Credit where credit is due
Originally published at Disjunction. You can comment here or there.
Just over one week ago, August 6th 2009, we packed the family into our van and made the four hour drive to Washington D.C.
Gareth repeatedly asked to see the White House, elephants, and pandas. How could we deny him the excitement of seeing all three? In order to streamline our trip, we decided we would pay for the vacation with our American Express card, which had no credit limit. All our expenses would go on it so that we could easily track everything we had done and could pay our expenses all in one place.
Imagine my surprise, then, when our card was denied on the second day of our visit to Washington. I called American Express customer service to find out what was going on and found that they had reduced my credit limit to below the balance on our card just two days before we left for our trip. They did this with no advance notice whatsoever! In fact, the day after we returned home, we received a letter from American Express telling us of the change they were making, effective “immediately”.
Knowing better than to place all my eggs in one basket, I brought along a second card and used it for the remainder of our stay in Washington. Gare saw the elephants and pandas at the National Zoological Park, and he made us visit the White House three times during a four day trip. But what I really remember is that a credit card issuer very nearly ruined that trip for us.
I am glad that the credit card bill of rights was successfully signed into law, but there is still room for improvement. If I had been notified 30 days in advance that a change was going to be made to my credit line, I would have known what to expect. As it was, I was caught by surprise at the worst possible time. If we were experiencing a health emergency (not unlikely) or were simply broken down on the side of the road and had to pay for repairs, we would have been stranded by the practices of, in this case, American Express.
Here’s hoping that the credit card bill of rights does not represent the final word on consumer protections from credit issuers.