So after I took advice from my other thread, applied, and was approved for an Amex Delta Gold, I called American Express to ask if they could expedite the delivery of my card. The rep, who has an Indian accent, took her time and repeated the same statement over and over again despite my 'I understand' each time. That same statement is her claim that Amex have to send out a letter informing me of the interest rate before they would generate my card. Since the letter takes 7-10 days to arrive, the card will take 10-13 days. I asked why it would take them a whole 3 days to generate and mail a card, she tried to 'explain' to me again that the card doesn't get generated until they send out the letter. Then I said 'I understand the process, but why would it take 3 days?' Then she explained the whole procedure to me again. I realized she would never comprehend my question, so I switched topics and asked her a bunch of questions about my card. Why not? I've heard Amex has the best customer service out there! Let's test it out...
So here's a list of questions from me and answers from her:
Q: what's my credit limit?
A: I can't tell you. The card hasn't been generated yet. Your credit limit will depend on your FICO score.
Q: can you tell me my FICO score?
A: I don't know your FICO score. The credit agencies don't tell me. You should talk with them. I can give you the phone numbers. But your credit limit also depends on other factors.
Q: I understand my first year's annual fee is 0. Is this a calendar year or period-length year?
A: I don't know. You'd have to call the number on the back of the card.
Q: If I apply for another Amex card and get denied, will that result in a soft inquiry?
A: No, all Amex applications result in a hard inquiry.
Q: What if I request a product change?
A: A product change reqest is an application for a different product and will result in a hard inquiry.
Do you guys think I would receive different answers if I called again and spoke to a different customer representative?
@HiLine wrote:So after I took advice from my other thread, applied, and was approved for an Amex Delta Gold, I called American Express to ask if they could expedite the delivery of my card. The rep, who has an Indian accent, took her time and repeated the same statement over and over again despite my 'I understand' each time. That same statement is her claim that Amex have to send out a letter informing me of the interest rate before they would generate my card. Since the letter takes 7-10 days to arrive, the card will take 10-13 days. I asked why it would take them a whole 3 days to generate and mail a card, she tried to 'explain' to me again that the card doesn't get generated until they send out the letter. Then I said 'I understand the process, but why would it take 3 days?' Then she explained the whole procedure to me again. I realized she would never comprehend my question, so I switched topics and asked her a bunch of questions about my card. Why not? I've heard Amex has the best customer service out there! Let's test it out...
So here's a list of questions from me and answers from her:
Q: what's my credit limit?
A: I can't tell you. The card hasn't been generated yet. Your credit limit will depend on your FICO score.
Q: can you tell me my FICO score?
A: I don't know your FICO score. The credit agencies don't tell me. You should talk with them. I can give you the phone numbers. But your credit limit also depends on other factors.
Q: I understand my first year's annual fee is 0. Is this a calendar year or period-length year?
A: I don't know. You'd have to call the number on the back of the card.
Q: If I apply for another Amex card and get denied, will that result in a soft inquiry?
A: No, all Amex applications result in a hard inquiry.
Q: What if I request a product change?
A: A product change reqest is an application for a different product and will result in a hard inquiry.
Do you guys think I would receive different answers if I called again and spoke to a different customer representative?
Not on the weekend. Try M-F 8-5
FICO 9: 
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.
Goal: Gardening!
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.
Goal: Gardening!
I guess I have to ask, why poke the bear at all in this case? Most of the questions you've asked are already found on the forums, and even Amex CSR's tend to be all over the map when it comes to information.
End of the day, I will always trust the majority of the anecdotal information found on this forum on how the lender actually behaves, rather than anything that comes out of any CSR's mouth honestly. Having worked in a few lenders, there are very good business reasons for keeping the CSR's slightly in the dark on certain things (fraud mitigation being the most relevant) and the overwhelming majority of customers honestly don't need to know the information which you're asking for.
I'm strongly of the opinion that I'd simply rather not have the lenders notice me at all; I like being the proverbial needle in a haystack as in my opinion any attention from a lender is absolutely a bad thing. I don't want to fall outside of their nice and predictable category, as anything outside of that can easily lead to AA of various types... building my credit portfolio is challenging enough in my case anyway, I don't need to make it any more difficult than it needs to be, and I know that at least some lenders absolutely look at the number of times people call, and then it's a short walk to find out what they're calling about as everything is recorded in this day and age.
When were you approved ? if you were approved and called the same day your propably not set up fully yet. it took a few days for me to get my BCP info
Starting Score: 617
@Revelate wrote:I guess I have to ask, why poke the bear at all in this case? Most of the questions you've asked are already found on the forums, and even Amex CSR's tend to be all over the map when it comes to information.
End of the day, I will always trust the majority of the anecdotal information found on this forum on how the lender actually behaves, rather than anything that comes out of any CSR's mouth honestly. Having worked in a few lenders, there are very good business reasons for keeping the CSR's slightly in the dark on certain things (fraud mitigation being the most relevant) and the overwhelming majority of customers honestly don't need to know the information which you're asking for.
I'm strongly of the opinion that I'd simply rather not have the lenders notice me at all; I like being the proverbial needle in a haystack as in my opinion any attention from a lender is absolutely a bad thing. I don't want to fall outside of their nice and predictable category, as anything outside of that can easily lead to AA of various types... building my credit portfolio is challenging enough in my case anyway, I don't need to make it any more difficult than it needs to be, and I know that at least some lenders absolutely look at the number of times people call, and then it's a short walk to find out what they're calling about as everything is recorded in this day and age.
I agree with your point of view. As a new customer, I was excited about testing out their customer service. And I have learned by now that calling the application status number over the weekend will achieve almost nothing. I think my questions were all natural and honest, though I will definitely be careful with future calls to not raise any red flag.
@dnice77 wrote:When were you approved ? if you were approved and called the same day your propably not set up fully yet. it took a few days for me to get my BCP info
I called less than a day after getting approved. From our experience it seems that Amex likes to take their time to process new accounts... I mentioned explicitly that I wanted the card for holiday shopping but the rep reassured me that the card wouldn't arrive till the very end of November.
