I have been, I mean I was a card holder since 2004. A card member in good standing I might add. Then one day I got a check offer from Citibank (my other credit card) offering me a fixed APR on the life of the balance transfer. Even though I had a low APR at American Express the Citibank offer was lower.
I went through the steps of transferring the balance and made an error. I added a few more hundred than I thought I had. Citibank pulled the check, American Express froze my account and fined me $38. Understandable.
That day that the confusion occurred I made a large payment to unfreeze the account. As I understood what was a mistake was a mistake that I created. But as a good customer I paid immediately the amount due and more.
The next statement I noticed that my APR for American Express went from 9% to 28%!!! I calmly called the company and asked for a reduction. After 4 different people and perhaps an hour on hold I was told that a COMPUTER reevaluated my account and none of the HUMANS could do anything about it.
So good standing and credit rating aside if you do make a mistake be prepared for an APR increase regardless of anything. It's so sad to know that machines are now dictating the relationships that banks have with their customers. I will never use American Express again and I will make sure as many people know about this as possible. It's disappointing because I thought I had a good relationship with Amex.
Oh and I plan on getting that money out asap since the APR is also applying to my current balance!
0 comments