farewell delta gold amex
 

Reluctantly took delta gold amex as I use card to buy inventory & my suppliers won't take amex; however have 240k NW miles (now Skymiles) so thought I'd use amex for travel (got an AA Visa for inventory purchases). Today came this month's amex statement, w/ a 'periodic finance charge' of some $38. What's this I said. Looked at the very fine print on back to find I'm being charged simply for using the %&# card! Yes, I pay in full every month & I pay within 5 days of receiving statement & I have a high credit line & the card costs $150/yr. So, I pay for the card & I pay for using it -- the 'periodic finance charge' is 18.23%! I suspect the penalty is for the sin of paying in full. I notice Discover will also implement a 'periodic finance charge' in 2010. If this is the future of premium cards, it'll be back to checks, debit cards, & (most likely) on-line billpay for 'big' chargers. :mad:

Something's amiss here. All Amex Delta products come with a 25 day grace period. Did you pay the card late? Did you go over the limit? Those fees are about $38 (the over the limit fee goes away this month). Did you take a cash advance? Did you play less than the full balance?

I think you must be misunderstanding something, and I don't think you read the fine print close enough. I seriously doubt you're being charged a finance charge if you paid the bill in full and on time each month. Is it possible you had some non-US transactions? The int'l service fee might show up as a finance charge.

just the facts
 

Recd previous statement on 2 Sep, paid in full on 8 Sep (posted on 11 Sep); recd current statement yesterday (7 Oct for billing period that closed 2 Oct); no foreign transactions, no cash advances. 'Periodic finance charge' based on 'purchase' of $2.5k w/ 'daily periodic rate' of 0.0500% & 'actual annual percentage rate' of 18.23%, so the 'periodic finance charge' is $38. As it happens I made only a single charge on the amex gold delta card in this billing period & that was on 21 Sep, so one might say I paid $38 to borrow $2500 for 12 days -- pretty steep. Sidebar: now doing $15k/mo on AA Pt Visa & all my vendors accept it, none accept any amex product.

Dear MaryHilllyer, You are jumping to conclusions and I am going to jump to the defense of American Express. An error happened somewhere. If had to make a bet it would be an error you made. Either way I suggest as others have that you call amex or log on to your account and send a secure message. If you pay in full as you say and have a good history with amex the problem will be corrected even if the fault lies with you. (Example: underpaid your previous bill by one cent, etc.) I agree with Skofarrel every amex product has some grace period if you pay in full.

Amex also has some lurkers on Flyertalk but you could have had this problem issue resolved with one phone call. Amex still has good customer service in most cases imho. Do not diss and get upset at Amex just yet. I think you will be suprised. fyi...I do not take always take the side of Amex if you look at previous posts. Once again I suggest you call the number on the back of your card right now and be polite and calmly explain what happened. Please post after you phone call which I strongly suggest you make right now. Please let us know the results. I bet you will be happy

What finance charges?
It would be good Mary, if you gave Amex a call?
They probably mischarged you? Its always better to call and clear up the air.

Amex has exceptional value and expertise.
I love my Amex. They have on occasion disappointed me in that their RM had had a bad hair day, if that is the case, I apologise and end the conversation, and make in another call and talk to more friendly RMs.

Its the same with other CC issuers, if a RM is not to your liking, just end the call and get some other RM to take care of your matters.

You need to call Amex. They do not charge a fee for use of the card (other than the annual fee). They think you either were late with a payment or went over your limit - or used the card for a purchase from a company located outside the US. If none of these fit, there was an error but the only way you'll find out is by calling. If the error is on their end I am quite certain you'll have little trouble getting a credit for the charges.

One caveat - the one time I incurred an accidental interest charge, it was reversed, but the next month there was another one since the system thought I had a balance the last month. I had that reversed as well but had to realize what happened and phone the next month to have everything fully squared away.

What did you buy? It sounds as if the transaction was not classified as a purchase, but rather as some type of cash (or cash equivalent) advance.

I dont understand why wouldn't you call AMEX regarding this charge?

The rep usually can go over your account and tell you why there is a finance charge - it looks as if your purchase is classified as cash advance for whatever reason - only contacting AMEX would you be able to figure this out.

I cannot imagine why anyone would not contact the card issuer if there is some charge on his/her card that does not make any sense.

I do think it has gone downhill recently. Getting too many people with bad hair days.

Hi MaryHillyer,

It’s Beth from American Express Customer Care.

I read your post and would like to review your account. I kindly ask you to forward an email to me via the American Express Secure Message Center and I will be happy to research this matter further for you.

To log into our Secure Message Center, please visit:

www.americanexpress.com/messagecenter

If you are not registered to access your account online, simply click on the “continue” box located on the right to create a User ID and password.

After logging in, simply click on the box “Compose A Message” and select “General Inquiries” for “Choose a Topic.” If you address your email to me – Beth/flyertalk – I will personally receive your email and respond directly to you.

I look forward to hearing from you. It is my pleasure to assist you.