DISQUS

Bush_Bites · 1 year ago

Sounds like profiling.

Not by appearance, but I'm guessing many of his charges are from the African-American side of town.

Weird thing is why they didn't just raise his limit again when he complained.

Most credit card companies would do that when they saw the guy's payment history and credit scores and just say "Oh sorry, our computer made a mistake."

Bet they took authority away from customer service supervisors to correct these things on their own.

Me · 1 year ago

They had to take away that authority from CS Sups because they no longer have customer service located in one spot, often times their CS reps are located overseas where they don't have much of a say in anything the company does except answer the phone, give you attitude (usually because their lack of understanding of the English language and our customs) prevent them from relating to our plight, thus making it an uncomfortable situation for them as well as for the customers.

I say cancel the card. Who needs a credit card anyway? A bank issued debit card has almost the same benefits with not nearly as much the trouble as a credit card.

tbhull · 1 year ago

Just wait until the government buys all of this credit card debt. Do not be surprised to see, in addition to regulating where you shop by interest rate manipulation, taxbreaks for those shopping at business A and perhaps even a tax penalty for those shopping at business B.

Government and banks (as if a difference between the two existed) love to have full control of the stings to initiate the favorite dance performed by their marionettes.

PJ · 1 year ago

Black, teh new gay.

Patrick in Madison · 1 year ago

I have a merchant account with Pipeline Data that hangs around my neck like a rotting ablatross. Even though my own website sales using that merchant account have been a flat ZERO for several months now, I still make sure I have the $50-odd each month for my monthly fees. In October they hit me up for a $95 "annual fee" which blew my checking account out of the water and cost me overdrafts, and this month they hit me up for yet another annual "Compliance Fee" which again has blown my checking account out of the water.

"Compliance" fee?? More like a stick-up if you ask me.

JayR · 1 year ago

Where'd he shop? Harold's Chicken or Ribs & Bibs? Mmmmm. Harold's.

Amex suuuuccckkkkks.

example · 1 year ago

I don't want to go there, but per the photo accompanying this article, Kevin Johnson is black.

DUH. This is just like redlining back in the 70s (or whenever). That guy should sue, it seems obvious that cutting people credit based on *where* they shop could be discriminatory.

Malcolm · 1 year ago

THey did it to me too under the same circumstances and I'm not black.

Dianne_in_DC · 1 year ago

I think its pervasive. Credit is very tight and they are using any excuse. I misplaced my statement and so missed paying my Capital One bill last month. I always pay in full and have a FICO score of 801. They put a "freeze" on my card, and when I went to use it to buy gas it was refused. That card is no longer in my wallet.

Indigo · 1 year ago

Certain stores have reputations for non-compliance with credit card companies. I've run into that in Mexico and also on some of the islands of the Caribbean.

Jamaica is an increasingly dicey place for tourists. One of the cruise lines has already dropped it from the itineraries. But what does that have to do with dropping a credit limit? I don't see it.

I cancelled my AmEx years ago after it was refused in Thailand. The shop-keeper wanted the Visa card! I don't know why, it just happened. Sometimes when I'm off on an adventure vacation, my card will not be approved. Others times it goes right through. I've found that if I phone the credit card company and tell them I'm travelling in this or that part of the world, then the cards work fine.

But lowering someone's credit limit . . . that's a new one on me!

Gary SF · 1 year ago

That shop keeper in Thailand wanted your Visa card because AmEx is notorious in charging merchant a much-higher percentage per sale than Visa and MasterCard. I have a seldom used AmEx. I only keep it because I travel and once, went I was robbed and went to jail in Istanbul, AmEx was great. They actually got me a new card in 3 hours and brought me $1000 to boot. Visa made me contest each and every charge, making me swear that the signatures for the purchases by the robbers, which were written in Arabic, were not mine. This went on for 10 months.

woodka · 1 year ago

I would like to hear people's more recent Amex experiences. It would seem they are not the company they once were.

davefragments · 1 year ago

I'm not black and AMEX took both my cards (a gold and an Optima) on the silliest of excuses and double talk this past year. They lost. I didn't. I used to use the Gold Card only for food and the Optima for small purchases each month. AMEX just didn't like it and made up excuses.

Rich · 1 year ago

He says he pays it off every month. That's probably what they don't like. His usual stops sound pretty mainstream and not necessarily contingent on a particular side of town. Part of the problem may be Atlanta---it's place where people tend to be more heavily leveraged than other cities.

sherifffruitfly · 1 year ago

It's obviously because Obama hates teh ghey.

nicho · 1 year ago

This is a snotty comment with absolutely no merit whatsoever.

sherifffruitfly · 1 year ago

Well it's good to know I fit in. Thanks for the affirmation!

