American Express
Reviews and Complaints

I gave up my American Express cards years ago.
Once American Express established outsourced, customer service in India; I bailed on American Express.
Why should they have my personal information? What stops them from copying my personal information and
using it against me.
Yes, many financial, credit, and debt collection companies are overseas. Limit your exposure to these companies.
Use cash, if you can.

This complaint is exactly MY complaint. I have gotten repeated denials of increase in credit limit from $2000. Same reasons. I did get a call from a high level representative who just reaffirmed, robotically, that "these are their rules." I have a high income, always pay off in full, have had no difficulty with a credit line 10 times higher with MasterCard (American Airlines-CitiBank).

This Delta-Amex card is not worth the effort. Too many businesses do not accept it, and in order to keep the balance low enough to avoid rejection, I have resorted to sending in payments "UP FRONT." (This didn't seem to make any difference to American Express!)

As I took the card in response to numerous solicitations from Delta Airlines, I am surprised at the fact that American Express is actually turning away my business by the low credit limit. I cannot believe that the majority of their credit card holders with higher credit limits are more responsible carriers of credit than I am.

I am in the fortunate position of being able to pay cash for virtually everything I buy, and my only need for a credit card is the convenience of those transactions by telephone, internet, certain vending machines, 0n-board airline purchases, etc.

For these, I shall use my MasterCard, and American Express can look somewhere else for a customer. I am canceling my account with them.

The same thing happened to me...But we just noticed it and it's only been 2 months...We didn't even know there was a blue card, not blue cash...We applied to the card through a link that was sent to us through a chat session with one of their agents. They opened a case...we'll se what happens.

I have had the same thing happen to me and I am also very upset about these tactics. I can tell you this. It only takes 5 people that have the same type of issue to come forward with a claim of unfair and deceptive trade practices to the Attorney General of New York. My credit has unfairly been impacted by this program of which I faithfully complied with. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of individuals being affected by these actions and I think it should be illegal. I am consulting an attorney and will fully pursue any and all remedies. Under the freedom of information act, news agencies can nudge government about any investigations being done in unfair and deceptive trade practices. They must produce documents under these requests. There is no more hiding and I bet this gets bigger and gains the attention of not only the board of directors but stockholders and stakeholders alike. I think they have a real up and comming PR issue here. Maybe they will be able to see the error of thier ways and contact 10 year members and say..hey, we might have screwed up here and need to make this right, then again maybe they just run the risk of facing more srutiny with continuing to mistreat thier customers.

Same thing happened to me. I closed my accounts with them and asked to be put on a payment plan. The first three months went fine, I paid on time...Then they sent a letter telling me I did not comply with the plan. When I called to find out what it was all about, I was told by an account manager that he did not have any idea why I was bumped from the Plan. He had put in an appeal and it was denied. I am now dealing with a collection agency that says they are working for American Express, and they are demanding pymt in full. I honestly want to pay my bill but can't do it all at once.

This has nothing to do with American Express. You got behind on your bills, they sold your debt to a collection agency. Even if they WANTED to help you out, they can't, because your debt doesn't belong to them anymore.

I got the same letter on about the same date. A notice of intent to raise APR. So I called to say, fine, close my account, I'll pay off at the existing rate. Guess what? The very apologetic Customer Service lady said no, actually you can close your account, but we're still going to raise your rate. When I expressed shocked disbelief, she said, "Well, the law changes today so we had to do it."

In other words, "Before they make what we intend to do illegal, we're going to screw as many of our customers as we can." I pointed out that what they were doing was unique in my experience -- i.e., I've had other cards notify me of their intention to raise interest rates, but never had one behave so dishonorably as to unilaterally raise my rates despite closing my account. "Yeah, I'm really sorry, " the nice lady said.

She sounded genuinely ashamed to be party to what the company was doing. I can't blame her. It's like working for one of those telephone operations where they sell fake burial plots or cancer insurance to fleece old people out of their savings.

It is disgusting to think that the law, until now, allowed a company to do as Amex is doing in this case. Amex, despite its carefully groomed image, has decided instead to throw in with the bottom feeders: the loan sharks, war profiteers, companies that sell spoiled food to Third World countries, all with the excuse, "Well, it's legal."

I'm writing to my congressman, both senators, every Amex celebrity spokesman and sending off press releases (talk is admittedly cheap, but at some point one of the press releases will get picked up). And of course closing my account, which I've since 1995. Never made an easier decision in my life.

They're slime.

