Is infinity really around $800? Yes, says Amex.
So get this, I get a notice from American Express they have halted my card because of excessive spending. The total that I reached was not very high, and I paid it off every month anyway ('tis the rules with American Express), and I wasn't late (payment due next week). This was part of a plan to shift spending around so I could pay off other cards. But American Express just informed me that despite my account being listed as "no set spending limit," the actual limit was $800.
When I asked why, I was put on hold for nearly 35 minutes before I gave up. I was at work, and had stuff to do. When I called back, I finally got someone about 10 minutes after who told me that my $800 limit was a sliding scale, that changed monthly, based on my credit (which is listed as "Good" in the high 600s), and how much money I owed other credit cards (for which I don't have very many), information they got from Experion. They started asking me about my monthly income, how long I had been working where I worked, did I still own my house, and so on. Nothing had changed, they had the correct info.
They concurred. $800. And it wasn't always this low, I know, I have had it in the multiples of thousands, even recently. They assured me that it wasn't because I ever had late payments with them, and my accounts were fine, but they put a limit on my spending because of my credit rating. So I asked, directly, "you're telling me that the 'no set spending limit' is actually based on a sliding scale of several factors, which change month to month, no matter how good I am at paying you on time for the amounts listed? Infinity to you is $800."
"Yes sir, that's correct."
Holy. Shit.
I'll never be able to buy one plane ticket to Sweden with that limit (which I planned to do next year, and had done in the past), let me tell you. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and was told that I wasn't able to because "their call queue was too high." I had to call back at 8-9pm tonight.
I mean, this doesn't really screw me that bad, but it does make "No set spending limit" a HUGE lie. A card with a $800 limit that costs me $90 a year for "membership" is not a bargain.
Yeah, yeah, economy is bad. And I always knew that at some point, if I ran up a $1,000,000 they would call me (or at least, I hoped they would, they never did when it was $3100 in 2006). No excuse to lie.
When I asked why, I was put on hold for nearly 35 minutes before I gave up. I was at work, and had stuff to do. When I called back, I finally got someone about 10 minutes after who told me that my $800 limit was a sliding scale, that changed monthly, based on my credit (which is listed as "Good" in the high 600s), and how much money I owed other credit cards (for which I don't have very many), information they got from Experion. They started asking me about my monthly income, how long I had been working where I worked, did I still own my house, and so on. Nothing had changed, they had the correct info.
They concurred. $800. And it wasn't always this low, I know, I have had it in the multiples of thousands, even recently. They assured me that it wasn't because I ever had late payments with them, and my accounts were fine, but they put a limit on my spending because of my credit rating. So I asked, directly, "you're telling me that the 'no set spending limit' is actually based on a sliding scale of several factors, which change month to month, no matter how good I am at paying you on time for the amounts listed? Infinity to you is $800."
"Yes sir, that's correct."
Holy. Shit.
I'll never be able to buy one plane ticket to Sweden with that limit (which I planned to do next year, and had done in the past), let me tell you. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and was told that I wasn't able to because "their call queue was too high." I had to call back at 8-9pm tonight.
I mean, this doesn't really screw me that bad, but it does make "No set spending limit" a HUGE lie. A card with a $800 limit that costs me $90 a year for "membership" is not a bargain.
Yeah, yeah, economy is bad. And I always knew that at some point, if I ran up a $1,000,000 they would call me (or at least, I hoped they would, they never did when it was $3100 in 2006). No excuse to lie.