Gindy · 1 year ago

We have a Costco AMEX and pay it off every month. We get the rebate check at the end of the year and use it at Costco as well as being executive members and getting money back on our purchases there. In all, we TAKE money from Amex and Costco since we'd buy the stuff anyway. I am waiting for them to drop our limit or take our cards any day now.

Older_Wiser · 1 year ago

Instead of putting up with credit card bullshit, I pay cash for everything.

In fact, I remember one of the "reasons" people used to tell me about using credit cards was the fear of being "mugged" and their cash taken. I've never been mugged in 67 years and have carried cash for a number of years. Another excuse for credit cards was to have a "record" of purchases. Easy enough to keep receipts, isn't it? Even easier to use plastic than it is cash, too...and let those bills mount up. If you don't have the cash, you don't tend to make impulse purchases.

I don't even use a bank anymore...seems "prudent" to me. : )

LeftCoastOracle · 1 year ago

I use AmEx and pay it off at the end of each month. One reason is because if I buy something that turns out to be faulty, and the merchant gives me a hard time about replacing it, I can just dispute the charge and AmEx will support me. If you pay cash you don't have that leverage.

Older_Wiser · 1 year ago

That's another myth, though. I've never been refused a refund if I have the receipt for the purchase and I try to be very careful about saving them. If no receipt, I've always gotten a store credit or am allowed to exchange the merchandise if faulty, wrong size, etc. Never a problem, because I always shop in person, never online or through the mail. Call me old fashioned, but I'm just not much of a consumer, either. : )

Gary SF · 1 year ago

I use my Visa card and pay it off every month. I do this for the points - I fly a lot and I get about 3 free trips to Europe every 2 years. I know that there is a 'cost' to this and also, I expect these programs to go away. But for now, it eases the cost of spending time with my partner in Europe.

David Liao · 1 year ago

Having used credit cards from the other end (as a merchant), I can tell you that those free trips don't come out of magical thin air. The credit card companies charge merchants for transactions, i.e. a percentage of the sale. We, the merchant, tack that cost on top of the price of your product--obviously we're not just going to eat that cost. Notice that some gas stations charge more for credit purchases. As athletics officer at the Graduate Dorm, I worked with a pool table vendor last year. We were paid back a small discount of $60 on a $3150 because we paid by check instead of credit card.

Anyways, what one of my friends tells me is that these merchant fees are slightly too high--after credit card administration costs, there's still some money left over, so the credit card companies use this to give rewards to customers. It's actually customer money in the first place. The credit card company has money with which to "reward" you because you paid too much for your products in the first place. I haven't verified this personally.

Gary SF · 1 year ago

I'm a pretty shrewd shopper, and I never shop where credit cards carry a premium. I also 'game' the points system, so I accumulate them pretty quickly. I understand the appeal of cash transactions, but frankly, it feels safer to use a credit card for many reasons. And given that I am frequently away from home it is way more convenient. But in the last 20 years, I have only had a 'balance' that I didn't pay at the end of the month for 1 month, and that was because I couldn't get to the Internet or a phone to pay the bill on time. I only pay cash when dealing with a small, local, independent vendor because I know that a credit card sale will eat into their profits.

LeftCoastOracle · 1 year ago

I've had an AmEx green card for 30 years and typically charge under a thousand dollars a month to it, although I have charged as much as $6,000. I pay it off every month on time and so far haven't been impacted by this phenomenon. Perhaps it's because it's a green card, or that I don't charge very much to it, but I agree with someone who noted earlier that this puts AmEx in a peculiar position, having aired commercials pointing out that their members never have to worry about having their card refused because of a credit limit.

I usually don't carry any other card but think I'll change that strategy as I wouldn't want to be embarrassed by having my green card rejected for exceeding a limit that doesn't exist.

Eric Blair · 1 year ago

Go ahead, go there. You're going to sooner or later.

ExpatDan · 1 year ago

I started a new business in 2002. All I have used for credit is AmEx. I have a Platinum Biz Card. I charge an average of $10k/mo on it, and have for several years, and *always* pay it off as required each month. I just got an email, a day after paying off a $9,500 bill, that said my "limit" (on a no-limit card!) was now $2,600. I call AmEx and they just say in effect "too bad, that's the way it is." So fuck 'em.

My business is in Asia mostly, so I contacted the Japanese company JCB, and they indicate that my D&B is fine, and they'll give me $20k/mo *if* I shift my banking to a Japanese bank, not necessarily theirs. Fine. Done.

Too bad for the US. I need to keep my biz running, so they lose.

