I'll Never Shop There Again©
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A Case of “Not So Express" Customer Service ... the Amex BluesSubmitted by Beth - Brunswick, GA Fall 2005 Wow – a dream come true! I was going to London, England for a week. I decided that I needed an American Express credit card for the trip (their marketing people should be happy – I bought into their ads that no other credit card is more widely accepted outside of the U.S.). Having a stellar credit rating, I receive unsolicited credit card offers all the time. But, of course, once I decided that I had to have an American Express card, none were forthcoming. So I went online to AmericanExpress.com. I applied for the American Express Blue card that was advertised online with 0% APR for 15 months, then 4.99% over prime thereafter. Since I was planning of using the card for my London trip only, I was confident that I could pay it off in a few months upon my return. So I hit the enter button and crossed that detail off my to-do list. A week later, the Blue card shows up in the mail. The tiny, tiny print that accompanied the card stated that I was receiving the “wonderful” rate of 0% APR for 6 months, with a “terrific” rate of 8.99% over prime thereafter. Of course, I picked up the phone and called customer service. I was told that my credit rating wasn’t good enough to warrant the best rate. (Funny, Experian Credit tells me my credit rating is almost 800.) I was pondering how to handle this, when, the next day, I received an unsolicited offer from American Express Blue. The offer said that, because of my terrific credit rating, I was being offered 0% APR for 15 months, followed by 2.99% over prime thereafter. Hmmm……. I dialed American Express customer service again (I think I know this phone number by heart at this point) and told my story to another representative. When I asked that this newly received offer be honored, she informed me that once a card is issued, the rate cannot be changed. She encouraged me to simply return the new offer (or accept the offer over the telephone with her), then close the higher rate card. This didn’t sound kosher, so I spoke with her supervisor, Dorothy (by this time I was taking down names). I was again assured that this was the proper procedure. Okay, call me a sucker… I applied for a 2nd American Express Blue card. The next morning I received an e-mail from American Express saying they had cancelled the previous day’s application. Apparently American Express thought I was stupid enough to submit 2 applications (within two weeks) without a valid reason. Isn’t being told, by two different representatives to do just that, a valid reason? What did I do? I picked up the phone and called customer service (do you see a pattern here?). I went through the whole story with a rep named Maxine, who said there was nothing she could do except take the application again and hope it didn’t get rejected. Well, I may not be the brightest bulb in the pack, but even I knew this was a lost cause. I declined. Ever the optimist, however, I decided to write a letter to American Express detailing my story. The computer generated form letter I received, while not even addressing my dilemma, went to great lengths to tell me how wonderful American Express is. When you can’t dazzle them with your knowledge, baffle them with your bull*#%@ ! But the real kicker to my story is this: more than half of the restaurants and stores in London wouldn’t accept my American Express card! I have just written the check to pay the balance in full (before the 0% rate expired) and took my scissors to the card. It was the most satisfying thing I have done in a long time. By the way, London was awesome!
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