We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Amex in blind panic

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?
«1

Comments

  • Angie8
    Angie8 Posts: 101 Forumite
    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.
  • 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
    innovate Posts: 16,217 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    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
    Moglex Posts: 1,581 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    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.
  • 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
    innovate Posts: 16,217 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    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
    Moglex Posts: 1,581 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    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
    Moglex Posts: 1,581 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    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
    Moglex Posts: 1,581 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Presumably you meant 2001 ?
    Yes, thanks. Post corrected.
  • innovate
    innovate Posts: 16,217 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    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?
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351.7K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.3K Life & Family
  • 258.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.