Did he do BP at all? BP is part of my plan to get platinum from SPG lux this year..

Mailing in money orders to card issuers is a big no no. Eventually you will be shut down.

If you have to mail in money orders, mail them in to a throw away bank or credit union, because with volume you will be shut down there as well.

long ago I had mailed some MOs to a CC. They did not shut me down for that--it was like once and a long time ago when less shutting was done.

But what happened is they lost or destroyed them by mistake as they told me automatic letter openers and machines credit payments and they got stuck or something. I had to fight off fees and issues for weeks but it got sorted out. But in the meantime, I also had to get the MOs replaced. With both MG and WU, you have to pay $15 per MO and wait a couple months to get money back. You cannot talk to anyone live and it is a pita. It is NOT recommended to mail MOs. Mail can get lost sometimes

Paying an equity line at a bank can be good to do with mos. One reason is because you get credit for it right away as a payment, and they can sit on the funds for the max ten days it may take to actually clear and collect the funds without you needing to worry as you wont be using that money anyway. But yeah, paying a place where you have a CC is a bad idea.

I was shut by BofA not for depositing mega MO, rather, it was because when they merged w Merrill Lynch, ML had eyes on whatever I was up to and they told BofA who now put eyes and did not like it.

With Citi I think it was when they pulled all their banks from MA. That made them put eyes on accts like mine and that was that with them too. I had been depositing MOs there a lot.

He never did BP, just occasional MOs...he thinks he was shut down because of the sharp increase in spending on those two SPG cards...but I personally think it was because of MOs...perhaps that put the eyes on his account, and then they could see the rest (Simon mall, GC.com and such)...neither great FICO nor high income nor long term relationship with Amx helped...

Well, whatever shut downs many here have suffered, it cannot be as bad as THIS ONE...

I commented today in a long post there that sadly does not take paragraph returns.

Was the clawback for those AUs with the same SSNs?

While I'd be pretty upset if this has happened to me, it's pretty much guaranteed that every person who had added the same offer to multiple cards via different accounts / browsers trick and maxed out the benefits knew they were trying to get around AMEX T&C and system implementation. AMEX has obviously stepped up the enforcement of their T&C over the past several weeks, but IMO all this outrage is not justified.

My plight has been this: If a CC company or any company makes up T&Cs, those are their rules. One could argue that if you break them then whatever you are doing can be voided. Maybe they let it go here or there, or maybe they miss it, or maybe they one day crack down. Sometimes for all things going forward, and sometimes, for everything pending and even going backwards too. How far is I guess up to them.

BUT… Are these T&Cs actual legal to even have in there?

And are they legal in YOUR state? –like, just because it says this or that in some agreement between you and the company, is that even allowed to be an agreed upon thing or a rule?

And will a judge or magistrate enforce them based on other criteria, evidence, intent from both sides if there is a disagreement regarding the use of such T&Cs?

Think about that one for a while.

The Staples Amex offer would appear on all business cards, as well as all personal cards through the /domorebusiness URL back in June, which was a URL Amex advertised in emails. You could have had 10 cards with them -- maybe 5 personal credit cards and 5 charge cards between personal and business variants, and added the offer on all of them, without any multi-tab trick if done in June. There was no need to make phony authorized users with the same SSN, as you can add the same individual as an AU to all 10 of your cards and they could add the offer there too. Amex did a terrible job if they really wanted to limit it to one per person. This would be like Office Depot clawing back all the people who got extra money off on MasterCard gift cards last week.

This is why cigarette ads aren't allowed on TV and they can't give away free cigarettes to college students anymore... But Amex can issue cards to 13-year-olds as authorized users.

Even if Amx legally is in the right, morally it is in the wrong...with that and with all the recent shutdowns one begins to wonder if Amx is worth keeping...that RAT that they created might do them some good in the short term but a lot of damage in the long term...

Perhaps we should refocus our attention back to the shutdowns, and limit the whining. ;)
There's unfortunately enough material this season to keep this thread very active.

