Hey dave, my utilization is all at about 20-30%. I pay my Amex card as I go along, I just use it for the miles.. so I spend a few hundred when it posts I pay the few hundred. They claim it is because I paid late this past month.. What happened was I paid my balance then went on my honeymoon used the card when I got back the payment of like 10 bucks was a few days late so I paid the balance in full and they removed the late fee.. the day after they removed the late fee they also lowered my limit... No real good reason and just rude customer service reps in the Credit Services dept... By the way just for fun I just applied for blue cash and got 15000 cl.... hahahahah Kev
I actually get these offers whether I've carried a balance or not...but the BEST offers come when I've carried a balance and just paid it all off before the quarter has ended. So, for example, on one blue that I'd paid off a 4.9 on in late September, I got a 3.9. On the other, which I was still carrying a 3.9 balance on, I got a a 6.9.
This just happened to me with my Amex Blue. They send me a letter out of the blue saying that they reviewed my credit history and bcause of my "delinquencies" they are reducing my credit from $8000 to $5400. Now my balance is $5400. I have two other cards with about a total utilization right now of about 50% due to commissions not coming in as they were supposed to. I call the number on the letter, because I have NO deliquencies AT ALL whatsoever. They tell me they will research it and let me know in 7-10 days. Three weeks passed and nothing, so I call in. The girl tells me, sorry, you will have to dispute it with the CRA. DISPUTE WHAT? There are no negative items. I tell the girl to try to comprehend what I am saying. That didn't work. Asked for a manager. Manager says he understands but there is nothing he can do for me because after re-reviewing the account, my utilization is too high on my other cards, again about 50%. He tells me that they are cutting limits right now and that he cannot re-instate ANY limits that have been cut back on. So now I am stuck with an AMEX that is at 100% utilization. As soon as the commission check comes in, goodbye AMEX. I'll stick to MBNA and Bank One.
this has been scaring me for QUITE a while, I am worried that I will use my blue cash all year, and then at the end of the year, right before they give me my cash rebate, they will cancel my account or something.
MBNA also hates high utilizations and don't think they'll cut your limit, but the APR goes sky high and is not easy to get is back down again.
