topic Re: AMEX in Credit Cards

AMEX

Niki9 — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:55:44 GMT

I had a green card a long time ago.

I closed it myself.

It still shows on my credit report as closed by consumer request. Amex and I had a good relationship back then. But I was young and then they were telling people to close their accounts that they were not using.

Anyhow .. All this is to ask do you think it would be better to ask to reopen my old account?

Would there be any benefit to this?

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:56:37 GMT

If you can reopen it and kep the history it would be great!!!

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:57:07 GMT

complete good history from day one to the day you open it! x number of years of perfect history would be reason enough for me.

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:58:55 GMT

definitely try to repopen it if you can.

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 02:28:56 GMT

They will most likely not allow you to re-open.

BUT if you get another card from them they should report the original open date.

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 02:55:42 GMT

hmm applied for the AMEX blue card earlier today, gave me some sorta error msg. Just got an email from them and i checked on app status and it says IN PROCESS. Hey thats better then all the other instant declines ive had with them, maybe a glimmer of hope???

Re: AMEX

Red1Blue — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 03:55:00 GMT

Brent, When I applied for Delta, I got online message it is approved. I keep checking the app status for the last 4 days and I keep getting the in process. I guess Amex likes posting that message.

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 03:55:07 GMT

Timothy wrote:
They will most likely not allow you to re-open.

BUT if you get another card from them they should report the original open date.

I really wish I knew why some people get this and some don't. I'm among the unlucky ones in that respect, as my Amex Green was opened in 1994, closed due to inactivity in 2004. My Delta Skymiles shows Member Since 2007.

I'm happy for the folks who are getting some free history, but also a little jealous.

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 03:59:34 GMT

cheddar wrote:

Timothy wrote:
They will most likely not allow you to re-open.

BUT if you get another card from them they should report the original open date.

I really wish I knew why some people get this and some don't. I'm among the unlucky ones in that respect, as my Amex Green was opened in 1994, closed due to inactivity in 2004. My Delta Skymiles shows Member Since 2007.

I'm happy for the folks who are getting some free history, but also a little jealous.

call. i was an au on a company card years ago. i called and they were more than happy to search for my info. sadly, they couldn't find any, but they said if i had an old bill or the card number they would research it further. i never saw the bill and i quit the company back in 96, so i got nothin' to give amex to work with.

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:55:16 GMT

Reviving this old thread just to update:

Called Amex to request they change my "Member Since" date to 1994, and also report my Skymiles account opened in 2007 as opened in 1994.

To my surprise, they said they would be happy to do this for me!

Unfortunately, they have no record of my previous account, and I also have no records to prove that I ever had it. It does still appear on EX, and I offered to show them a copy of my CR to verify it, but htey said they needed an old statement, or at least the full card number from the old account.

I thought Amex was supposed to have a memory like an elephant. I guess that only applies if you owe them money, not if your account was closed with a $0 balance.

A little frustrated by this. They seem to be willing to work with me, but want some very specific things that I don't have.

Live and learn, I guess.

Re: AMEX

Red1Blue — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:47:40 GMT

Hi Cheddar, if it is still showing on EX, why dont you ask or dispute with EX and ask them if they can provide you complete account number. Once you have that then you can call Amex back and give them the number. I think you are in much better situation than you think you are.

Yes, Amex will put the first date of the CC open with them. My Oasis had the date of 08. When I called them and asked them they changed it to 95 when I had my first card open. They also issued me a new Oasis card. Also when I got the Platinum the date of 1995 is on it too.

Just call or talk to EX and ask them to give you the complete account number. Then call Amex with that account number.

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:38:37 GMT

concorduser wrote:
Hi Cheddar, if it is still showing on EX, why dont you ask or dispute with EX and ask them if they can provide you complete account number. Once you have that then you can call Amex back and give them the number. I think you are in much better situation than you think you are.

Yes, Amex will put the first date of the CC open with them. My Oasis had the date of 08. When I called them and asked them they changed it to 95 when I had my first card open. They also issued me a new Oasis card. Also when I got the Platinum the date of 1995 is on it too.

Just call or talk to EX and ask them to give you the complete account number. Then call Amex with that account number.

Well, I'm not going to dispute it. Amex has already established that they have no record of this account, so if I dispute it and they can't verify it, it's going to be deleted. I do not want it deleted. It's my oldest account, by a long shot.

What I want is for my new account to report with the same open date as this older account that exists on EX, which Amex is willing to do for me, provided I can give them the original account number.

When I look at the TL on EX, there is an account number on the report, but Amex tells me it's not the actual account number. As they put it, it's a "jumbled up" version that they report to CRAs, for security reasons, I guess.

What they need from me is the original "unjumbled" account number. EX has no way of knowing this information, and Amex tells me they have no way of looking up the orginal "unjumbled" account number if all I can give them is the account number listed on EX.

They looked it up by my SS# and found no record. They looked it up by my old address (the one I lived at when I had the old Amex card) and found no record. I even had them look it up by the short version of my name instead of my full legal name, but they found no record.

I really can't believe they can't find this account, and why isn't the TL appearing on EX good enough proof for them that I had an account opened in 1994?

