<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by outoftown:
As an ex-AMEX employee, I can tell you most of the problems can be avoided by calling ahead and telling the CSR you are planning a large purchase. The ones that don't have any problems thus far probably have large or unusual spending patterns, and the computer doesn't flag their purchase as a potential stolen card. If you think about it, multiple purchases for $1000 even, all in a span of a few minutes, tends to look suspicious. Second point is that while AMEX has no pre-set spending limit, in reality, it is based on your ability to pay. An extremely large purchase immediately after your cut (billing) date can be a warning sign for people planning to skip out or go into a financial crisis (CCC or bankruptcy). </font>
Actually, I did call ahead the first time I bought bonds. I was told I may still possibly have trouble and did once again. So after that fiasco, it didn't seem worth the trouble to call again a second time, especially when I wasn't buying very many bonds.