Received my statement today (1/8/09) and while I just checking out all the money I spent for Christmas shopping I thought that the finance charge was a little higher than usual. Took a glance at the rate and to my disbelief it read 10.99% ---What? What's up with that I thought. Wasn't late on my last payment, didn't remember seeing any notice on the last bill (I rechecked) and didn't receive any letter notification about any increase.
Call up customer service- speak to a rep and ask her why did my rate increase 3 percentage points and she replied everyone in a certain number range on the card received the increase and were notified in November in a letter that was sent.
Told her I didn't receive any letter - she said it was sent - I said I didn't get it - she apologizes and said it was sent.
I say - please...do you think I or anyone else would have charged so much money knowing that the rate was increasing. I also said it was kinda low-handed that AE decided to increase rates in a month where people would be using their cards more than any other time of year.
CLASSLESS MOVE AMERICAN EXPRESS-CLASSLESS.

You just recently increased my interest rate to 15.25%, up from 9.99% when I originally opened my acct with you. What's up? Interest rates are dropping all over the place, and mortgage rates are under 5%. If anything you should be reducing interest rates, not increasing them. Your customer service supervisor refused to refer me to her manager or give me her manager's name, so it's pretty obvious there is absolutely no appeal process in place. It appears you just sit behind your desks and pull interest rate figures from the air, then cowardly insulate yourself from your victims?

"Stealth" Interest Rate Increase
Check your last two hard copy AMEX statements for "Important Information about your Account"
Buried in the fine print on the reverse side of your bill may be a note telling you that as of a certain date your APR on all new charges and previous balances will be increasing. (In my case 30% - from 9.99% to 12.99%)
When called they will attempt to distract you with a recital of AMEX's supposed benefits rather than give you a reason for the increase. When pressed all they can say is that they're doing this on a "lot of" cards.
I expressed my outrage clearly, figuring that my excellent credit and routine high (interest generating) balances would lead them to try to retain me as a customer. Guess again. They made no movement to retract their unwarrented so I immediatley cancelled their card after a (until now) good 10 year + relationship. All outstanding balances on this profitable card (for them) will be paid off within 60 days - and at the old rate since I closed the account.
My question is this ... Is this the kind of idiotic business plan we are now subsidizing with our bailout money. If it is, we are all in big trouble

Like others, I received a letter from american express stating my interest rate would be increased as a result of "the business and economic environment". What a bunch of SH**. I contact the consumer line and initially spoke with Monique ID#38662 - she continued to say she had the authority to decrease my interest rate but just wasn't going to do it. Eventually she determined there was another type of card that was a whopping !% lower! Yahoo.
Then I requested a call back from Jody Lattimer, an alleged "Director" in the Denver office. She sounded like a robot and kept saying "no-one, no how" would lower my interest rate in the WHOLE COMPANY...Interesting. She then told me her department supervisor was named Donette Feliciano - again in the Denver Office.
I think this company is full of greed and manipulation. I sincerely hope that everyone calls them AND WRITES THEM - and uses these individuals' names to make it more of a "personal" matter. Their general number is [protected]. It is time that we stand up and say NO. I plan to pay off my balance and close my account. Again, like everyone else - I have never had a late payment and I frequently pay on this card multiple times/month. Again, this is totally bogus and scam like. We need to cancel our cards en mass!

My American Express Blue Card fixed rate interest for the last 6 years was 3.99 %. I stress fixed rate ! Got the dreaded letter everyone is talking about. They now want 7.25%. I have been a customer for 25 years and they do this to me. I called and they said nothing could be done as this was happening across the board to all cardholders. I was pretty mad so I called back the next day and asked for a higher up in management instead of the regular clowns you talk to when you first call. I talked to a guy called Barry Arnold (FLA) and he said I had to go with the increase or pay off the card. We were at least able to negotiate the interest rate down to 6.25% which was better but still a ripoff as far as I am concerned. Is this how you treat a lifelong customer ?

This is covered in a lawsuit apparently . . .

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against American Express Regarding Improper Increases in Customer Credit Card Interest Rates
Posted on: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:38:58 EDT

Atlanta, GA, Sep 17, 2010 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) --
Atlanta law firm Webb, Klase & Lemond, LLC has filed a class action lawsuit against American Express alleging that the company unilaterally increased consumer interest rates in violation of the applicable credit card agreements. The complaint asserts that these increases were contrary to American Express' long-standing practice of tying its rates on many credit card accounts to the Prime Rate, the interest rate charged by banks to their most creditworthy customers. This commitment was established in the company's form contracts and through years of consistent dealings with customers according to the suit. The complaint states that American Express raised rates even for consumers who have always maintained their good standing by satisfying all account requirements, such as making required payments and not exceeding credit limits. Furthermore, the plaintiff claims American Express has taken such action even against those whose credit scores and general creditworthiness have not declined. The suit requests that customers be refunded all excessive interest charges in addition to several other forms of relief. The case, styled Meeks v. American Express Centurion Bank, Inc., is pending in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia and has been assigned Case Number 2010CV190851.

