**** american express

[NC 5ltr]

Old man recieved a statement today from amex that he had an overdue account and had to pay $140 in overdue fees.know he has been with them a few years and this was the last straw,if you are even a week late in paying your account they suspend it.enough is enough.

here is a letter he is writing them.

Your statement of july 9th and the nonsensical telephone call from your indian call center are an affront to me.having once had an onging series of problems with a AMP amex card i can only assume i was a marble short the day i agreed to once again accept and amex credit card.

As in the past it proved to be just one slight level above useless.so few merchants would accept it you would think it was a smartcard with bubonic plague.indeed it was so useless that i overlooked that there had been a few merchants on a recent european trip that had accepted it(most of the reluctatly) and there was actual debt on it.a polite reminder would have soliceted immediate payment but amex style hasnt changed.

One can only put up with amex rudeness for so long and now that you cannot even speak to someone that can comprehend what you say,its time to say bi.so after my harranging from your indian help desk i dashed off $$$ to terminate that source of stress but know have a moment to tell yuo this.
1. i have destroyed card no..................................
2.i have remitted via bpay $$$$ today for the credit of 3......
3. this should be enough to close the account.

your faithfully.

p.s: i always thought that even in the card business customer relationship mangement was worth something but in attempting to find a fax number for you i discovered that you do not list them on the web nor in the white pages and furthermore you will not let your call center boffins give one out-hence i have faxed this home and had it mailed from there.what a user friendly organisation.


I think that'll give them the message.

Moral of the story dont use amex stick with visa or mastercard.

[TotalDriver]

Mate, they're all the same....

And when they get a glitch that you may be struggling a little, they increase your limit so you can bury yourself further!

Thread title says it all.

Cheers,

[NC 5ltr]

There was no problems with paying it,its the fact that when you are overseas and dont have access to your account to pay it and you are say a week late they suspend it,even after pumping $$$$$$ through it.

[lush]

Have endless difficulties with them at work with the company cards. Keep requesting they change the address but it doesnt seem to get through to the call centre staff, statements keeps arriving late, then get paid late (by a few days only) then card is suspended not just till the monthly payment goes through but until the account is paid in full.

Their customer service is appalling to say the least.

[max]

In about '90 I had to go O/S in a hurry, never had a CC before and Amex promised me a card in a week. I learned to regret that decision quite soon.
Since then VISA, Mastercard etc., have left Amex for dead. If you rack up a few $K debits on a trip Amex wanted that whole amount paid off by period's end or cough up interest/late payment whatever the hell. As I say I got rid of it years ago, I don't know if they still operate the same way now. It was as as much use as tits on a bull.

[TURBO_GHIA]

dad was with them for a while untill they sent him a request to pay the 4c he had over payed ,so he rang them and said there's no such thing as 4 c ,so he went to pay it he found 2 old 2 c coins and went to pay them in that and they said there no used anymore ,so he said ok and payed them 5c 2 weeks later he gets a check in the mail for yes 1c, 1c bloody cent i couldnt believe it.he then cancelled his account and will never deal with them again

[guym]

They were the corporate credit card for a large organisation I worked for many years ago, They promised the world to get the business and when no one would take it they would they kept promising to sign companies up to take it but they never did because they were too expensive.

[loxxr6]

I can't stand Amex either. Their customer service is non existant. People seem to think Amex cards are such a big think but they're just ****y.

[GTPete]

From a retail perspective, they were just as difficult. When a customer pulls out an Amex or Dinners Club card you can kiss a decent % of your sale margin goodbye.
Too expensive, too hard to deal with administration wise and most customers have a visa card etc. AE : : = we dont accept that card here!

[athol]

My wife has had an amex card for years, it is linked to an account so that when the monthly bill is due the money is automatically taken from the account, never had a problem, but she is thinking about getting rid of it because more and more businesses are refusing to accept it.


Athol.

[terra australis]

Defence is now using dinners club card. Find it difficult to use. As we have to find a cab that takes it, all the meals, car hire and accommodation has to be put on the card.

[cArSiK]

ive got nothing but praise for them. They credited my annual fee (that i had paid)when i upgraded cards and i have only come accross one store that wouldnt accept my card. Their rewards program won money's 'best of the best' award..

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by terra australis

Defence is now using dinners club card. Find it difficult to use. As we have to find a cab that takes it, all the meals, car hire and accommodation has to be put on the card.

