Cancelled Amex card

[MrDisco99]

I called today to cancel my Amex Hilton card since I just got the Surpass and it didn’t make much sense to keep both. I fully expected to talk to a CSR and possibly get a retention offer. In this case, though, it was completely automated.

Is it just for certain cards that a request to cancel gets you sent to retention? Do I need to specifically ask for a CSR?

[SkyCommander]

I'll be doing this soon. From information I've gathered for possibly getting my own retention offer you have to talk to an actual rep. Sometimes calling a couple times until you get someone that can offer something. When I called to cancel my United card with Chase I spoke to a rep and they straight cancelled it no questions asked even with 3 years membership. 

[longtimelurker]

You normally have to speak to a rep and if you really want a retention offer, use a phrase like "I am considering closing... " or "I am not sure of the value of...." rather than "I want to cancel" as you can always run into a helpful rep who will close it for you as soon as they hear that.

[Anonymous]

I think it's pretty cut and dry now a days.. if the CSR does not see a retention offer on your account they will just close it.

[wasCB14]

There is (or used to be) a number to reach the retentions dept directly. I got it from a CSR in chat in 2015 but haven't used it since then (and forgot the number itself).

[MrDisco99]

In my case it worked out OK anyway.  I fully intended to cancel the card, mainly because I wanted to have one less revolver for my next Amex app, and the Surpass card made it completely redundant anyway.  However, when my chargers (PRG and green) come due next summer, I wanted to explore the option of keeping them if they have an offer for me.  I'll know to say "representative" when that time comes.

[UpperNwGuy]

If I remember correctly, a member of this board who used to work for Chase has posted that when the customer service reps call up your record on their screen, they see an internal score assigned to  the cardholder by the bank.  This is not a FICO score, but a score that the bank uses to measure your value to them as a cardholder.  If your score is not high enough, you will not get a retention offer.  I'm sure Amex operates the same way as Chase.

[mkhan1093]

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@MrDisco99 wrote:
I called today to cancel my Amex Hilton card since I just got the Surpass and it didn’t make much sense to keep both. I fully expected to talk to a CSR and possibly get a retention offer. In this case, though, it was completely automated.

Is it just for certain cards that a request to cancel gets you sent to retention? Do I need to specifically ask for a CSR?

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Did you transfer over as much credit as possible before closing? I think you're allowed to do so with Amex when closing a card.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Hi MrDisco, how can we help you today? You can anything from "Representative" to "Account balance"....

[MrDisco99]

Yeah I’d already transferred most of the limit over to my new Surpass card. It only had a $1000 limit when I cancelled.

My Surpass approval was for $3000 so I suspect I may be reaching my ceiling with Amex. Hopefully I have enough room for one more revolver approval.