Hello,

As an AmEx employee, I originally found my way to this board to flame unsuspecting moaners of the AmEx cardholder variety in an attempt to blow off the steam built up having to quietly listen to the abuse day in and day out. But I got to reading other topics, directed at other companies, or products that have shown up on bills that people claim to have "not authorized" and I realized that I have the solution to all of these problems... and it can be summed up in two words:

Educate yourselves!

You all think you are so smart. You get that self righteous twinkle in your eye, you pick up the phone, and then you hurl abuse down the speaker at the 20something year old call centre employee making just better than minimum wage. "It's an outrage!" you exclaim, dreams of lawsuits dancing through your mind, "this sort of action is illegal! I happen to know this, even though I know nothing of the way the system works, how credit cards work, or how the governmental financial bodies regulating these companies work!"

Cue the sigh.

You don't read the terms and conditions of the product you have applied for, and therein lies your first mistake. Before you even have that platinum coloured two inch by three inch piece of plastic to which you will attach your identity burning a hole in your wallet, you have already made Ignorant Consumer Mistake #1 when you quickly jotted your John Hancock on the dotted line all the while frothing at the mouth. You DO realize you are signing your name to a legal agreement between yourself and the company... correct? And yet so many of you don't read what it is, exactly, that you are signing your name to!

"These fees for being late are criminal, you can legally be allowed to charge these!" Actually, we can, and very much so legally. Had you read the Ts and Cs, you'd realize you actually AGREED TO RECEIVING FEES UPON LATE PAYING, YOU MUPPET! And why do so many of you seem to think businesses, such as Amex, simply go about their day without any regulation? Credit card companies are regulated, out the ass in fact. They cannot charge you beyond what is reasonable (Note: not what YOU think is reasonable!) and they cannot apply mysterious fines or charges in an effort to "OMG GET YOUR MONEY!" Grow up.

"What do you mean I was charged a late payment fee, I was away on holiday!" Oh I am so sorry Mr. Cardholder, I forgot to stop the world from spinning because you were obviously going to be away on holiday! Forgive me! Actually, your time spent guzzling burgers at Disney or ruining the UK reputation in Tenerife doesn't mean you don't have to pay your bill in a timely fashion. Get over yourself. You're not so important that the company is merely going to waive your responsibility because you are too busy elsewhere!

"I've been a member since..." No one cares. You are a number, a figure, a statistic. We do not think of you as a friend, dear spender. So stop attaching your identity to your card.

Another tip I have for you is it pays to be humble. Each and every rep of each and every Card company has the ability to refund late payment fees and interest charges. But I will tell you one thing: coming through with your head up your own ass, spouting off how self-proclaimed "important" you are, and demanding the charges back will only make reps such as myself say, "Well, it's in your terms and conditions and these are legit charges, sorry." Coming through with a "Im sorry, I missed the payment, but I've had great history... could you have a look into those fees for me please?" Will get you what you want.

Do your homework. One company doesn't charge interest at a great deal of variation more or less than the next. Most charges are equal across the board. and saying things like "X Company doesn't charge Y, I'll use them instead" will get you a "don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"You're just trying to steal my money!" Who are you, Scrooge McDuck? Are you married to your money? Do you wear a tinfoil hat in your house so the aliens cannot steal the password to your safe out of your brain? Grow up!

"I didn't authorize this company to bill me!" Well, yeah... you did. Somewhere along the line in your foaming at the mouth online purchasing you clicked one too many boxes somewhere and ended up with a subscription to shoppersdiscount.co.uk (or similar scheme). It's YOUR fault for your hurried purchasing and lack of attention, but you did authorize it. Similarly back to mistake #1, if you read the Ts and Cs to ANYTHING YOU BOUGHT you'd have read how acai berry/diet pill/teeth whitening/make money online scam is going to bill you a large amount of money each month. Now, whose fault is it that YOU clicked the ad to see just what mom discovered a cheap way to teeth whitening after you ended your three hour marathon of Farmville on Facebook? I'll give you a hint: it's not your card companies fault.

Blocked charges as a security check are for your own benefit. Call up, verify it was you making the purchase, and get on with your life. No one cares if it was an inconvenience. And if you get a rep like me, you'll be told "I told you so" when you call back though wondering why on earth we DIDNT block the acai berry purchase after YOU demanded we stop checking your account security!


And that's just the tip of the iceberg. If you made it to the end of this long diatribe, congrats. You are now slightly more enlightened about your credit facility. Do your research, read about what government checks are in place to keep creditors honest, and read your terms and conditions before you spew off your ignorance on the internet and lead your little "arm chair crusade" against the big, nameless coorperations.

And for the love of Christ, get some perspective on life!

Yours,

Amex Employee