Difficult to use? good stuff. This means more of my tax dollars saved.

[XRchic]

Originally Posted by NC 5ltr

Old man recieved a statement today from amex that he had an overdue account and had to pay $140 in overdue fees.know he has been with them a few years and this was the last straw,if you are even a week late in paying your account they suspend it.enough is enough.

here is a letter he is writing them.

Your statement of july 9th and the nonsensical telephone call from your indian call center are an affront to me.having once had an onging series of problems with a AMP amex card i can only assume i was a marble short the day i agreed to once again accept and amex credit card.

As in the past it proved to be just one slight level above useless.so few merchants would accept it you would think it was a smartcard with bubonic plague.indeed it was so useless that i overlooked that there had been a few merchants on a recent european trip that had accepted it(most of the reluctatly) and there was actual debt on it.a polite reminder would have soliceted immediate payment but amex style hasnt changed.

One can only put up with amex rudeness for so long and now that you cannot even speak to someone that can comprehend what you say,its time to say bi.so after my harranging from your indian help desk i dashed off $$$ to terminate that source of stress but know have a moment to tell yuo this.
1. i have destroyed card no..................................
2.i have remitted via bpay $$$$ today for the credit of 3......
3. this should be enough to close the account.

your faithfully.

p.s: i always thought that even in the card business customer relationship mangement was worth something but in attempting to find a fax number for you i discovered that you do not list them on the web nor in the white pages and furthermore you will not let your call center boffins give one out-hence i have faxed this home and had it mailed from there.what a user friendly organisation.


I think that'll give them the message.

Moral of the story dont use amex stick with visa or mastercard.

Ive heard of troubles with Amex before. I dont own a credit card but I have heard enough. My Dad seems to get along ok with his Mastercard.

Mate, was there something in the contract that your Dad signed that said they will cancel the account if it is x days late??? If they have cancelled it, chances are it was in the contract that he was sent (doesnt matter if he read it or not, if he was given it, then its constructive knowledge)... if he wasnt sent a contract at all, then it could have been a verbal one or they could be in trouble.

I hope he doesnt send that actual letter that you posted here as they will a) not have a clue what you are on about and b) will just laugh at it...

I would recommend you try and find the contract or find out the contract terms that your Dad agreed to, and then write a letter that will make them take notice if you have a legal position or a complaint about their service.

The main things to remember about writing complaint letters is to a) make sure they go to the right place (ie right department) and b) make sure it is professional. If it looks like a child wrote it, they will just laugh and bin it.

If you want a hand with the letter, PM me and I can have a look over the next few days...

Jac

[atec77]

Originally Posted by athol

My wife has had an amex card for years, it is linked to an account so that when the monthly bill is due the money is automatically taken from the account, never had a problem, but she is thinking about getting rid of it because more and more businesses are refusing to accept it.


Athol.

Get a visa , interest free the first 55 days and you can run it on debit only of you want .

[Laminge]

Ask your dad if he wants a job as a moderator here.

That is an amusingly well written letter, it is a pity most organisations don't ultimately take any responsibility in their actions

Let us know if they reply

[Kenaz]

I've got one, but in retrospect I shouldn't have bothered.

I've found that many places don't accept it and if they do, like JB Hi-Fi for example have a 1.9% surcharge.

[robs_ls1]

Originally Posted by NC 5ltr

Old man recieved a statement today from amex that he had an overdue account and had to pay $140 in overdue fees.know he has been with them a few years and this was the last straw,if you are even a week late in paying your account they suspend it.

I've had an AmEx card for quite some time now. Never had a problem.

The due date for payment on their statements is normally 4 weeks after they post it. As long as you pay the minimum (which is normally just 3% of the balance), they don't care. It isn't their fault that your Dad doesn't read his mail.

Also, they provide 24 hour access to your account over the internet. This is accessible from anywhere in the world. Many hotels provide free (or at least very cheap) internet access. I had no problem checking balances and making payments at all while overseas. It isn't their fault that your Dad is out of touch in the digital age.

Did I mention that I have only ever been knocked back a handful of times in almost 10 years? It was even accepted in shitty backwater towns in southern Europe. No problems at all. It is the best credit card I have.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Not all card companies are the same...

My girlfriend has a credit card with ANZ, first time with one and didn't understand how to read the figures on the statment.

