, etc (when they were worth a lot more than today) and shipping them overseas. Your purchase should have set off alarm bells imho.

They claim to have "no fixed credit limit" but clearly there is a credit limit

Clearly there is not a fixed limit because londonfin was able to have the charge authorized. American Express advertises that they will evaluate charges based on your individual history and known resources rather than automatically rejecting a transaction that exceeds your limit. They explicity mention that this does not mean unlimited spending.

In this instance the problem is that the clerk said "If you can demonstrate X assets we will approve the transaction", rather than "If you can demonstrate X assets I will ask my supervisor to approve the transaction." It's difficult to judge from a single transaction, but it sounds like a training issue.

In any event, people who are uncomfortable with the flexible credit limits used by charge cards can use VISA Signature or Mastercard World products from any number of issuers and know how much will be automatically approved.

The spending limit on your Amex charge cards changes monthly and is based on your previous 6 months charges.

The spending limit on your Amex charge cards changes monthly and is based on your previous 6 months charges.Curious to know where you came up with this tidbit of information - which is most certainly wrong, at least in my case.

The spending limit on your Amex charge cards changes monthly and is based on your previous 6 months charges.

I want to agree with singlemalt on this one. I have asked CS what my exposure limit on my RP Gold card is and I have been told by at least 2 CS agents that I can charge up to 100K without calling, but if I wish to charge more than that then I should give them a call. I asked why and was told that this is due to my more than 5 years excellent relationship with them. I only charge about 1.5-2K every month on average.