[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I mean, it's not like they've actually harmed me in any way. I use the card for transactions I would normally have paid cash for and racked up points in the process. They're also giving me $200 for free. In reality they don't "owe" me anything since I never received the 75k offer but they sure as shit disappointed me.

the problem here is it's gone beyond the superficial. People with the mailer (like seminole) who have it in front of them are being denied. Despite being strung along the entire process saying 'yes, you're good, yes you're going to receive the points'.

It's HORRIBLE service no matter how you spin it and that's why I say fuck 'em.

FYI seminole they have a twitter account too. Once I get officially rejected i'm going to start spamming them and anyone else who tweets about even THINKING about getting an AMEX card.

[Spool]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I mean, it's not like they've actually harmed me in any way. I use the card for transactions I would normally have paid cash for and racked up points in the process. They're also giving me $200 for free. In reality they don't "owe" me anything since I never received the 75k offer but they sure as shit disappointed me.

an inquiry on your credit report might potentially be harmful

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Spool

an inquiry on your credit report might potentially be harmful

more than an inquiry....best case you open it and then close it. That's still a credit line only open for a year.
Worst case you keep it forever and bleeding the annual fees.

bullshit is what this is. Shoulda done chase's cashback....

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by Spool

an inquiry on your credit report might potentially be harmful

Unless you have 5 in a quarter, it shouldn't affect your credit report at all. I monitor my credit score diligently and saw the inquiry post about 6 weeks ago. Score did not change.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by Freakazoid

more than an inquiry....best case you open it and then close it. That's still a credit line only open for a year.
Worst case you keep it forever and bleeding the annual fees.

bullshit is what this is. Shoulda done chase's cashback....

The 20,000pts I was given will cover the fee for 2 years on top of the 1 we're already getting for free. That has me covered until 2014. During that time I'll still be using the card and accruing points. My point is that you gain more points by using the card on every day purchases than the fee costs you in a year, plus some nice perks in the process.

FWIW, you can also get the Chase to use for other transactions. I have a Chase Sapphire that also accrues points. I used the points from the purchase of my chick's engagement ring to buy airfare for our wedding/honeymoon. Both cards have advantages.

[Seminole]

To me, the points categories are just OK at best. I travel for business, but it's not predictable and not a lot usually, so the 3x points on travel aren't worth a lot to me. The 2x on gas and groceries is pretty good, (but there is a Citi card that offers 5x points on gas and groceries), and then 1x on everything else you can get anywhere. That's not worth the annual fee to me. You basically have to spend $10k a year on gas and groceries just to get 20k points which would equal enough in gift cards to cancel out the fee. The only reason I even signed up for this card was for the $750 and the fallback $500 if that didn't work. Without those the card is worthless to me. I'm kinda furious over the fact I'm getting a hassle for the 50k points. I literally got at least 3 mailers from AMEX a month with different offers for different cards, how the hell can they have nothing in their system about what they've mailed me.

The ONLY benefit so far is that the people when you call for AMEX are American. With my Citi card when I call it seems like they use India call centers and there's been a few times I've legitimately not been able to understand the person.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

The 20,000pts I was given will cover the fee for 2 years on top of the 1 we're already getting for free. That has me covered until 2014. During that time I'll still be using the card and accruing points. My point is that you gain more points by using the card on every day purchases than the fee costs you in a year, plus some nice perks in the process.

FWIW, you can also get the Chase to use for other transactions. I have a Chase Sapphire that also accrues points. I used the points from the purchase of my chick's engagement ring to buy airfare for our wedding/honeymoon. Both cards have advantages.

I here your point, but you're comparing Amex crappy points system to say discover card or whatever else. So I could have gotten an ACTUAL 1% *cash* back had I spent the same money on my discover card. So again no real benefit here from the AMEX, other than the fake $200. (in cash terms closer to a $100). $100 isn't worth the credit effects.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Seminole

To me, the points categories are just OK at best. I travel for business, but it's not predictable and not a lot usually, so the 3x points on travel aren't worth a lot to me. The 2x on gas and groceries is pretty good, (but there is a Citi card that offers 5x points on gas and groceries), and then 1x on everything else you can get anywhere. That's not worth the annual fee to me. You basically have to spend $10k a year on gas and groceries just to get 20k points which would equal enough in gift cards to cancel out the fee. The only reason I even signed up for this card was for the $750 and the fallback $500 if that didn't work. Without those the card is worthless to me. I'm kinda furious over the fact I'm getting a hassle for the 50k points. I literally got at least 3 mailers from AMEX a month with different offers for different cards, how the hell can they have nothing in their system about what they've mailed me.

The ONLY benefit so far is that the people when you call for AMEX are American. With my Citi card when I call it seems like they use India call centers and there's been a few times I've legitimately not been able to understand the person.

This is exactly the same boat I'm in and why I'm furious as well. For the points/cashback I could easily have used my visa or my discover, both giving me 1% cashback and 5% for the category specific.

my counter point to your american call center is discover. Discover's call centers are awesome, all in the states, and they all speak GOOD english.

Again $100 and change is not worth the credit hit to me.

[Seminole]

Originally Posted by Freakazoid

Again $100 and change is not worth the credit hit to me.

How much of a credit hit could it possibly be? At most its a temporary thing because the only two categories it affects is the "length of time category" and the "debt to credit limit" ratio. I had two cards before the Amex. One for about a year and a half and then another for almost 20 years. If I close it it won't make a significant impact on that category. In fact, the longer you keep it the worse it is for you to get rid of because it has been outstanding for a longer and longer period of time.

