topic Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR in Credit Cards

Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

toytoy — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:23:21 GMT

So I apped for zync card and was approved and received it today. They wouldn't let me activate it online so I had to speak to CSR. She activated it and I asked her that on my cardmember agreement it says my annual membership fee is $0 for first year then $25. She told me this was incorrect and my membership fee is $25.00 always. Now when AMEX does charge me a fee can't I just reference this card member agreement that says it is $0 and they have to honor it? Also it says I have no preset spending limit. How in the world does someone figure out what they can buy without feeling stupid at store if card is declined? I don't plan on running up the card but I never had a true charge card so it baffles me. Is there somewhere on the website that they can give you an estimate or do you have to call in everytime you make a purchase to make sure it won't be declined?

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

CS800 — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:26:57 GMT

@toytoy wrote:
So I apped for zync card and was approved and received it today. They wouldn't let me activate it online so I had to speak to CSR. She activated it and I asked her that on my cardmember agreement it says my annual membership fee is $0 for first year then $25. She told me this was incorrect and my membership fee is $25.00 always. Now when AMEX does charge me a fee can't I just reference this card member agreement that says it is $0 and they have to honor it? Also it says I have no preset spending limit. How in the world does someone figure out what they can buy without feeling stupid at store if card is declined? I don't plan on running up the card but I never had a true charge card so it baffles me. Is there somewhere on the website that they can give you an estimate or do you have to call in everytime you make a purchase to make sure it won't be declined?

Personally I would nort push my luck with the AF. Maybe they were running a promo for $0 for the first year. But with AMEX you want to stay under the radar as muc has possible.

As to your spending, there is an option online when you log on to check your spending ability.

You can use it once but under no circumstance should you use it often. When I first got my card, few days later I used this to check if I spent $2000. It was approved. So I know that at least I can use $2000. I did charge $1800 on it and then PIF the same week.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

toytoy — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:04:17 GMT

I don't necessarily want to fly above radar but I just asked on another forum and someone said they received the same thing I did. Here is pic of it. I won't make a big deal out of it but they may want to fix that.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

CS800 — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:10:59 GMT

I agree, your packet states $0 for the first year so they should honor it

I should have looked at my Zync packet, I didnt even look at this. Now you got me thinking.

@toytoy wrote:
I don't necessarily want to fly above radar but I just asked on another forum and someone said they received the same thing I did. Here is pic of it. I won't make a big deal out of it but they may want to fix that.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

Anonymous — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:14:46 GMT

My Zync is due sometime early next week. I will try to find the agreement and see if this says the exact same thing. If it does and they charge me a fee, I will fax their agreement back to them with that part circled.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

toytoy — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:20:05 GMT

LOl yup if I were you I would pull it out and take a looksee. I have placed mine in the drawer for safe keeping.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

toytoy — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:22:05 GMT

Ok thanks Shea. I don't know if they are printing it out wrong, have a secret promotion, or just making errors. I figured I was going to use my 10000 points after the first purchase to get gift cards which was a total perk (the rep told me to go buy a can of soda and I was good to go to get the points) but I had just assumed I would be paying 25.00 for AF.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

Walt_K — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:05:29 GMT

You should definitely send them a copy of that if you get charged a fee. I can't imagine they will argue with you any further.

As for the spending limit, who knows how they calculate it exactly. I'd guess that the initial limit is a function of income and credit score. It gets adjusted upward as you continue to use the card and pay your bills on time. Carry a backup card and you don't have to worry about it. If you do have a large purchase and you don't want to get declined at the register, you can call them and they will run a test charge and tell you if it is ok. You can also check your spending ability online. Just don't go crazy checking it just to see what it will approve. I don't think you need to worry at all about checking it for real purchases. But some people have reported geting FR'd for repeatedly clicking on the check spending ability link.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:05:47 GMT

Just approved for the Zync...I'm definitely going to be looking at this closely when my card arrives. Although I might not make too much of fuss because I'm just glad to be back in AmEx's good graces.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

RyVision — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:09:06 GMT

For a minute I thought I was getting less observant in my old age (well, not that old lol). So I too had to take a look knowing I most likely wouldn't have missed that. Mine looks the same other than in the "Annual Membership Fee" line it simply states "$25".

I'm actually glad, would have been unusual for me to have missed what you saw in your fee details.

The funny thing is, if it doesn't show in your account details on their side, they might not take a copy of that page as being proof. That would be easy to scan and edit and even print out to look like the original, so if they made a printing error without knowing it, they could think someone is trying to get out of the fee (not you, just how they could see it) until they found out they had the error.

