Two "Beware Stories" about an American Express Credit Card. Back around 2006 I was encouraged by an American Express Credit Card phone representative into changing my American Express Blue Card to an America Express Delta Miles Card.
During the unsolicited phone conversation I got the representative to promise me three times that my FIXED, life of the card 9.9% interest rate would not change. I repeatedly said I do not want any change to the status of my card if it involves any type of increase in the interest rate or in some other manner. When my next bill came my interest rate had jumped from 9.9% to over 11% AND I was on the hook for an 80 dollar annual fee whereas previously I had not had any fee.
I IMMEDIATELY called American Express, an investigation was done, and I was told they had no way to reverse the card back to an American Express Blue Card, nor to change my rate back to what it had been for the prior 6 six years (9.9%), nor to remove the annual 80 dollar fee which previously did not exist. lol, they did however send a bouquet of flowers. I calculate that this fraudulent act ended up costing me a thousand to two thousand dollars in extra fees and interest rate charges over the next five years.
Forward 5 years, here is some necessary backstory prior to the next American Express story. My mother was eligible for a special Caregiver program that would have paid a caregiver a very small amount per month to be her caregiver. However when she applied for the program we were lied to and told any wages I might receive as her caregiver would be reclaimed by the state of california by filing a lien on our residence if I outlived my mother. I found out 20 months later that this was a lie. However I had already given up my video business to take care of both of my parents and the present lie over the caregiver program resulted in my taking a hit on my credit cards since I no longer had any income and to qualify for the program one can have virtually no savings either. I had had a perfect payment history for 15 years. I just bring this up so that it is understood that my credit card defaults that followed were predicated on Medi_CAL lying about how their program works and not my being lazy or not wanting to work.
The Debt Collection company that American Express hired used a service company that TWICE committed a false subservice against our family. I was finally able to settle my two court litigated cases. BUT HERE IS THE WARNING, ONLY ONE OF THE TWO CREDIT CARD PLAINTIFFS THAT TOOK ME TO COURT IS NO LONGER REPORTING THEIR COURT VERDICT TO MY CREDIT REPORT. AMERICAN EXPRESS IS STILL REPORTING THEIR COURT VERDICT ONTO MY CREDIT REPORT EVEN THOUGH THEY OBTAINED THEIR VERDICT VIA A FALSE SUBSERVICE AND MAIL FRAUD OF THE BACK UP SERVICE THAT IS DONE BY MAIL, AND AMEX IS STILL REPORTING THE VERDICT TO MY CREDIT REPORT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE RECEIVED A SATISFACTION OF JUDGEMENT LETTER FROM AMEX.
When a fraudulently created subservice is then backed-up up via a service by mail it basically means the mailed service was mail fraud since the person doing the service has to swear in writing they performed a lawful subservice in person and put that statement through the mail. Putting that fraudulent swearing in writing through the mail systems constitutes mail fraud in my opinion.
One would think that a compromise to settling a credit card default case that went forward based on a fraudulent subservice and subsequent mail fraud would be for American Express to stop reporting their court "victory" obtained via a fraudulent subservice and subsequent mail fraud service once a satisfaction of judgement has been received.
So my advice is to beware of American Express if there is any chance you might have a life changing event that creates a hardship and you default. American Express appears to have policies in place that make the consumer suffer as much as possible for as long as is legally possible once the consumer defaults and is taken to court and a verdict is gained in AMEX's favor.
For the record, the amount of the satisfaction of judgement settlement and the amount of the extra charges I incurred after the AMEX Blue card was switched to a Delta Miles card along with a higher interest rate plus annual fees was probably enough to zero out the debt and pay it off in full, yet AMEX will keep reporting their ill gotten court "victory" for the full seven years.
Third quick AMEX Beware Story. I had to help correct another American Express credit reporting mistake in which AMEX closed someone else's account and then claimed the account was not being paid off when it was!
American Express appears to have some type of credit reporting agenda in which they make their customers suffer as much as they can even when American Express has contributed to the problem with their own illegal acts or mistakes, or the default occurs because of a hardship beyond the consumer's control.