And for the debt limit stuff, does Amex even report a limit since it's a charge card, not a credit card?

[KingOfJericho]

What are these "credit effects" you guys keep mentioning? Your scores are NOT going to be affected by opening the card.

[Seminole]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

What are these "credit effects" you guys keep mentioning? Your scores are NOT going to be affected by opening the card.

Closing the card is what I'm talking about.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Seminole

To me, the points categories are just OK at best. I travel for business, but it's not predictable and not a lot usually, so the 3x points on travel aren't worth a lot to me. The 2x on gas and groceries is pretty good, (but there is a Citi card that offers 5x points on gas and groceries), and then 1x on everything else you can get anywhere. That's not worth the annual fee to me. You basically have to spend $10k a year on gas and groceries just to get 20k points which would equal enough in gift cards to cancel out the fee. The only reason I even signed up for this card was for the $750 and the fallback $500 if that didn't work. Without those the card is worthless to me. I'm kinda furious over the fact I'm getting a hassle for the 50k points. I literally got at least 3 mailers from AMEX a month with different offers for different cards, how the hell can they have nothing in their system about what they've mailed me.

The ONLY benefit so far is that the people when you call for AMEX are American. With my Citi card when I call it seems like they use India call centers and there's been a few times I've legitimately not been able to understand the person.

Originally Posted by Seminole

Closing the card is what I'm talking about.

exactly.

And to the question about the limit, here's what I've found during previous research:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/cred...it-scores.aspx
http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2010/...-credit-score/


But after closing it, the direct hit would be the inquiry, and the length of the account.
As I only have 3 revolving credits, one with a 1 year history would hit. Again this isn't huge, but a .1% change in an auto/mortgage/etc rate courtesy of this is enough for me to be pissed..... $100 and change? combined with some shitty ass flip flopping?
Definitely enough of a reason for me to make a stink.

[persian54]

link to BBB ?

[solefald]

Originally Posted by persian54

link to BBB ?

bbb.org

[persian54]

Originally Posted by solefald

bbb.org

i meant link to where i can do the amex thing lol

cause when i type in american express i get nothing

[solefald]

Originally Posted by persian54

i meant link to where i can do the amex thing lol

cause when i type in american express i get nothing

looks like it may be this one:

http://www.bbb.org/NYC/business-revi...w-york-ny-605/

[Seminole]

Here's an update for anyone who cares.

After the original 75K didn't work I had called to apply the 50k to my account. I got a letter saying I wasn't targeted for that promotion (this is where I was at at the last time I posted). I called back and told them that I'm holding 2 physical copies of the mailer and that I was targeted and I wanted the points added to my account. I mentioned how it was crap that I was promised 75k and denied, and then when I provide all the codes for the 50K I was denied as well. This time the lady takes down all my information that I have (i.e. offer number, rsvp code, etc.) and resubmits the request. She tells me that if they need anymore information they'll get in touch.

Well today I just got a second rejection letter in the mail, saying once again I wasn't eligible for the 50k. I called up, explained everything to the rep and said I want the points put on the account NOW. She puts me on hold and basically comes back and says there's nothing they can do, since the link I signed up on was for 20k points, that is the offer that is linked to the card and no other sign up offers can be added to it. I told her how every single person I have spoken to before this has never told me that and they even mentioned that I couldn't do the 20k and the 50k to get 70k, but that if they applied the 50k it would be by adding 30k to the 20k. She said there is nothing she can do, that all the decisions are made by their "back office" and since I've been denied twice already they won't give me the points.

I'm pretty fucking infuriated at this point and make her known of this. She just apologizes and says nothing can be done and I'm stuck with 20k. So I told her fine, cancel the fucking card, because 1) the points suck for what I make purchases on and the only reason I signed up was for the "promised" rewards, 2) their supposed "top rated" customer service is terrible since nobody can do shit to help me, and 3) if they think I'm going to pay $175 a year after this first year to be treated like this they are out of their minds.

So she transfers me to someone who goes through what needs to be done to close the account. He mentions that I'll lose my 20k points (which have still been pending for the last month and a half, so it's not even like I can use them on anything), to which I replied, "I don't give a crap, you can keep them", and went ahead and canceled the card.

I'll be getting all my documentation together and filing a complaint with the BBB, because even if I legitimately was denied the 75k I should have gotten the 50k. American Express can go fuck themselves with a 12 foot pole. I will never again sign up for one of their fucking cards.

Oh and I ran my credit score/report and the card doesn't even get reported on it, so it has zero effect on my credit. I just cut the card up to little bits, so that helped to relieve some anger:

[bmw-nj]

I got the 50,000 points but Amex definitely plays games even with me. They claimed that I could get $500 statement credit with the points from the advertisements and that was not possible when I called to do so. I did get to use the miles for an airline ticket and cancelled the card.

I recommend capital one for professionals. It gives you 2 points per dollar spent on every area. No gimmicks or games. And the annual fee is very low. I pay $39 a year I think they raised it a little but it's not much more. Definitely under $100 a year.

[KingOfJericho]

Just got the score change alert from equifax regarding the Amex account addition. Score went UP 11 points.

[Spool]

i onlly got 20K from Amex...i turned that into $200 gift card at banana republic and gonna get myself a suit for work...that's about all we can squeeze from these assholes

[Oregano123]

good thing i didnt have the time to bother signing up for this promotion

[Freakazoid]

giving credit where it's due. With a combination of finally nailing the good reps, and sticking to the 'mailer', I got it applied to my account. Honestly never saw this coming. Way to step up in my case AMEX.

I should have gotten the first and last names of the guys I dealt with, I would be demanding promotions for them.