American Express Appreciation Thread

I have a green and a gold, and never really use them. Should I?

I got them because they waived the annual fee, but I've only used one once to buy my laptop. I've heard of the benefits, but I guess they're of no use unless something goes wrong, right? Has anyone actually taken advantage of their warranty coverage or anything?

Anything less than the Transparent Aluminum Amex is small-time.

Agree AMEX is awesome card, I always pay all my cards in full, so never a problem. Even the blue Amex card has car rental insurance, something I find quite useful.

I would say get AMEX + either Visa or MasterCard, then you should be cover most of the time.

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

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Anything less than the Transparent Aluminum Amex is small-time.

+1

Purchase protection is also for small timers. Concern for money in such trivial amounts as a disposable piece of electronics is unseemly.

Well don't the REAL big timers not pay their bills on time because they don't care if they're charged interest, fees, and other trivial things?

I used to work for Amex and have nothing but good things to say about their customer service. Everyone will have stories about how they or someone they know who had a bad experience. But when I was there, everyone from the country manager right down to the folks answering the phones, they really did try to take care of the customer.

I have heard that they have moved a lot of the contact centers overseas and their service has probably suffered. A pretty common thing with outsourcing...but that is another matter.

Originally Posted by herenow

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I used to work for Amex and have nothing but good things to say about their customer service. Everyone will have stories about how they or someone they know who had a bad experience. But when I was there, everyone from the country manager right down to the folks answering the phones, they really did try to take care of the customer.

I have heard that they have moved a lot of the contact centers overseas and their service has probably suffered. A pretty common thing with outsourcing...but that is another matter.

True. The Purchase Protection folks are domestic though, and that's when you really need someone to be coherent/invested. I'm willing to bet the fraud guys are domestic too.

I once found myself in a tiny town in northern Brazil nearly a 24-hour-trip away from the nearest bank with nothing but Amex travelers checks and credit cards in a hotel that would only take cash. Though it managed to work itself out without Amex intervention (a local "businessman" eventually cashed our TC at a quite fair price) when I got on the radio phone with Amex and they told me they could get a chopper to me free of charge with cash and not to worry about it, I felt much better. They won a lifelong customer that day.

Between purchase protection, dispute resolution and membership rewards my card has paid its annual fee several times over. I've never spoken to an overseas call center and never receive unsolicited calls (*crosses fingers*).

From what I understand the travel emergency insurance is spectacular.

Worst customer service ever - 5 or 6 weeks to reverse a mistake! Most disjointed website in the entire banking system (maybe second right behing HSBC). Worst direct marketing ever - how many times exactly are they going to sell me a card I already have?. What's not to like?

If you spend over a certain amount a year and become an elite member, hey have a special concierge service which can actually help you out in emergency situations - even wire you up to $15k if needed...for free!!
I needed cash for a local (watch) purchase a few weeks back and I was too lazy to run to the bank so I called them up and they're like. "so where should we send the money?"...
What a coincidence - I was planning on starting an AMEX thread today...
I bought a pair of shoes from Saks back in Nov '08 and returned them by UPS a few days later since I didn't like them. Saks couldn't find the return even though UPS showed they were delivered. I opened a dispute and got my money back instantly. Then Saks recharged my card and this has been an ongoing fight with Saks since then. I called last night to get a supervisor to resolve this once and for all, and they're going to have a "consumer advocate" contact me within 72 hours and resolve the matter. Period. Who else does/can do that?!?

If you spend over a certain amount a year and become an elite member, hey have a special concierge service which can actually help you out in emergency situations - even wire you up to $15k if needed...for free!!

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Can you expand on that? Is that for Cent members?

Are the Amex rewards really that much better than you get with other cards? I've been pretty happy with the American Airlines one I use the most.

Originally Posted by chorse123

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Are the Amex rewards really that much better than you get with other cards? I've been pretty happy with the American Airlines one I use the most.

Not really, though being able to transfer MR points to Singapore Airlines is nice depending on your travel preferences. Penfed offers one of the best rewards credit cards. https://www.penfed.org/productsandra...ewardcards.asp

Originally Posted by JohnGalt

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Can you expand on that? Is that for Cent members?

AMEX Global Assist - I think any AMEX user can use the service, but there's a fee...