Stoma B.

I was an American Express customer for well over 10 years. I appreciated the good service and support; particularly, if I had concern regarding any charges. While not the fault of American Express, I, personally, am unable to reap the benefits of the annual fee. Not that I doubt it, but I'm told that if certain actions are taken such as an increase in spend despite my already high balance, for example, I will be able to earn enough membership rewards to cover the annual fee. Being that I'm trying to pay down debt and rid myself of $150 or more in monthly interest, I asked if I might be able to have a discount on the annual fee and also inquired about downgrading from the gold card. I was told that there would be a $30 fee to maintain the existing card member if I diwngrade and, despite stating multiple times that membership rewards we're not of benefit to me, I was told that the small fee to maintain second cardholder would not be waived and was repeatedly reminded of the benefits that I should be able to be reap by putting more charges on the card. To make this already long story shorter, I am no longer a member of American Express. Thanks to the company, I now have MasterCard with no annual fee and a lower interest rate. The bank that I work with happened to offer 15 months with no interest and a small fee for the balance transfer so it was quite worth it. The bank also attempts to detect fraudulent card use and I believe they will stand behind me if a charge is truly fraudulent. In a short period of time, my balance hass reduced notably.