According to the suit, for several years Mr. Meeks was charged a "fixed-variable" interest rate equal to the Prime Rate plus a "marginal rate" of 2.99 percent. In this manner, the plaintiff claims the company's interest rates tracked the Prime Rate, moving up when the Prime Rate climbed and down when the Prime Rate fell. The complaint asserts that the company unilaterally ended this practice in late 2008 and throughout 2009 by periodically increasing customers' marginal rates such that - even as the Prime Rate fell to historic lows - customers suffered higher and higher interest charges. For example, Mr. Meeks' marginal rate went from 2.99 percent to 11.99 percent and thus, even with the Prime Rate at 3.25 percent, American Express charged him interest of over 15 percent, according to the lawsuit. Mr. Meeks claims the improper and excessive rate hikes have cost him hundreds of dollars and more than doubled his monthly payments.

The lawsuit asserts that American Express imposed these higher rates even on existing customer balances. In addition, the suit alleges that American Express's offer that customers could reject this interest rate increase by freezing or closing their credit card accounts is inadequate because, as the company is well aware, most consumers rely on their credit card accounts and closing any credit line has a negative impact on a consumer's credit score. As a result, the complaint contends that customers have been forced to accept American Express' unilateral rate increases.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this press release, please contact Webb, Klase & Lemond by e-mail at contact(at)webbllc(dot)com or by calling [protected].

###

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/09/prweb4525714.htm.

I simply use my AMEX blue card to pay for iTunes transactions. In a year I probably pay, oh, $20-$50. That's really all the card is good for now. However, I won't be using it anymore. Creditors and banks are just cheats. We always knew this, it's just in our face now. I love the credit unions and that's where I will stay. It's either that or put my money in a mattress or hole in the ground.

I was a regular user of my American Express credit card for 12 years. I used it to pay bills and almost all purchases. Then after being a day late in transferring my payment to them on line they raised my rate to 27% There explanation was it is in the contract and if I wanted to I could choose to opt out. I asked opt out of what? I have zero balance and have no intention of ever using the card again.

But I still agree that all this credit card companies just looking for any chance to rip you off, especially when they see that you are unemployed or in financial difficulties.

I just called Amex to see what they can do with my APR, and a rep reduced it from 15% down to 10%. It was just a one quick call after reading all these comments. Why did I keep paying that high interest rate before? LOL

Yes...ethically it is a horror. But illegal -? Not yet. But it should be.

Thanks for leaving your experience online re: AMEX on the complaints board. I wish these practices were ONLY relegated to American Express--but such practices are pervasive in the credit industry in general. I have started a new, free social network where I hope all of us can keep each other alert to these types of practices. I'd love to have you join!:-)

http://credicope.ning.com/

No point touching base with James. He is no good. Just the true blue american express Blooded person. Dont waste your time.. (like I did) with this. Just move on to other Credit cards. Yes, Amex may offer benefits, but at cost of stores expenses and more and more are dropping Amex. Plus, Visa and Mastercard is very competitive and reliable. I am done giving these dorks any business..

Agreed. I had gift cards canceled for no reason, and when I called, Jeri, ext. 55214, was the rudest most unprofessional 'supervisor' I had to speak with. I am actually closing down my card thanks to this snob.

It is time we as customers show the corporate banks they cannot survive without us. Remember American Express is in more business that just credit cards. Keep that in mind when you have the opportunity to become a customer. Remember this post and how they treat their customers. I have had a similar issue and they refuse to restore my credit line to what it was. So I refuse to do business with anything boasting the American Express name. In addition, I am making it known, how responsible customers with a long standing history are treated. Please check out my blog @ http://creditlinedecrease.blogspot.com/

yeah well u can thank the new credit card laws and the greedy fat cats on Wall Street who stole all the money and gave us this recession. I had no hand in this recession, did you? Why are we suffering for it? It's very unfair, well this is the cost of living in a dog eat dog country where only the rich can survive.

