CHESSNOID

I have over a few hundred comments of current and former Amex customers who have had their credit limits reduced to show 99% utilization rate, closing credit card accounts, or asking for 2 year taxes to do a “financial review” only to get the same result.

Here is the latest comment I received on my old Amex credit line reduction post.

Danielle:

Ok so I work for AMEX… In the department cardmembers call regarding a line of credit reduction and explaining the reasons behind the reduction…First offer of advice.. CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT… AMEX is very unreliable. I get numerous calls because people are traveling and cards are getting declined during traveling and people can’t use their cards. I know I would not enjoy not being able to make it home and being declined at a store or restaurant. We don’t ever give out advance warning. We can’t I guess because CM would charge as much as possible and we wouldn’t get paid.

The reasons for the reduction is always due to your overall credit profile. However when cardmembers check their credit report nothing is wrong or delinquent in any way. So it definitely seems like false info The reason Customer Service is so ridiculous in my department is that we can’t do anything about it. And that makes us frustrated because speaking on my behalf alone I wish in every way possible that I could give better info and actually help cardmembers in increasing the credit line. Instead I just make them angrier.

And also the fact that we talk to people all day long that are angry and upset makes us angry. All the information that we have is a summary of your credit report. We can’t even give you the specifics.And the thing is we can’t request a full copy. Someone may have a delinquency of 15$ and we can’t even see it.

The reasons usually are too many inquiries within the last 12 months, balance to credit limits are high, low average payment vs overall debt and past due on acct in last 12 months. The reasons are stupid and vague. One late payment back in march is cause for a reduction now? why not back in march? And I feel like AMEX is just making the reasons up.

What I have noticed however is that the credit line is reduced to about $200 about the current balance. I get calls from people that have 750 credit scores and have an annual income of 400,000$  a year and AmEX only feels “comfortable” giving them a credit line of 500$.

I really recommend you not to rely on your AMEX card. Im so glad I only have this job for a couple more weeks and then I leave for Iraq. We were trained and advised to tell CM that these reductions do not impact your credit history. I know this is incorrect because if someone has a balance of 14995 with a 20000 limit and we reduce it to 15000 your debt to credit ratio increases.

Also we’ve been told that if a card is cancelled but does not have a balance it is not negatively affecting your credit.. Yea sure.  But amex does reserve the right as a responsible lender to take action to manage credit risks by cancelling and reducing credit lines. But by the time they’re done there won’t be any more CMs to take adverse action. I fell class action lawsuits coming in the very near future. possibly for slandering. Cancel your Account. Or atleast have a reserve card for emergencies

I do appreciate Danielle’s insight from the inside. I think some of her frustration comes from being forced to lie to customers about the reasons why credit limits are being reduced.  Because of today’s technology and instant internet access to credit scores and credit reports,  many cardholders have the same access that AMEX has and can challenge them when they catch Amex fibbing.

It is obvious the company was in dire straights from the recession and that is why they laid off employees and then asked to become a federal bank so they could ask for some of the FRAUD BAILOUT MONEY which was funded by you, me, and all taxpayers.