topic Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon? in Credit Cards

Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:06:59 GMT

So against my better judgement, I decided to apply for a BCE. They ended up pulling at least EX and TU (not sure about EQ, don't have instant access to that yet).

Edit: Just looked at the online denial, fixing some incorrect info.

The reasons they gave me for denial were:

Too many recent credit checks (Trans Union)
Amount of credit available on accounts (Trans Union)
Your FICO? score (See below)
Number of trades(Trans Union)

TU FICO score is 724.

Is there any sense in trying to recon this? I'm not sure about the 'Number of trades' part. Amount of credit available, true, not fantastic - only $8550 total.

My util % is low (1-2%), my debt-to-income ratio is almost non-existant, and I have no baddies on my reports.

I'd definitely want to recon it, but I'm not sure it would make any sense, or what the best strategy would be. Amex being Amex, I feel like I should try to be as prepared as possible before I try to recon the denial.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

chnceit — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:26:59 GMT

Yeah I would definitely recon, your TU score is in the 700. Plus utli 1-2% thats super low. But AMEX also has their own scoring system. Do you have a charge card with them?

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

pizzadude — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:29:02 GMT

How many open CCs do you currently have, and how long have they been opened ??

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:36:16 GMT

@chnceit wrote:
Yeah I would definitely recon, your TU score is in the 700. Plus utli 1-2% thats super low. But AMEX also has their own scoring system. Do you have a charge card with them?

Nope, I specifically didn't want to get a charge card from them. I don't carry a balance on my cards, but I like having the option to just in case something unexpected happens. Plus since the charge cards don't report a limit, it woudln't be as useful. Basically, they just don't offer anything I want, and all have an AF.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:38:00 GMT

@pizzadude wrote:

How many open CCs do you currently have, and how long have they been opened ??

5 credit cards, 2 store cards. All opened in the last year. AAOA wasn't what they quoted as the reason, though - that just affected my FICO score.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

chnceit — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:55:18 GMT

You probably got denied because your accounts are so fresh. Let them age for a while. Maybe try to get the Zync to get in the door with them if recon is not successful.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

pizzadude — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:00:09 GMT

If your AAoA is less than 1 year, you might want to hold off for a while before re~applying. The reasons listed didn't mention AAoA, but AMEX likes to see history...

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

-Cain- — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:00:35 GMT

If you recon, start by calling the executive office, they'll transfer you to a more helpful CSR. I tried some of the other numbers in the backdoor thread but they seemed less useful.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:02:43 GMT

@chnceit wrote:
You probably got denied because your accounts are so fresh. Let them age for a while. Maybe try to get the Zync to get in the door with them if recon is not successful.

Yeah, but the problem is that I really don't want a charge card, especially since that would involve another HP. I don't carry a balance (except on one card for scoring purposes), but not being able to just feels like setting myself up for disaster if something unexpected happens (emergency bills, car repairs, medical bills, etc).

I'll try a recon, but I'm just not sure where to even start with with Amex.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:05:20 GMT

@-Cain- wrote:
If you recon, start by calling the executive office, they'll transfer you to a more helpful CSR. I tried some of the other numbers in the backdoor thread but they seemed less useful.

I didn't see a number for an executive office for Amex?Just the app recon number - figure I'll call them tomorrow once I figure out exactly what I'm asking for. My phone attempts at recon (with Citi and Chase, never tried with Amex) have been a complete failure before.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Uncle_Money — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:14:56 GMT

Amex revolvers are more difficult to obtain than their charge cards.

I'm ALWAYS a fan of recon so go for it. I suspect it will be difficult to overturn a decision with Amex but what do you really have to lose?

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

-Cain- — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:15:44 GMT

The exec number is in a thread somewhere, that's how I came across it. I don't think it ever made it to the backdoor thread. I'll see if I can find it.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

-Cain- — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:16:56 GMT

I was transferred and/or told to call a different number so many times when I called the number you are talking about its not even funny.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

-Cain- — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:21:23 GMT

It may have been in this thread...

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/BACK-NUMBER/td-p/1051758/highlight/true

I will keep searching though, I thought it was another thread.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:26:07 GMT

@-Cain- wrote:
It may have been in this thread...

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/BACK-NUMBER/td-p/1051758/highlight/true

I will keep searching though, I thought it was another thread.

Thanks, found that number in another thread too, maybe it's a good one to call.

Although it feels like calling the executive office directly (before trying a recon) could fail miserably, since I'd be going right above everyone's heads trying to get something done.

Then again, I did already get 3 HPs, so anything's better than accepting defeat at this point.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

-Cain- — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:33:19 GMT

If you call the regular number given on AmEx website, you may be frustrated, you'll get the frontline CSRs with no real power. When I called the exec number, the lady was super nice and got me through to someone who could make a decision. I was still denied that time(this was back in May), but the gentleman and I talked for about 20 minutes and went through the reasons why and what I could do to help myself with future apps. When I used the regular number(in October), the CSR basically read the denial letter and could not tell me why that reason mattered. Just seemed like night and day to me.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:40:56 GMT

@-Cain- wrote:
If you call the regular number given on AmEx website, you may be frustrated, you'll get the frontline CSRs with no real power. When I called the exec number, the lady was super nice and got me through to someone who could make a decision. I was still denied that time(this was back in May), but the gentleman and I talked for about 20 minutes and went through the reasons why and what I could do to help myself with future apps. When I used the regular number(in October), the CSR basically read the denial letter and could not tell me why that reason mattered. Just seemed like night and day to me.

Sounds like my experience with Cap One's CSRs vs Executive Office. The regular reps are like Peggy, they just transfer me around and don't actually answer anything, they just read from a script. Thanks, but I'm perfectly literate, I can read the exact same text they're quoting me just fine. The person at the executive office was nice, wasn't in any rush to get me off the phone, and went through and tried to figure out if there was anything he could do to help. Huge difference.

Maybe I'll call them up tomorrow and see what they can do. Just feels odd calling them up and being like "Hi, I didn't feel like dealing with your useless frontline CSRs so I'm contacting you directly."

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

-Cain- — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:45:09 GMT

Lol.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:18:00 GMT

I guess what I'll do tomorrow (assuming I have the time) is call the executive customer service and see if they can recon it. If not, I'll see if they'll at least remove the inquiries on EQ and EX. I talked to a customer service rep about the application and he told me I needed to unlock my TU report so they could access it. I asked why TU since they usually pull EX, and he said it was a computer-based decision and that's the only CRA the computer wanted.

So ok, I pay my $5 to unlock my report, give them the access code - and it still pulled all 3, even after he told me only TransUnion.

So my plan is to either

a) try to recon and get it approved

or

b) try to get the two extra inquiries removed, since it was supposed to be 'only' TU.

Re: Amex BCE denied. Recon?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:22:47 GMT

I think I must have ended up with the sourest sounding lady that Amex has working for them - she wouldn't transfer me to anyone or try to help me at all. I guess I'll try calling their executive office back after Christmas and see if I have better luck with a rep.