Wise to reopen closed Amex account?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

A few years ago I closed my Amex green card account after a particularly bad customer service experience with them - turned out it was their mistake, but their attitude was very poor. However, now that I know more about FICO scores, it seems that closing my oldest card (since 1992) was a bad idea.

I've read that Amex does reopen old accounts and report the original opening date to the agencies. Is this a wise thing to do given Amex's seemingly poor reputation for customer service? Has anyone done this and have they encountered any problems with Amex after doing so (sudden new charges etc?)? Thank you very much.

[Phoenix-rising]

As far as I know, once you close it, that's it.  You can't reopen an old account.  I had an account from 1980-something that I closed back then because I moved out of the country.  I recently called AmEx and they said there's nothing they can do for me.

One thing I read though is that if you get a new AmEx and you can prove that you had an old AmEx they will use the start date from your older card on the new account.  Do you still have anything with the old account number on it or perhaps the old card?

If you do a search here I'm sure you can find posts about this.

[Anonymous]

Agreed with Phoenix.

While you likely won't be able to "reopen" the old closed account, if there is proof that you had an account dating back to 1992, Amex will likely allow you to open a new account while keeping the history from the old account.  There have been tons of success stories on Amex doing this so IF you're interested in resuming your relationship with Amex, I say go for it. 

Good luck and welcome to the boards!

Message Edited by lurknomore on 08-19-2008 11:14 AM

[Anonymous]

Thank you Phoenix and lurknomore for your helpful replies. Much appreciated. One more question: do you know if they will only backdate memberships dates for the same type of card that you previously had - for example, you have to get a new green card if your old one was green? -- or will they backdate it for any new Amex card, for example an Amex Blue? Thank you again.

[Anonymous]

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mirkast wrote:
Thank you Phoenix and lurknomore for your helpful replies. Much appreciated. One more question: do you know if they will only backdate memberships dates for the same type of card that you previously had - for example, you have to get a new green card if your old one was green? -- or will they backdate it for any new Amex card, for example an Amex Blue? Thank you again.

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they will back date (usually) any product from the year the relationship was started w/the month the new card was opened (ie 8/1992, if app'd today).

if they don't do it automaticly, then if you have the old card or statement you can call card replacement and request they change your membership date and will send you a "corrected" card.

welcome!

[Anonymous]

imducky, I recently received an Amex Blue, so I just rang Amex and they are changing the membership date back to 1992. I'm so happy! Thanks so much to all of you for your advice and for taking the trouble to respond to my question.

[Anonymous]

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mirkast wrote:
imducky, I recently received an Amex Blue, so I just rang Amex and they are changing the membership date back to 1992. I'm so happy! Thanks so much to all of you for your advice and for taking the trouble to respond to my question.

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glad it worked out so well! now i would wait until january if you are interested in obtaining any other amex products to maximize the instant history effect.

[Phoenix-rising]

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mirkast wrote:
imducky, I recently received an Amex Blue, so I just rang Amex and they are changing the membership date back to 1992. I'm so happy! Thanks so much to all of you for your advice and for taking the trouble to respond to my question.

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Wow, that was quick!  I'm green with envy.  I'm glad you were able to recapture your history.  Were they able to find your old account or did you still have the card in your possession?

[Anonymous]

Luckily I still had my old card and am strangely still able to log in to my account online - it says the card is cancelled but I still get a statement saying I owe $0. I still check it to make sure there are no funny charges. I logged in to my new card yesterday and it now says "member since 1992". So, yes, that was quick! And it makes up for the stress they put me through a couple of years ago.