American Express - Bad experience:
After 32 years as a member I have had it with American Express and today canceled the card.
Over the past two years American Express has converted my billing to electronic system automatically without my consent. And then my US mail delivery of us statement was discontinued without my consent. Then American Express failed to deliver an electronic notification of a due bill. And proceeded to charge me late fees month after month after month. This has happened four times. Today I got fed up with their failed business practices and canceled my card after 32 years of ownership. That was in April 2018 now and June 2018 I received another bill from them after having canceled my card in April for $226.95 with compounded late fees and after never receiving statements from American Express since January 2018. So I had to call again today in June to dispute this charge is for an account that was canceled in April. Of course, that entailed an hour or more of time on the phone been put on hold being passed on to other people put on hold past and additional people I could I could speak with someonet o resolve The matter. So now they tell me that now my account is cancel it wasn't canceled back in April but is canceled now I was successful however to have them waive the late fees because they did not send me a paper statements in in the mail as I required. American Express is dead to me finally after 32 years and two months. I never want to deal with this company ever again in my life.

This is the same story as mine. Absolutely, hands down, the worst customer service I have ever had with a credit card company. The "update your bank account" link will ONLY update instant payment and not autopay. However, you won't know this because nowhere on the page does it say that you also have to update your bank account information with autopay as well. You won't know you needed to have done this until they send you an email AFTER it's too late to do anything about it. I got charged a $25.00 fee. When I explained to the customer service rep and then her supervisor that I indeed updated my bank account information correctly they kept repeating over and over that I also needed to have updated in autopay. I kept asking how I was supposed to know that when it didn't indicate that anywhere on their site. They just got beligerant and told me that it was my fault and proceeded to lecture me on how I need to be more aware of where my payments were coming from. I could not believe what I was hearing. I still don't think they understood the problem. Account is being closed ASAP! I will only use Discover from here on out.

These guys are idiots...I was kicked out if autopay for some reason that I still was told and charged me fees...I am canceling my card - absolutely worthless customer service.

I had the EXACT same problem. Spent hours on the phone. I have a recorded conversation with them. Even with the CORRECT bank info (verified by them 4 times), their system wouldn't allow me to make an electronic payment. I couldn't pay them and they were charging me interest. Definitely a racket! They don't even care in the end if you stick with their card or not. I've had amex for 5 years but I think this is it!

AmEx sent me the same email last night, time stamped at 7:30pm. NO phone call, NO letter...just this unjustified email. I have previously charged thousands of dollars per month, of business travel, airline tickets, hotel, car rental, and of course paid it before the amount was due each month. The current charges on my AmEx Green card is $600.00. I am "voting" with my right to use whichever card I choose by the card issuer that deserves my business. I have always been treated well by them for many years, UP UNTIL NOW. Doing the same, emptying my rewards points, paying off the card and not using it anymore. Wronged in Texas...

i got the "phone call" this morning at 8:30am... demanding my balance of $1550 be paid immediately, so they could "unfreeze" my card. The bill isn't even due for 3 more days!

And then I though about it... they are trying to punish me by not allowing me to use their card. Oh well!

I charge and pay off about $4K a month on my amex, never carry a balance. I am dreading that same email.

I have been a cardmember since 1989 - Amex gold and Amex Blue. Recently Amex slashed by credit limit on my Blue from 20, 400 to 6, 500. When I contacted them they said they are reviewing all customers, and because of the current market conditions they agreed to lower the limits on customers accross the board. In addition my Gold card which carries a balance on my 'Sign and Travel/and or Extended Payment Options' was recently cancelled, despite the fact that I pay each month. When I contacted Amex they claimed the decision to close my accounts was in part based on the fact that I was "delinquent" in April - I was less than a week late (not deliberately), and that I did not follow up on their request for "financial information" from me. The latter was a blatant lie, as I spoke with a rep who promised to send me "forms" via e-mail requesting tax forms, etc. I never received the forms. I had no intentions of sending them my tax info but was not even given the opportunity to do so. I think this is such a poor excuse to close my account. I don't know what their intentions are, but this is deception. After 20 years with Amex, I am very disgusted with them. I know treating long-standing customers in such a callous way will eventually backfire on them! Shame on you Amex.

I have a Costco True Earnings card and a few years ago stopped getting one of the annual rewards coupons (one from Costco and one from Amex).
Since I opened the Amex card at Costco I went and checked with Costco where the representative could not affirmatively answer which reward coupon was issued or cashed, but instead they offered to request the duplicate reward coupons from Costco making the disclamer that if it had been issued then I would not receive the coupon.
A few months later i realized that nothing has happened and decided to call Amex.
When I called Amex and asked about where my annual coupon is and why I stopped receiving them? Interesting thing. Turns out that because I moved 3 years ago and they had an old address on my account they did not send the coupons to the correct address. Moreover, they must have instructed the post office to not forward that mail otherwise it would be forwarded just like all my other mail. More interesting fact - they did change my address for all the other communication because I kept receiving it the communication from them like policy change notices etc., just not the rewards coupons. The representative on the phone said those coupons for 2014 and 2015 are forfeited because they were not redeemed timely and delivering the coupons to me is not their goal, as long as they mail it to some address where I once lived it is considered satisfactory.