Actually, anyone could print that page out with "We will pay you $10,000 for every day you can go without using your card, after that, there will be the standard fee blahblahblah" printed in the fee area And they wouldn't honor it (of course, just a funny example of how just because it's on paper, doesn't mean it's in their system).

I somewhat think you might kind of be the victim of a "robo-printer" error.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:06:27 GMT

forget about "flying under the radar." People are way too cautious around AMEX. I would try to get the fee waived if $25 matters to you. If you make seven figures, maybe it's not worth the trouble to you, but if I saw that, I would definitely try to get that $25.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

Walt_K — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:39:39 GMT

@RyVision wrote:
For a minute I thought I was getting less observant in my old age (well, not that old lol). So I too had to take a look knowing I most likely wouldn't have missed that. Mine looks the same other than in the "Annual Membership Fee" line it simply states "$25".

I'm actually glad, would have been unusual for me to have missed what you saw in your fee details.

The funny thing is, if it doesn't show in your account details on their side, they might not take a copy of that page as being proof. That would be easy to scan and edit and even print out to look like the original, so if they made a printing error without knowing it, they could think someone is trying to get out of the fee (not you, just how they could see it) until they found out they had the error.

Actually, anyone could print that page out with "We will pay you $10,000 for every day you can go without using your card, after that, there will be the standard fee blahblahblah" printed in the fee area And they wouldn't honor it (of course, just a funny example of how just because it's on paper, doesn't mean it's in their system).

I somewhat think you might kind of be the victim of a "robo-printer" error.

This isn't the first time I've read about the Zync offer with no annual fee for the first year, so I don't think there's an error. The fact that they actually do offer this, despite what the previous CSR said, should be enough to convince them it wasn't tampered with.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:04:13 GMT

So my Zync card came today (rather quickly I might add) and the agreement specifically stated that the annual fee is $25. Yours must have been a typo or someone must have been really happy

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

Walt_K — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:38:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So my Zync card came today (rather quickly I might add) and the agreement specifically stated that the annual fee is $25. Yours must have been a typo or someone must have been really happy

It's not a typo. It is just a better offer. Amex has different offers for their cards all the time (as do Chase, Citi, Discover, etc.). Waiving annual fees, offering better sign up bonuses, etc. Some of these offers are open to anyone, some of them are targeted. This is why it's a good practice to run some google searches before applying for a card.

Re: Received Zync card and received conflicting information from CSR

RyVision — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 02:38:03 GMT

@Walt_K wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
So my Zync card came today (rather quickly I might add) and the agreement specifically stated that the annual fee is $25. Yours must have been a typo or someone must have been really happy

It's not a typo. It is just a better offer. Amex has different offers for their cards all the time (as do Chase, Citi, Discover, etc.). Waiving annual fees, offering better sign up bonuses, etc. Some of these offers are open to anyone, some of them are targeted. This is why it's a good practice to run some google searches before applying for a card.

First I have to say my post earlier wasn't meant to imply toytoy might have tampered with the paperwork, just pointing out how easy it would be to do if someone wanted to try it, and that Amex doesn't have to honor something they have no proof of on their side of the screen.

That said, I would say the 1st year fee waived was probably legit (meaning they offered it and possibly it didn't click on toytoy's account record). Walt is right about them having different offers all the time, as most card companies do. There is a way to possibly verify it, and I don't think it'd cause a problem to call back and ask about it. Being the disclosure form states what it does, there is always a corresponding code at the bottom of the page (in house form codes). If toytoy called Amex, explained how the fee is listed on that actual page and they don't seem to agree with the form. Just ask for someone that might know how to verify the offer via the codes at the bottom of the page (it's probably the code starting with "FDR 93etc etc" in the lower left hand corner, all that stuff at the bottom means something in house), if not that one, someone at Amex should know what to ask you for at the bottom of the page. That will tell them which offer's paperwork you received and will verify you don't owe a fee for the first year.

That type of question is not going to cause you problems with Amex (flying above the radar etc). It's on your paperwork and it's verifiable through their system being all those forms tend to be code verified. The "robo-printer" error I mentioned earlier was a bit of a joke in that the wrong form can be printed or loaded verses it's timing or who it's going out to (could even be an old disclosure form that got loaded into a tray). If you haven't already contacted them again and gotten the 1st year fee waived, you might have better luck knowing you need to talk to someone that knows they're all coded and why. They may have even already corrected it on your account if you check their site before calling.