laurajoyce

I was going to cancel my Amex anyway in a few months and was planning on bulking the account up with some coins before that time. If I were hit with an FR I suppose I should just cancel the card immediately? I guess this would mean burning bridges with Amex forever?

MrPink

You should call up AMEX and let them know about this. They'll change your "Member Since" and also pull your credit history back to that year.

EDIT: Might also earn you some brownie points with AMEX, so that you're not a new customer any more.

tassojunior

I notice on statements it says "Dollar Coin" for purchase. Is there any "filler" to add to get that description to something else?

JMapleton

If you care at all about your Amex account, I would not attempt to find a shortcut in the system to get rewards. Just my opinion.

andrewpartyman

Why are you guys all buying coins with your card? This is clearly what is triggering a financial review as it is a high risk transaction for AMEX. Last year, as some of you may remember, I made the mistake of paying my brother-in-law back on PayPal with my AMEX card. I paid him 500 dollars and AMEX closed my account (He is a secondary card holder for lounge access). I had NO idea this was a violation and AMEX at the time didn't use much common sense (i.e. I spend 25-50k/month on AMEX, yet I am going to default because I am repaying someone I know $500--get the point?). After getting a Congressman involved, AMEX reopened my account, sent flowers, and profusely apologized. In hindsight, I can see how that would smell funny to them (although the amount was very low compared to relative spending). These coin transactions are much riskier: you can buy the coins, default, then you still have the money and AMEX is left holding the bag. Gold prices are going to go down and you guys are going to be left holding a bunch of expensive nothing. Also, gold creates no value. You guys are better off trading gold contracts with your own cash. Just my 2 cents.

mtkeller

Do you have any clue what the coin purchase is like? People are buying $1 coins, not gold coins. Regardless of the values of precious metals, these coins will continue to be worth $1 each. (I've bought precisely one batch of coins just to expedite a bonus on my Platinum card. I don't intend to buy any more coins anytime soon, so I'm not someone wrapped up in churning through coins either.)

fti

A bit OT, but you might want to seek out a good accountant. You probably overpaid taxes by filing individual returns, not to mention that if you both filed as "single" you filed incorrectly. Your only filing options are Married Filing Separately or Married Filing Jointly if you were married on Dec 31st.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

Yup. +1 to what fti just said. You filed your taxes incorrectly. It very clearly states that your filing status depends on whether you were married on the last day of the year, not what fraction of the year you were married.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...105098,00.html

aviators99

I disagree that coins are obviously triggering this. I buy coins, and also do lots of PayPal stuff. No FR for me.

DelrayChris

I think the FR had more to do with your exposure to AMEX than anything else. 10 cards?!

austin_modern

Perhaps Im a contrarian here, but I'm glad you are undergoing financial review with AMEX. I can only hope that you get audited as well, since you're effectively scamming our government out of tax dollars. (credit card fees, shipping, handling, etc)

Its people like you who take a good thing and crap all over it ruining it for the rest of us and its intended purpose.

thehawk75

...And having the government spend money to audit someone for buying coins from the Mint, which is not a crime by the way, would be a good use of tax dollars?

mia

Please restrict this discussion to the American Express Financial Review aspect of buying coins. Discussion of the ethics of buying coins is off topic for this section of Flyertalk. Judgments of the character of other Flyertalk members are prohibited everywhere on Flyertalk. Please review the relevant rule here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#q87

If you disagree with another member, challenge the opinion or idea - not the person. Personal attacks, insults and "flaming" will not be tolerated and will be removed, and the violator will be subject to disciplinary action. You may challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully.

leftpinky

Looks like my wife got cleared of the FR, waiting for my account to get cleared. I messed wrote the wrong address on my tax forms and had to resend the 4506. Thanks for the advice on the tax forms guys, but we did actually file married, but separately!

mia

I have merged smcgrath12's thread from 2009 with leftpinky's thread from 2011 to consolidate discussion of American Express Financial Reviews directly related to purchasing $1 coins from the U.S. Mint.

The 2011 thread begins at post 164.