American Express - Regain Cardmembership Offer (Oasis Program) - Yes or No!?!?!

[Anonymous]

I don't think anyone will be able to give an answer to this. There are way too many possibilities. I think in your case, you'd be better off calling to ask, but be careful about that, you could be waking a sleeping bear.

johnpalley wrote:
i understand what would happen with 1 old co but what if you had 3 co accounts like me? what specificly would happen with these accounts on my credit report? what would they read on the reports

[creditreformer]

Exactly UpUp.  SOL for lawsuit by amex passed for me ages ago and they’ve been off my reports for a few years.  They were GREAT when I had them, but lately, w/the CLDs, FRs, closing accts, etc., I’m not feeling all that bad for not having an amex.  Age would be nice though- I’d go all the way back to 1992.  then again, I look @ the fact that amex turned a 500-800 CO on a green cc into a 4k ‘balance owing’ and I think, no, it’s not worth having to pay 5-6x the amount I charged off just so I *may* possibly get back in their good graces.

Plus now, so many places (USAA, BA, etc.) offer ‘branded amexes’, so if you want an amex w/o the ‘real amex’ hassle, that may be an option.

Lastly, I’ve heard that amex occasionally (ymmv) lets you back in w/o having to pay them off, but usually it’s not until the 10-15 yr mark.

Ps word of caution for those who *do* take the oasis program- there have been reports of people saying the old baddies/lates/cos DO show on your reports and that amex doesn’t always just open the acct again and make it ‘clean’.

[johnpalley]

i just called amex and they said when you get the new card the history doesnt go back it starts today. he just didnt know what he was talking about right?

[Anonymous]

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@johnpalley wrote:
i just called amex and they said when you get the new card the history doesnt go back it starts today. he just didnt know what he was talking about right?

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I received my Optima earlier this year, and on my reports it lists an "Open Date" which goes back to the year I received my original Amex card.

However, when I received the Optima card, it did show a 2008 membership date on the physical card. I called them and asked to have it changed to my original membership date, which they did without issue. If I hadn't called to have that changed, I suppose there's a possibility the Optima would've reported with a 2008 open date.

[Anonymous]

I think he's correct.  It's not like they go back and erase your bad history with them. They open a new account and just state you have been a customer dating back to the date you originally opened a card with them. So it would be a new account, but instead of saying it was opened in 2008, it would look...history wise, as if you've been a customer since 2000, or whatever.

They don't erase your negative history though. So, if your charged off Amex cards are still on your credit report, they would still be listed. You'd just have a new account also, with an older membership date, i.e. card open date on your credit reports. I think most people that have taken advantage of this program didn't have the old accounts on their reports anymore. So this was not an issue for them.

I really think this is their slick way of getting people to repay old debts and that packaging it all up into this Tiffany-esque box, like you are getting a pretty present.   Though...for those that really, really want to be back with Amex and if you have burned them in the past, this is an "in". What's it worth to ya? That's the question. It could end up going great, or it could not... you never can tell.

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johnpalley wrote:
i just called amex and they said when you get the new card the history doesnt go back it starts today. he just didnt know what he was talking about right?

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Message Edited by UpUpUp on 09-10-2008 03:37 PM

[johnpalley]

thanks