ethanwa

I have a personal Amex Platinum. In previous months I had spent around $20k a month. Recently I have been spending around $1500 to $2500 a day on it. Last month my bill was $55k, for which I made payments early in the month for $5k and $10k, and then when my bill was due for $40k.

I would think now that I have done that for one month, Amex would allow me to spend $55k or more this month right? Wrong. I have charged $25k this month so far, and they said they will only allow $20k more, for a total of $45k... $10k under what I spent last month! After that I must pay the bill in full before they open my card up again.

They said "their systems are still adjusting to my new spending habits".

Has anyone else had these limit denial problems with high spending? How long did it take for them to trust your spending habits? I'm trying to spend $60k-70k clean (with no denials on my card) month over month and being able to pay my bill ONCE when it's actually due, rather than half in the middle of the month. When can I get to that point?

Has anyone out there had this problem with Centurion card? I qualify for one next month.

Ethan

Mr. Vker

This happened to us 2 weeks ago. 6 years and no problem and then BAM. Charges denied. No email, phone call etc. I made a payment to unfreeze. I was told they were tightening their credit guidelines and it was happening all over the place. I protested because we have recurring bills auto paid by Amex, use it for travel etc. We have never missed a payment etc. Ultimately, we were placed back to our previous spending without a FR!

Even after the payment and returning us to previous limit I had 3 more charges declined that were put through after a call. One was from PTS! Things have settled down over the last week.

jason8612

We still have this problem since Jan.
Denied in Jan because of our spending. Paid off what they wanted and the card was unblocked for about 2 weeks. Spent maybe 700$. Denied again. Paid off another few grand (mind this is over double what was due) and unblocked and blocked again 2 weeks later. This is continuing until now. At this point I might just tell AMEX to go screw themselves.

Mr. Vker

What is their story? Are they changing the rules on you monthly or do they have some lame excuse?

I told them we pay $650/year or so including supplemental cards and have always paid on time. I told them it was unacceptable to pay that much for a card and unable to use it. I was taking a risk. If you push too hard, they could just close the account or start the dreaded FR. With the case of our extra denials, it seems it was an input error on the part of the rep.

jason8612

Thats basically what we told them. They told us
1. The market is doing poorly in the USA
2. We are high risk customers (physicians)
Every other day or so they call us to ask when will we pay the bill. After we told them to go **** themselves, the calls stopped. Same usual minimum payment, but as it stands now since its a business AMEX and doesn't impact the personal credit reports (which are the only ones that matter these days) I got to talk to a lawyer and find out if what they are doing is legal and what our recourse can be.
If we pay for the main and 3 supp AMEX and can't even use them what's the point of having them, or even paying them off?

Mr. Vker

That's insane.

Sorry you are going through that. No one has time for this aggravation. It borders on harrasement if you are not in violation of the agreement.

Physicians=high risk? people get sick in all economies right?

ahrz

Not only the spending amount, but also the spending pattern must be compatible with income, occupation and "life style" based on spending history.
Else charges could be denied.

AA53

Welcome to 2008. The world changed with subprime mortages and the next shoe to fall is consumer and small business credit. AMEX is protecting itself from further fallout. Unfortunately, some credit worthy customers are being hurt too but this is the new world we live in.

Mr. Vker

I understand the rules. However, AMEX has been changing them for me and a lot of other people lately. With no notice or communication and inconsistent information from reps. I and the other poster found out the hard way. We attempted to charge something and were declined. My pay date was 2 weeks away and my balance was well within normal measures.

With a regular card, one knows the rules-you have a credit limit. Amex advertises as the card with no pre set limit etc-they're there when your other card is maxed out (in commercials). I simply want Amex to tell me PROACTIVELY when they are changing the rules and I want to know what they are. I had confidence over the last 6 years in any charge I was making. Now, I cross my fingers whenever I want to use it and have a backup method if necessary.

ethanwa

I really want to hear from a Centurion card holder out there....

Any of you have any problems like us Platinum's are having?

[email protected]

YES!!!!!

curious_miles

I second this. People have been piling up debt on HELOC and credit cards expecting the housing price to continue to soar. Now with housing price starting to fall, more houses in foreclosure, what do you expect consumers with significant debt to do? Credit card companies, including Amex, are aware of this and simply bracing for it.

Don't take the denials as personal insult. That's the situation we are in in 2008. It will become worse before it becomes better.

ahrz

I have the Centurion card for more than six years now, and I didn't have a single charge denied with it. I have no idea at which level a single charge would be denied . Since I don't buy golden Rolex with diamonds on a regular basis I guess I didn't hit the limit until now. I wouldn't be surprised to have a small charge denied for my own security if I used the card at "unusual" places.

gj83

Is this only happening with charge products, or with their credit products too?

I have the SPG AMEX that I use for anything where AMEX is accepted. I pay all travel expenses except airfare out of pocket and get reimbursed the next week. I typically charge 2-3x my monthly net income, but always pay in full due to it being business travel expenses. I'd hate to show up to a hotel or return my rental car and get rejected. I do use about 60% of my credit limit, but what I'm charging a month now is = to my original credit limit when I got the SPG AMEX. AMEX raised my limit 8 months ago without me asking.

BLV

Haven't had any charges denied (Cent), but in the past few months I've purchased few pairs of watches and while the charges went through, I got a call from Amex each time verifying that everything was ok.