Amex has no record of my old card

[Cdnewmanpac]

I've wanted a costco amex for some time, as we shop there frequently and it is essentially a free amex. Didn't think I had a prayer getting it with my scores/bads, but thought maybe getting a zync, using responsibly and trying in a year might work. Got approved for the zync this morning, but in discussions with the rep, they have no record of me being a previous cardholder. I had a green card in college that got closed after I was late a few times (closed with zero balance, not co). Closed in 1989. Has anyone ever gotten amex to backdate a card they no longer have records of? Any clue how I could prove such a thing? If they can't, I'll be kinda bummed, as I was hoping not to get so nailed on aaoa. 

[pizzadude]

Do you have any old credit reports, records, or anything that might have the account listed ? Some people have had success calling the AMEX credit bureau and getting them to do a search for the old account.

Do a search on backdating and you should see several posts about this.

[Anonymous]

I believe you will have to prove that you have been with them. PizzaDude above outlined many sources of proof you can use. Also if you have/could find an old card that would be your best proof.

Otherwise I do not think they will backdate you. YMMV

[GregB]

Show them a copy of your last statement.

[teenastie]

I've heard stories of a poster finding an old 20 year old receipt for an expensive camera and Amex was able to re-establish their membership date.

[Walt_K]

I had a full EX report that showed my account number on the report, and they were able to use that to find the card.  It isn't your Amex account number, it is some sort of scrambled identifier used for the EX report.  I've heard from others though that have had no luck using that number.

When they were looking for my accuont though, they told me they would not backdate if the card wasn't closed in good standing.  Again, I've seen people have success getting charged off accounts backdated, but I don't know if you'll be able to do it if they closed the account down due to late payments.  YMMV.

[lrdwilder]

I too had a card back in 1998, they could not locate it and told me the only thing they would accept is either a statement or a copy of the card.

I looked and looked everywhere but I unfortunately could find neither. I called at least 6 times trying different departments and different people ect...

[LS2982]

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@Cdnewmanpac wrote:

I've wanted a costco amex for some time, as we shop there frequently and it is essentially a free amex. Didn't think I had a prayer getting it with my scores/bads, but thought maybe getting a zync, using responsibly and trying in a year might work. Got approved for the zync this morning, but in discussions with the rep, they have no record of me being a previous cardholder. I had a green card in college that got closed after I was late a few times (closed with zero balance, not co). Closed in 1989. Has anyone ever gotten amex to backdate a card they no longer have records of? Any clue how I could prove such a thing? If they can't, I'll be kinda bummed, as I was hoping not to get so nailed on aaoa. 

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Congrats!!!!

[bichonmom]

It's not unusual for the CSR to not have that info. I would wait until you get the card and set up your online account. Then once you log in, see what it says for "Member Since" date. My card came and had '12 on it, but when I logged it, it had member since '87 on the account online. I didn't do anything to get them to do this. It was all automatic in their system.

If your member since date isn't the original date, then here's some info I had copied from posts when I thought I might need help backdating: (If you have an old CR w/the Amex info, that will help, even though the number isn't your Amex acct. number.)

Also, my old Amex hasn't been on my CR in years, but they did automatically backdate.

PREVIOUS POSTS:

So if you have the account number that's listed on your EX report, call AmEx's internal credit bureau dept 1-800-874-2717, and you will be able to get your cards backdated.

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If it is not reporting any longer, I do not believe AmEx's internal credit bureau dept will be able to pull it up, but if you do have old reports with the AmEx TL's reporting, they will give you a fax number to send a copy to.

[bakalao2k]

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@Cdnewmanpac wrote:

I've wanted a costco amex for some time, as we shop there frequently and it is essentially a free amex. Didn't think I had a prayer getting it with my scores/bads, but thought maybe getting a zync, using responsibly and trying in a year might work. Got approved for the zync this morning, but in discussions with the rep, they have no record of me being a previous cardholder. I had a green card in college that got closed after I was late a few times (closed with zero balance, not co). Closed in 1989. Has anyone ever gotten amex to backdate a card they no longer have records of? Any clue how I could prove such a thing? If they can't, I'll be kinda bummed, as I was hoping not to get so nailed on aaoa. 

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OP, I believe the database CSRs use can't find accounts that old. I imagine charged off/closed accounts from way back are exported into some archive database(s).  Can you imagine how large some AMEX database instances are?

You have to contact the collections or Oasis dept (if they still exist) to find the account number.  AMEX has a memory like an elephant...most of the time.