K Ols · 1 year ago

I say bombard Congress over this lengthy delay in changing the credit card rules until July 2010. That gives these companies way too much time to do their damages. Also, these new rules that weren't the work of Congress seem to let the credit card companies jack up your interest rate if you take out a new card. I think there might be a pattern here of making credit card holders angry so they will cancel their card and then when they apply for a new card elsewhere the issuer automatically has license to smack them with a high interest rate. If all the companies issuing cards work together they could get people angry enough they cancel their current card and apply for new elsewhere. They probably think it will all average out and they will end up with the same number of cardholders and in the bargain be allowed to issue with higher interest rates. Plus, whenever you cancel a credit card it lowers your credit score because you just removed x number of dollars worth of credit worthiness. Then they can turn around and use your lowered score as an excuse you charge you higher interest.
Anyway, the House did pass a credit card bill but it is languishing in the Senate. That is why I urge you to bombard your senators asking them to pass this bill now and not make people wait until July 2010 to put the brakes on the credit card company abuses. July 2010 is way too much leeway so the abuses will continue.

Cheryl · 1 year ago

Amex did this to me (straight, white, female, middle-aged). They said it was because I was charging groceries. Which I was, at a Costco, which has a deal Amex that it's the only card they take. So I paid it off and canceled the card.

I think Amex is going out of business.

barts · 1 year ago

I have the perfect answer to this dilemma: STOP USING YOUR DAMNED CREDIT CARDS FOR EVERYTHING!

I have one for emergencies. Since gas prices soared this past summer, I made a decision to pay down my card and pay for everything with cash. If I don't have the cash, I don't buy the thing until I do. Gee, what a concept. I still hold a card for those situations that require a card use such as reservations, online purchases (although, one can use 'paypal' instead), etc.

Credit cards are only helping funding greedy banks who don't want to lend money now and are paying their executives handsome bonuses while screwing Americans!

Help put an end to the abusive practices by the credit/banking industries: burn your cards now.

frozennorthobserver · 1 year ago

Sorry guys but when permit yourselves to be governed by organized criminals you have to expect shakedowns.

Judy Christy · 1 year ago

I complained about AMEX on another post here at AmericaBlog recently. Like a lot of you, I also have good credit, pay the entire amount monthly and they raised my interest rate to some usurious amount. So I called them to cancel the card. When they asked why?, I told them that I did not have to take that kind of crap from them and, more importantly, I was certainly not going to pay them a $55.00/year annual fee for the abuse. Card cancelled and cut into tiny pieces. DONE

The Tim Channel · 1 year ago

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My story involves Mastercard.
The details are so DELICIOUSLY SCANDALOUS
they make YOUR AMEX story seem like good customer service!!

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/timtimes/3123978019/

Enjoy.

Andreas · 1 year ago

If you didnt want to go there, THEN DONT!!!!!!!!

woodka · 1 year ago

I'll certainly be limiting my use of Amex from now on. This is disgusting discrimination.

RB · 1 year ago

I just heard on NPR that Credit Cards are going to also ask for a bail out. They are the most predatory companies that exist, preying on the most vulnerable. Congress has done little and what they have done does not take effect until 2010.

I hope that they will get nothing.

Kels · 1 year ago

Amex truly sucks now. I too have a Costco Amex card. When I got it, I only had a small limit (a few thousand) and then they decided I was a good enough risk to raise that to over $20k. I use it for a few hundred a month except when buying bigger things at Costco. My credit isn't stellar, but it's not bad. I don't pay it off every month, but I do pay more than the minimum, so Amex is making good money off me. Well I got one of those letters about the credit limit being reduced. They reduced it to about $200 above my current balance (luckily this happened after my TV blew and I used the card to buy a new one at Costco). They gave a list of possible reasons they might have done it. It's obviously too much effort for them to tell you exactly why you were reduced. Just a general form letter.

Amex has now moved to the top of my list of credit cards to payoff and get rid of. And, sadly, Costco is being hurt because I don't spend money there like I used to.

SouthernYankee · 1 year ago

Why should this surprise us. Did you know if you apply for a job they can look at your credit history to see if they want you to work for them. Privacy hell. There is no privacy, work, church, hospital, school. Before long the government is going to force people to have chips inserted in the bodies. Just wait friends.

K Ols · 1 year ago

The new rules were approved by the Office of Thrift Supervision, a Treasury Department division, not Congress. The Fed. Reserve & the Nat'l Credit Union Adm. were expected to act on it too.
Congress also had a bill that passed in the House but the Senate has yet to vote on it. That is why I said down thread to contact your senators and let them know you want their action on this long delayed bill & with an effective date sooner than July 2010.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28294720