AMEX Account Instantly Aged 12 years...

[Anonymous]

 First thank you to everyone on the forum, I could not have done it without you! I had my first Amex account in 2/1997 and closed it in 2002 when I went to post grad training.  After desecrating my credit in 2004 I was on the long road to recovery.  I opened Amex green in 5/2009.  I became a regular reader of this board a few weeks ago; this gave me the confidence and education on credit thanks to all of you. I read a thread on AMEX card aging and started the quest to age my card a few weeks ago.  I got the run around for awhile.  They could not find my account via SSN   went receipt digging and found jewelry purchased in JC penny in 2001.  Lucky for me it had the card number on it ALL OF IT.  That way before the new laws of printing only the last 4 number on the card and before heat sensitive printing that causes the print to fade with time.   I wrote a letter to card replacement services, got a copy of my Experian report showing my AMEX account opened in 2/1997, enlarged the receipt with the account information and faxed it to card replacement services.  I began my quest on a Saturday.  I followed up with a phone call the Monday and the CR told me sorry she will need my old card showing the member since date. I let it cool off a week, called back on Saturday (the best time to call in my opinion CR are very nice ad helpful).    She listened to me and gave me the backline fax number where I promptly send my documents.  She called me back within 1 hour to say that she needed more information.   Well it turns out I was not married then and my name was different, Dahl!!!.  They found my account under my maiden name (could not pull up any information???)   They asked me for my old address where I lived then and walah!     They requested that I send a letter #3 with all the information I just gave them.   I did with enclosed documents labeled just in case they missed it, this time I also send a copy of credit report from TU and EQ ( just the relevant pages)   then 2 hours later I followed with a phone call .  CR checked for the fax and returned to say the magic words “we have all he information we need to make the change, is there anything else I may do for you today?"   And that was it the forum support group did it AGAIN!!!    card replacement  direct line 800-992-3404     fax 361-289-0670   I  will keep you posted on how this affects my credit score and account age.  My oldest CC is 3 years old.  average account age is  8 years.  you guessed it student loans !!  

[haulingthescoreup]

Ahhhh... suddenly your oldest account is 12 years old! That's pretty sweet!

Congrats on getting the age, and +++++ on doing it in a calm and classy manner. As the old saying goes, you can get more flies with honey than vinegar.

[LisaPA]

I hope to do this next year. I opened an Amex in 1995 and closed it in 2001--it currently only shows up on my EX report. The full account number is actually on the report and I haven't married since, so I should be able to add some age to my history as well. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

LisaPA,

In my quest I found out from AMEX that the number on the credit report is scrambled and is not your true account number (that was one of my hurdles).  Try to find an old bill or the card, or reciept, and be sure to keep copies of your credit file while the account is showing up on your CR.  If it falls off you might have some aditional challenges.

PS ; just  a thought for those  who shop at costco if you used your card there COSTCO might be able to dig up old reciepts or charges for you. 

[cobaltnv]

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@LisaPA wrote:
I hope to do this next year. I opened an Amex in 1995 and closed it in 2001--it currently only shows up on my EX report. The full account number is actually on the report and I haven't married since, so I should be able to add some age to my history as well. Congrats!

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Hi LisaPA, I recently accomplished an AMEX reaging with only a copy of my EX report showing the account. It took a couple of phone calls, but I managed to get them to reage to 1993--I simply needed to fax in my credit report showing the account.

If you closed your account in 2001 it will fall off your EX credit report sometime between now and 2011. I would probably error on the side of getting your new amex earlier rather than later, just in case ex drops the account early. 

[TangMeister]

Congrats on getting your account age, back.  But wow...that's just crazy how many hoops you had to jump through to get it accomplished.  They're really getting picky on this stuff. 

[akindofmagic]

Will AMEX re-age the account if someone were an authorized user or would you have to be the primary cardholder?