Well this Amex thing is about shut downs and the reasoning behind many banks doing them to people like us. Hey I certainly aint whining... I did not do the amex offers and was sad at missing out but now fortunate I did not even get any on my few cards to begin with.
But the psyche and philosophy behind whatever card issuers do, or how people are who do the deals we do that end up in shut downs is JUST AS IMPORTANT if not paramount to helping to understand this stuff in general, and to try to avoid and navigate the waters going forward. Would you not agree?

One might wonder whether AMEX knew of their AMEX offers internal control failure and used it as a honey pot to attract "deplorable customers" they wanted to identify (and punish with the surprise clawback?). But no, bankers don't follow bloggers who promoted exploiting the internal control failure and bankers could never be that evil, right? :rolleyes:

Is paying the estimated taxes with AMEX a flag? Has anyone done it? The amount will be less than $10K.

Agreed so please note that to refocus the thread back to the thread topic several posts about MSing in general have been deleted as there are other threads within this forum to discuss general MS topics.

tcook052
MS forum moderator

Wow, this stings. First involuntary shutdown in 8 years of MSing.
1. brcl@y
2. Length of account before closure and CL? 4-5 years, $27K
3. Average monthly account balance checking and savings? Plenty
4. Volume of ms per month and how many months? 20-40K
5. Cycle CL? 2X max
6. Did you BP using both options? Nope
7. Did you spell out the bank's full name in an internet forum? Nope.

Had a recent dip in my credit score due to a boneheaded failure to pay a sub-$100 Disc@ver bill. That's the only variable for YEARS. Anyway, I'd considered ditching the Arrival+ after they neutered the earning structure back when, I guess they made the decision for me.

Sorry to hear it andy - probably the cycling CL IMO. Others have said it, but I have noticed from reading over time that the banks tend to focus on their own reward's program "units" more intently. With the newfound awareness out there about MSing, I think everyone should tighten up the belt abit...but that's just my opinion.

Does anyone know how long Brcl@y keeps you on the naughty list?

I'm wondering the same thing. Can't seem to find anything.

I have waited 2 years and still on it. I was approved for Bclay Jet Blue card and received the card. When I called to activate it, I was told the account was closed. This was about 2 years after having a shutdown as an authorized user. It was an account that was heavily MS'd. Only sad part is, I really wante the Jet Blue card because I fly them all the time. The plus side is, since I was aproved for the card and immidiatly shutdown, JBlue thiks I have the card and gives me the 10% miles bonus.

I read somewhere that for BCly, it's not permanent.

What happens to your A+ miles? Do they give any time window like Chase to use them up?

No window of time was specified (I still haven't gotten any communication from b@rcl@y), but I was able to redeem for a statement credit after the shutdown. .5cpp, highway robbery.

Sucks but that is better than Citi who claws back all your TYPs.

Received my first Shutdown, UFB Direct/Bank of Internet. 3/4 MO deposits a month, some paypal deposits, very occasional use of debit card, open since the AA miles days for MO purchase. 30 days from date of letter to shutdown.

Too bad. Were your deposits by mobile app or by mail? What was your average monthly deposit over the past year? Two years?

I feel kinda stupid and may have brought this on myself. I regularly mix in everyday spending and 3 days before shutdown, I had disputed a transaction with a vendor for services not rendered, maybe that gave my account extra scrutiny?
Or
I see andyandy got shutdown as well, maybe we both got caught up in a mass review?

1. SHUTdn by Bank, Credit Card info. (@m3x, chs3 ,c1t1 and brcl@y)
Brcl@y
2. Length of account before closure and CL?
4+ years, 25kish CL
3. Average monthly account balance checking and savings?
No savings to checking acct with them
4. Volume of ms per month and how many months?
60k-80k per month 12 months straight,
5. Cycle CL?
2x or 3x CL a month
6. Did you BP using both options?
No BP
7. Did you spell out the bank's full name in an internet forum?
Nope

Online through scanned MO's 30 -40 Thousand a year last few years. Also some paypal deposits from legitimate payments of $10 - $40 (dollars not thousands)