Sorry this happened to your friend. I'm not surprised they did a HP vs. a SP. CSRs, for any card, are notorious for spreading the wrong information because they just don't really know. I also wouldn't be surprised if they opened a brand new card for him. It wouldn't have really hurt much to keep the card closed. I would read the 'Closing Credit Cards' link...I don't have it handy but most of the mods have it in their siggy. Macy's does not report CLs yet, as they did previously, but hopefully will in the future.
Edited to add: it will be interesting though if they "bring back" his old card or open a whole new account altogether. Please keep us updated!
Starting Score: 648
@clocktick wrote:Sorry this happened to your friend. I'm not surprised they did a HP vs. a SP. CSRs, for any card, are notorious for spreading the wrong information because they just don't really know. I also wouldn't be surprised if they opened a brand new card for him. It wouldn't have really hurt much to keep the card closed. I would read the 'Closing Credit Cards' link...I don't have it handy but most of the mods have it in their siggy. Macy's does not report CLs yet, as they did previously, but hopefully will in the future.
Edited to add: it will be interesting though if they "bring back" his old card or open a whole new account altogether. Please keep us updated!
Here 'tis: fused's Closing Credit Cards
He'll be okay either way, so don't overly fret about it.
It's pretty rare for card issuers to reopen cards - but it could happen.
It's not the end of the world either way. 
The good news is your friend will still have access to Macy's discounts. They can be good. Plus they seem to have a price match policy in store. So take the price match policy, add the cardholder discounts and they'll come up with some pretty golden deals.
They should remove it if they told him it would be a soft.
Starting Score: 722