*sigh*

Message Edited by cheddar on 02-03-2008 05:38 PM

Re: AMEX

Red1Blue — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:00:22 GMT

Hi Cheddar, now you know what I have to put up with Amex when I apped for Delta. I have to fight with them for months to get my Delta and never got the card from them. They ask for a letter from Broker. I sent the letter and then they say he is not a broker. Now you know how interesting it can be dealing with Amex. Especially when they dont get their act together on their part and ask us to prove that we are right. What is that saying, innocent till proven guilty. I guess it is other way around with Amex, guilty until proven innocent.

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:58:26 GMT

similiar experience here. i was an au on a corp account. i called amex and they said, sure we'll back date your account to 1995, just provide an account number or old statement.

1. how can i keep statements over 10 years, when i never even saw one?

2. i know the company is still around and they still have the same account, why can't amex find my info?

3. who would ever think to write down and keep the account number, just in case i needed to prove history after i gave the card up when i quite?

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:04:10 GMT

Cheddar, you keep mentioning that the account shows up on your EX but does it show on TU? The reason I ask is in my experience with TU reports directly from the CRA, they always show the full account number. That is at least the case with the paper reports, but I'm not sure how it looks online because I'm locked out of their website.

But then you'd still have another problem (maybe) in that unlike the other issuers, Amex doesn't indicate your CC number on the CR but some other account number which is either scrambled or internal to their system.

So in the end, even if you get your TU report and the account is on there, you may still be out of luck because the account number may be worthless.

Message Edited by ChaoticKinesis on 02-04-2008 04:04 AM

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:36:42 GMT

ChaoticKinesis wrote:
Cheddar, you keep mentioning that the account shows up on your EX but does it show on TU? The reason I ask is in my experience with TU reports directly from the CRA, they always show the full account number. That is at least the case with the paper reports, but I'm not sure how it looks online because I'm locked out of their website.

But then you'd still have another problem (maybe) in that unlike the other issuers, Amex doesn't indicate your CC number on the CR but some other account number which is either scrambled or internal to their system.

So in the end, even if you get your TU report and the account is on there, you may still be out of luck because the account number may be worthless.

Message Edited by ChaoticKinesis on 02-04-2008 04:04 AM

No, it doesn't show on TU or EQ. Only EX. Not sure why that is, or when and why it dropped off of TU and EQ, since this all happened before I was pulling reports on a regular basis.

And yes, you are right about the problem with the account number. The number they report to all CRAs is not the actual CC number, but a scrambled/internal number.

They want the unscrambled number from me. The scrambled number won't do.

What frustrates me about this:

1) Why do they have no record of an account that was closed in good standing less than four years ago?

2) If they can scramble a number for reporting purposes, why can't they unscramble it?

3) Why isn't the fact that the TL is on EX sufficient verification that I had this account?

Thanks for your help, anyway.

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:02:26 GMT

I had a green Amex card, opened in 1989. Closed it a couple years later because of the annual fee, you know, young & it didn't matter then. Well, I was just approved for an Amex Delta SkyMiles card and got to thinking about my old card. Unfortunately, I threw out a fat envelope of ALL my old statements last fall, but GUESS WHAT! I found a carbon copy charge slip for a fancy restaurant I ate at back in 1989! Talk about cool beans I can't wait to get the card in the mail so I can call them to activate it!

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:41:12 GMT

Better than that- it will have the orginal Member year.

No new account hit!!!!!

Sunset7 wrote:

I had a green Amex card, opened in 1989. Closed it a couple years later because of the annual fee, you know, young & it didn't matter then. Well, I was just approved for an Amex Delta SkyMiles card and got to thinking about my old card. Unfortunately, I threw out a fat envelope of ALL my old statements last fall, but GUESS WHAT! I found a carbon copy charge slip for a fancy restaurant I ate at back in 1989! Talk about cool beans I can't wait to get the card in the mail so I can call them to activate it!

Re: AMEX

ficonovice — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:27:35 GMT

Hmm...now I'm starting to re-consider getting an Amex. I had 3 Amex cards back beginning in 1988. I mismanaged them a little, but don't think I was ever more than 30 days late. The accounts were all closed back in the mid 90's, but still appear on my EX report with a clean status (no lates, etc..).

Now my EX score is 785 and AMEX sends me pre-approvals all the time for Blue and Blue Sky, Green and Gold.

If I get a new card and if it will report as opened in '88 it could be worth it....

EX report lists acct history and average age as positive factors for me, while at the same time TU lists those as my only negative factors. Average age is now 6 years...a card from '88 could add a year or two (or more).

Re: AMEX

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:04:01 GMT

ficonovice wrote:

Hmm...now I'm starting to re-consider getting an Amex. I had 3 Amex cards back beginning in 1988. I mismanaged them a little, but don't think I was ever more than 30 days late. The accounts were all closed back in the mid 90's, but still appear on my EX report with a clean status (no lates, etc..).

Now my EX score is 785 and AMEX sends me pre-approvals all the time for Blue and Blue Sky, Green and Gold.

If I get a new card and if it will report as opened in '88 it could be worth it....

EX report lists acct history and average age as positive factors for me, while at the same time TU lists those as my only negative factors. Average age is now 6 years...a card from '88 could add a year or two (or more).

That would be great, but read my saga above. Make sure you have the original account number and verify that Amex has a record of it, or else you'll end up with a brand new 2008 member date.