Anyone else having problems with Amex?

[Grumps21]

Tried to use the Amex today at the gas pump and was declined. Called them when I got home, and their phone system was down too. Anybody know the scoop? I didn’t find much online other than several three or four sentence reports of members being declined and a general outage statement.

 

[lonestardiver]

News to me…

 

[CharlieWH2O]

Mine was declined today also for an unknown reason and it should not have been. Must be system issues.

 

[Fishkiller]

Told AMEX to shove it several years ago. they suck

 

[PracticalCarry]

In the past week, I've had that happen twice, was weird. No issues with the card and works fine most the time but I did get a few declines as well. May be a system glitch. One was at a air pump at a gas station and the other was apple pay for a subscription I have.

 

[CharlieWH2O]

https://www.jewishpress.com/news/global/american-express-systems-down-in-us-uk/2021/10/21/ Only news I could find.

 

[mroper]

Their systems were down yesterday for a few hours. It should not have been a decline though it should have a timeout

 

[Grumps21]

Their systems were down yesterday for a few hours. It should not have been a decline though it should have a timeout

Nope, it did show declined. Worked this morning at HEB, so I suppose they fixed whatever problem it was

 

[TexasRedneck]

Ain't had an AMEX since '86 or so.....got one of those "personal invites" to get their "Centurion" or "Black" card....still can't figure out why. I DO use a card quite a bit for business purposes, but it's nowhere near the rumored level they require. I was lightly reading it, thinking it might be fun to screw with folks with....until I saw the $10,000 "initiation" fee (which, as a Special Deal, they were going to reduce to ONLY $5,000). Yeah, no, Chief - I ain't paying your stupid annual fee for your basic card - I DAMNED well ain't paying THAT fee!!!!
I guess I just don't get it - as mentioned, I use my regular CC & debit cards quite a bit for business, and the few times I've hit the "limit" on a purchase, I just use one of my debit cards to balance things out (a VERY rare occurrence). Either way, the CC is paid off at the end of each week - keeps me outta trouble....lol

 

[pronstar]

TBH I’m not an Amex fan at all.

They were the only creditor to close my credit lines - which were in good standing - during the recession.

But now I’ve got a corporate AMEX card…Ivr gotta say, their integration into our travel and expenses systems is pretty legit


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Grumps21]

No annual fee on my Amex. I use it for gas and groceries because it’s got the highest reward points, 3% on gas and groceries. Use the Visa on dining, travel because points are better there. For all other purchases it’s either cash or whatever card is up front in my wallet since misc purchases are only 1% back.

 

[Darkpriest667]

TBH I’m not an Amex fan at all.

They were the only creditor to close my credit lines - which were in good standing - during the recession.

But now I’ve got a corporate AMEX card…Ivr gotta say, their integration into our travel and expenses systems is pretty legit


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Not only did they do that, they don't allow you to use your CC for porn and haven't for over 20 years.

That might seem like not a big deal, but let me tell you folks, if they say no to PR0N, they'll say no to guns. You're not my moral or ethical guardian. What I spend my money on is my business.

AMEX just says 'no' to porn sites

You're out of luck if you want to use American Express plastic on an adult Web site.

www.zdnet.com

 

[TexasRedneck]

They can have their "points" and such. I use a CC as a necessity - and the less I have to deal with them, the better.

 

[ETH77]

Just for everyone's edification, some fraud prevention systems will decline a charge based on the security of the interconnection. In a food court in mall in Orange County, CA, I experienced a decline, walked to the next stand, got a decline, walked to a third stand and bought food. The difference in the three vendors was the means by which they connected to the banking system. The two declines were on insecure dialup modems, the third system was on the internet. This information came to me when I called the bank to complain.

Today, the problem is insecure WiFi hot spots. Some of the ip addresses have so much fraud associated with them that any access is declined automatically.

 

[mroper]

Just for everyone's edification, some fraud prevention systems will decline a charge based on the security of the interconnection. In a food court in mall in Orange County, CA, I experienced a decline, walked to the next stand, got a decline, walked to a third stand and bought food. The difference in the three vendors was the means by which they connected to the banking system. The two declines were on insecure dialup modems, the third system was on the internet. This information came to me when I called the bank to complain.

Today, the problem is insecure WiFi hot spots. Some of the ip addresses have so much fraud associated with them that any access is declined automatically.

Trust me this was a definite outage on Amex's side they sent out notices.