Nicksta

I was just on the phone with an Amex rep who informed me that they are awash in complaints following messages that went out recently informing cardholders that their Platinum cards now have defined limits. The limits are evidently very low and lots of angry calls are going to the CS center, who cannot resolve them. Many cards being cancelled would be my guess.

trojanman

They have cut my business card down 30% from my "regular" spending pattern.

Personal card was cut to <$1,000. This in in comparison to several Visa/MC products I have with $XX,XXX limits. I am infuriated to say the least.

Yes, both of these are platinum charge cards.

ethanwa

This happened to all of my cards EXCEPT my personal Platinum. My Plum for one business account went to $1500 and my Green and Gold for a separate business also both went to $1500 instead of "No Pre-Set Limit". This month I was still able to charge $30k on my Platinum with no questions asked. Last month was a big hassle for me though (see the Economy thread).

What the heck is the point in having a Plum card if I can only spend $1500?!?

E

xolinlevh

it dosent supprise me that they are changing the wording on this. it really is just a marketing ploy they way they had it, people see "no pre-set limit" and think "no limit" which adds to the appeal of the card, but EVERY card has a limit.

i havent heard anything regarding my plat card and any potential limit changes. however the other week Verizon labeled me as a delinquent on my credit report which caused my bank (of 15 years) to cut my VISA's limit by almost 70%. so i did call amex to tell them that id be taking action against verizon for this screw up (not my fault) and the person there said they woudlnt be lowering my limit or anything. which i think is odd because a friend of mine who has high 6 figure income just had his plat limit cut to 1500.....while i make no where near as much as he does and my limit is still higher then his

best

It had a limit before, but AMEX did not tell you waht it was.

Nicksta

Exactly the case - from what I understand, charges were approved with an eye to the past on a case-by-case basis. Now, either some or all Platinum cards will have a clearly stated credit limit and charges will not be permitted beyond that threshold - forget calling ahead the 'clear' this one charge.

I did check online and today a new box states how much credit I have remaining. Its FAR LESS than my Visa cards, but I'm not sure its been lowered.

Vulcan

Odd in that my wife's *wood Amex was recently (last month) raised from 25K to 33K. She typically puts 5-20K/month on it.

clarence5ybr

Hmmm....as of now, my online account summary still shows "No Pre-Set Limit".

xolinlevh

lol i know, im just saying that the phrase "no preset limit" makes customers THINK that theres no limit, which adds to the appeal of the card. even though there really IS a limit

BearX220

All Amex products so far as I know have (virtually always) had a secret trigger spending level, above which spending was either approved manually or automatically denied. Cardholders usually didn't find out about this until the card was rejected at the end of a restaurant meal or something. I would much rather deal with a card that posts the spending limit clearly than one that fools around like this all the time.

For most businesses, there is no practical point to having an Amex card with a $1500 monthly limit. Absurd.

SNAGuy

Same here.

zaf

Is this something in the US only or world wide?

ryan182

I just checked mine and it also still has no preset limit.

My guess is Amex is checking peoples credit usage and when they feel it necessary tightening down.

cscube

"No pre-set spending limit" is always printed on the statement, in reality, there is always a limit/trigger for each account, even before this financial crisis. You can find out the limit/trigger of your account with a simple call to the Amex CS. They were very upfront about telling me mine when I called several years ago.

trojanman

Sure they did. You just had to ask.

My "limit" used to be enough for me to buy a mid-level mercedes. Now I can just afford a top of the line Toyota.