Anyway, the second month she copped a few fees, like $60, but the funny thing was the actual overdue amount was around $30 only...

She was ready to wear it and pay up, I was ready to march down to the local branch and see if they would reverse the charge for their new customer as a sign of good will.

They reversed the charge, and the boss of the ANZ branch was very nice about the whole thing..

[Pedro]

I have a Visa debit card and an Amex. I get my Amex monthly statements via e-mail. The November statement never reached my in box and so they added a non payment fee of $84.09 to my December statement. I phoned them up and told them what had happened and was told "too bad". I said " fine ... just close the account"! A supervisor then came to the phone and told me that under the circumstances they would overlook the late fee. One thing Amex doesn't like to hear is "CLOSE THE ACCOUNT" !

[Bucknaked]

American Express

Theres the problem

[dan.76]

not being pedantic , but you spelt bye wrong, thought you would want to know if you were going to post it

[Yaw]

From a merchants point of view, reason they are not liked is they are so slow at paying.

[Lukeyson]

Nice letter written there, cracked me up.

Originally Posted by TotalDriver

And when they get a glitch that you may be struggling a little, they increase your limit so you can bury yourself further!

Exactly, i was out of work for a while and had an AMEX card that i barely used, they sent me a letter saying "Heres your pre-approved invite to a platinum card", $900 annual fee, no limit, no interest.
Now why the fook would those crazy crackas offer a limitless card without proof of income ? Needless to say, i destroyed that letter

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by XR8fella

Nice letter written there, cracked me up.




Exactly, i was out of work for a while and had an AMEX card that i barely used, they sent me a letter saying "Heres your pre-approved invite to a platinum card", $900 annual fee, no limit, no interest.
Now why the fook would those crazy crackas offer a limitless card without proof of income ? Needless to say, i destroyed that letter

If it was a 'true' no limit card, does that mean you could go and buy whatever you wanted, Porsche, mansion, big boat etc, and then when the monthly bill comes in, you could pay it with your 'no limit' AMEX card, and then keep spending like there's no tomorrow, hell, if it's a 'no limit' card you could buy AMEX and whack it on the card.

Just a thought

[TZAKHAMMER]

Gotta love card companies, I had a **** Card just for online purchases with a $500 limit, like clockwork every fortnight id get a call to up my limit, 5k, 10k it stopped when it got to 25k, no thanks i kept saying. anyways i got one of those visa debit cards recently. Ive never had so much trouble trying to cancel a card, it took 4 days and at least half an hour on hold to get through to the AP callcentres.


ps my work charges a 3% levy on amex

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by NC 5ltr

Old man recieved a statement today from amex that he had an overdue account and had to pay $140 in overdue fees.know he has been with them a few years and this was the last straw,if you are even a week late in paying your account they suspend it.enough is enough.

Ah yes, AMEX.

I got sick of their Indian call centre calling me every 2nd day to try and sell me something new I didn't need so I decided to cancel my card.

To cancel the card (at least at the time) was done in Australia. The guy on the other end of the phone offered to drop the interest, make sure I get no further calls, raise my credit limit. Much like yourself, many places have stopped taking AMEX and the merchant fees are larger than any other card and often passed on to you to cover them. After 10 minutes (!) and much arguing he finally cancelled the card.

Next month, I get a $120 charge on my card. I had a number of direct debits which were all declined and not charged but this one somehow went through. Called AMEX, asked why I was charged $120, they explained that they have to let this charge through and they cannot do anything about it, I have to call the merchant to get them to stop debiting. They looked up who the merchant was, gave me the number (I had that many debits coming off it a month I didn't know which one it was) so I called. Guess who it was? AMEX. Wouldn't reverse the charge. Man was I ****ed.

[Gobes32]

I was sent a letter for a pre approved card with a limit of $50,000 when i was 19 years old. How did they get my details and why does a 19 year old need a 50k credit card? (p.s why does a 19 year old NEED not WANT!!!)

[old_phoon]

been with Amex for years....never had a problem...still one of the best points accumulation programs that get chucked on my FF. I use internet banking to pay credit card bills, particularly when overseas so never have problems with overdue accounts.
The Amex DEBIT card always has to be paid off at the end of the month or you pay heaps of interest. Amex (blue?) is the credit card, same as all the others.

[old_phoon]

In my monthly spend I find only ~5% of merchants refuse AMEX, one was the Ford dealer when I purchased the beast!