Amex in blind panic

Moglex

Last month I paid my Amex bill as usual but the payment never reached them (the bank are investigating as I type). Between the appropriate date and the time I got home from a short trip I had had two letters about it (apart from my statement) and a phone call.

Now, it's a very long time since I last missed a payment, but years ago you could quite happily miss two in a row before getting a fairly laid back letter mentioning your tardiness.

Considering Amex charge a £25 late fee (which I must admit they were very quick to reverse when I phoned them), you'd think they be delighted if people failed to pay on time.

What is it with them?

Or do all companies fly into a panic at the first late payment nowadays?

Angie8

2 letters and a phone call seems a lot for one missed payment.

I had a similar problem with an Abbey card once but they simply charged me the £25 late payment fee, they didn't even bat an eyelid that the payment wasn't received!

I think that some companies don't like late or missed payments while others see them as an excuse to make more money from the customer.

jonesMUFCforever

I have heard that some banks now 'block' the card if you fail to make at least the minumum payment on time.
Apparently it is a cheap way of ensuring customers contact the card issuer to sort it out! You have been warned.

innovate

Moglex wrote:

Last month I paid my Amex bill as usual but the payment never reached them

How do you usually pay your Amex bill? Manually by cheque, bank transfer, standing order, direct debit, other?

Your postings implies you probably didn't pay by direct debit, in which case you are unlikely to have a leg to stand on if the payment didn't reach Amex in time.

If you don't want to, or can't, settle your bill in full every month by direct debit and want to do it manually, it would still be a good idea to set up a Direct Debit for the minimum monthly payment amount.

That way you won't get stung if a manual payment doesn't reach its destination in time (there is no guarantee by any bank on the length of time a one-off payment takes)

Moglex

ejones999 wrote:

I have heard that some banks now 'block' the card if you fail to make at least the minimum payment on time.
Apparently it is a cheap way of ensuring customers contact the card issuer to sort it out! You have been warned.

Oh yes, the card was blocked, according to the letter.

As I don't generally use it, I didn't find out the hard way.

And, why don't I use it?

Because the last time I missed a payment (because it got lost in the post) I did find out the hard way. Fortunately I was no futher away than Eire (and had other cards), but as my first inkling that something was wrong was when the card didn't work, and the date I found this out was September 12th 2001 I ws more than a little annoyed to think that if I'd been further afield, and relying on that card, I would not have been able to pay to stay anywhere until the planes started flying again.

Blocking a card because of one missed payment is, frankly, absurd. Not everyone wants to set up a DD for all their credit cards, but there are times when you rely on them.

I don't consider Amex a reliable supplier now.

I've also set up all my cards and bank accounts for internet banking (God knows why I didn't before), so that this will not happen again.

ffacoffipawb

Moglex wrote:

.......and the date I found this out was September 12th 2002 I ws more than a little annoyed to think that if I'd been further afield, and relying on that card, I would not have been able to pay to stay anywhere until the planes started flying again.

Presumably you meant 2001 ?

innovate

Sorry, Moglex, but if you expect your card to work reliably and without a hitch than it's only fair if your card company expects you to also be reliable and without a hitch. And if you don't, they cut you off. That is nothing but proper!

What's the sweat in setting up a DD for the minimum monthly payment?

Moglex

innovate wrote:

Your postings implies you probably didn't pay by direct debit, in which case you are unlikely to have a leg to stand on if the payment didn't reach Amex in time.

Sorry, but that's nonsense.

In the first place, I don't need 'a leg to stand on'. I haven't commited a crime, and I'm not trying to sue anyone. Amex were perfectly happy to reverse the late payment fee - I didn't even have to ask.

Secondly, paying over the counter at a bank is a perfectly safe way to pay. I must have payed hundreds of bills that way over the years, and this is the first time I've ever had a problem. Direct debits, on the other hand can be problematic from time to time (especially when setting them up and cancelling them).

A company that goes ballistic and stops your cc when you've only had one previous late payment in a decade may well be acting legally, and within its own T&C's, but it's hardly acting in a sensible manner.

Moglex

innovate wrote:

Sorry, Moglex, but if you expect your card to work reliably and without a hitch than it's only fair if your card company expects you to also be reliable and without a hitch. And if you don't, they cut you off. That is nothing but proper!

That's a super authoritarian viewpoint, and, as I said in another post, whilst Amex were acting legally and within the terms of their own T&C's, as an exercise in customer relations it was quite amateurish.

Since I've had the card I'd put well over £20,000 worth of business through it (until the 2001 debacle). That probably made them a good bit of profit, and it was absurd that they lost that revenue stream simply because of one missed £20 payment.

What's the sweat in setting up a DD for the minimum monthly payment?

Well, in the case of Amex, simply that the one time I did try, they lost the forms.

Moglex

ffacoffipawb wrote:

Presumably you meant 2001 ?

Yes, thanks. Post corrected.

innovate

Not sure after these posts I understand what the issue is, Moglex - - what point are you trying to make, who is in a blind panic?