You are viewing Swarm The Banks. Please check out Parallel Foreclosure blog and UNfair Foreclosures blog as well.
During the unsolicited phone conversation I got the representative to promise me three times that my FIXED, life of the card 9.9% interest rate would not change. I repeatedly said I do not want any change to the status of my card if it involves any type of increase in the interest rate or in some other manner. When my next bill came my interest rate had jumped from 9.9% to over 11% AND I was on the hook for an 80 dollar annual fee whereas previously I had not had any fee.
I IMMEDIATELY called American Express, an investigation was done, and I was told they had no way to reverse the card back to an American Express Blue Card, nor to change my rate back to what it had been for the prior 6 six years (9.9%), nor to remove the annual 80 dollar fee which previously did not exist. lol, they did however send a bouquet of flowers. I calculate that this fraudulent act ended up costing me a thousand to two thousand dollars in extra fees and interest rate charges over the next five years.
Forward 5 years, here is some necessary backstory prior to the next American Express story. My mother was eligible for a special Caregiver program that would have paid a caregiver a very small amount per month to be her caregiver. However when she applied for the program we were lied to and told any wages I might receive as her caregiver would be reclaimed by the state of california by filing a lien on our residence if I outlived my mother. I found out 20 months later that this was a lie. However I had already given up my video business to take care of both of my parents and the present lie over the caregiver program resulted in my taking a hit on my credit cards since I no longer had any income and to qualify for the program one can have virtually no savings either. I had had a perfect payment history for 15 years. I just bring this up so that it is understood that my credit card defaults that followed were predicated on Medi_CAL lying about how their program works and not my being lazy or not wanting to work.
The Debt Collection company that American Express hired used a service company that TWICE committed a false subservice against our family. I was finally able to settle my two court litigated cases. BUT HERE IS THE WARNING, ONLY ONE OF THE TWO CREDIT CARD PLAINTIFFS THAT TOOK ME TO COURT IS NO LONGER REPORTING THEIR COURT VERDICT TO MY CREDIT REPORT. AMERICAN EXPRESS IS STILL REPORTING THEIR COURT VERDICT ONTO MY CREDIT REPORT EVEN THOUGH THEY OBTAINED THEIR VERDICT VIA A FALSE SUBSERVICE AND MAIL FRAUD OF THE BACK UP SERVICE THAT IS DONE BY MAIL, AND AMEX IS STILL REPORTING THE VERDICT TO MY CREDIT REPORT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE RECEIVED A SATISFACTION OF JUDGEMENT LETTER FROM AMEX.
When a fraudulently created subservice is then backed-up up via a service by mail it basically means the mailed service was mail fraud since the person doing the service has to swear in writing they performed a lawful subservice in person and put that statement through the mail. Putting that fraudulent swearing in writing through the mail systems constitutes mail fraud in my opinion.
One would think that a compromise to settling a credit card default case that went forward based on a fraudulent subservice and subsequent mail fraud would be for American Express to stop reporting their court "victory" obtained via a fraudulent subservice and subsequent mail fraud service once a satisfaction of judgement has been received.
So my advice is to beware of American Express if there is any chance you might have a life changing event that creates a hardship and you default. American Express appears to have policies in place that make the consumer suffer as much as possible for as long as is legally possible once the consumer defaults and is taken to court and a verdict is gained in AMEX's favor.
For the record, the amount of the satisfaction of judgement settlement and the amount of the extra charges I incurred after the AMEX Blue card was switched to a Delta Miles card along with a higher interest rate plus annual fees was probably enough to zero out the debt and pay it off in full, yet AMEX will keep reporting their ill gotten court "victory" for the full seven years.
Third quick AMEX Beware Story. I had to help correct another American Express credit reporting mistake in which AMEX closed someone else's account and then claimed the account was not being paid off when it was!
American Express appears to have some type of credit reporting agenda in which they make their customers suffer as much as they can even when American Express has contributed to the problem with their own illegal acts or mistakes, or the default occurs because of a hardship beyond the consumer's control.
You are viewing Swarm The Banks. Please check out Parallel Foreclosure blog and UNfair Foreclosures blog as well.