American Express and Costco both screwed my husband and I out of our rebates. They deliberately hide them in the statement so you don't see them, then they expire. How in the hell can they F'ing expire?! It's OUR MONEY. Costco has gone down the drain. When they first opened, they were a great deal, now, just a complete rip-off. Their customer service has changed. They make you suffer in line when returning, yet membership services are always open, employees standing around, doing nothing, when they should be helping with returns. The check out lines are way, way, way, way too F'ing long, the people in charge stand around in groups, chit-chatting while the rest of the employees SLAVE. I have not received my rebates year after year after year, because they were not coming to my house. When I told them, they said there was nothing they could do. I said "You must have a way of tracking these?" And they said yeah, it shows that they were cashed. I said then someone else is getting my rebates, because I'm not. Remember, there are two rebates, one from Costco and one from American Express, I was not getting my Costco rebates, they were being stolen. Of course, they said there was nothing they could do for me. What a scam. Now, Costco is parting with Amex and I bet they try and not give any of us our rebates. I am going to file a law suit against them for all of the rebate money we never received from both Costco and American Express. Corporations are out of control, they don't answer to anyone and they just do what ever the hell they want.

American Express refused to award the promised 5% spent at one of their "Partners" hotel [Grand Hyatt].. Stayed in that Hotel in DC in June '15. In the next statement credit was given for some small purchases, restaurant etc. Called Am. Express in Aug 15 to inquire. After waiting on 2 different reps for a total of about 15 - 20 minutes, she said they had to investigate and promised to call me within 10 days. After 6 weeks I called them. The rep was not cordial. the reason for the no call back is that is just the way they do it! They declined to honor the 5% credit on the hotel rooms [ 2 rooms for 4 days, over $3500 total] The rep said it did not qualify. I asked why they promote that hotel. Then she went into a lot of technical details, and once said I should have gone online to read up on the fine print details. I did later could not find the related info. So it IS a scam. I will forget about Am Exp. It is a tease.

I've never had a problem with my Costco rebates checks from AMEX, but then again I follow the rules!

I am reading this because I was wondering if the Costco American Express rebate is a scam. The amount comes out to less than the rebate I received for a card that paid about .75%. The rebate can only be used at Costco--if your Costco membership has not expired--and comes hidden in the back of five pages that come with your statement. I was looking for it, otherwise, I would have put it in the shredding pile. This must happen to a lot of people. They have found a way of seeming to offer a better deal if you use their card, while making it probable that many will not even get the rebate. I am not going to use their card any more and just as soon as I use this rebate, I am canceling my Costco membership.

We also have an issue with an expired check from last year, but in our case, we never knew the check was issued. We pay our bills on line, so we either didn't get it, or just didn't open it because it comes with a paper statement. We just found that out after receiving the check this week for this years rebate. Has anyone gotten Am Exp to send a ncw check after one expires? If so, please post how you got them to come through. I've sent them a letter explaining the situation, after a long phone call, asking them to do the right thing, otherwise I'll go to small claims court. Might be a waste of time, but doesn't cost much. The amount in question is over $700.00.

I had another problem with American Express / Costco. I received my rebate check for $245.00 and by mistake let it expire. I went to Costco they said I would have to call American Express and they would reissue it. I called and then it was lets make a deal time. There first offer was to credit me 25% or $61.25. I asked to speak to a supervisor and after a heated discussion for 30 minutes the offer was raised to $122.50. The supervisor said she was being nice to offer me that. When I told her that the money was mine that I earned it she told me it was Costco’s fault. I called Costco and they blamed it on American Express.
I think it’s just a rip off. Why should a check expire.

I pay mine in full every month also, they did the same thing to me even though I have great credit history no lates or defaults they canceled my account saying I had a high debt ratio with todays economy. She said even though your credit history is good the debt ratio was high they had to cancel my account. I just built a house so yea it is going to be high but I still pay my bills and work... So as a result I got a Discover card, Sams club membership and will cancel my Costco Membership.

If they cancelled your card after 11 months, why was your first question "Do I still get my reward"? I would have asked "Why did you cancel my account?" I find it hard to believe you "always paid my balance and did not owe anything" if they closed the account after 11 months.

I have the card, I love the card, I ACTUALLY pay my balance in full every month, & I have not had a problem for over 6 years...