topic Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system? in Credit Cards

Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Scamp — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:27:46 GMT

Because I'm having probs with my AE Gold charge card reporting correctly on all 3 CRA's, I called AmEx the other day to ask when my account gets reported each month.

CSR was very nice but said she really couldn’t give me an answer ‘because it’s so random’.

That was an unexpected and odd-sounding response, so I asked her to elaborate.

According to her, negative stuff of course is always reported promptly, but for those of us whose accounts are in good standing, who gets their account info reported any particular month is entirely up to chance – they do a a sort of lottery, apparently – each month, a computer randomly picks which accounts will get reported.

She went on to clarify that every account will get reported ‘at least once a year’, but that other than that, whether or not my account would be reported was strictly a matter of chance, each month.

For the same “it’s so random” reason, she said she wasn’t even able to tell me what day of the month my account would be reported if it did win that month’s ‘reporting lottery’.

Somewhat bemused, I thanked her for her time and hung up.

If this quirk of AE's reporting methods is common knowledge, then apologies for posting old info, but I hadn't run across it in any of the old AE-related posts that turned up in searches I've run on AE on here.

...has anyone else heard something like this from AmEx...?

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Creditaddict — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:33:03 GMT

I seem to think this is possible if you have a $0 balance. But any month I have had a balance it's always reported. but I just tried to look at my credit reports I had filed and none of them go back over a year which I was hoping I had an old one I could reference on this.

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:37:03 GMT

This is news to me. Mine reports every month.

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Scamp — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:39:00 GMT

cheddar wrote:
This is news to me. Mine reports every month.

That's been my experience, too, which is why I was so fuddled to get the answer I did from the CSR.

Weird, if true. And might explain some of the posts I've seen on here about AmEx accts. taking forever to update with CRA's...(?)...

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:48:50 GMT

Boy is that CSR wrong --- federal law (FCRA) require that if they report they must do so no more than every 60 days) Chevron does the 60 days (before GEMB acquisition which I hope will change it to 30 days). Perhaps the 'lottery' is for when within the month.....

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:38:44 GMT

I opened my Blue account on February 5 and it hasn't shown up on my CRs yet.

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:44:52 GMT

FretlessMayhem wrote:
I opened my Blue account on February 5 and it hasn't shown up on my CRs yet.

That's not surprising, due to the way they report. It took a while for mine to show up, too.

For me, they report on the 29th of each month, and they report the balance on the statement generated during that month, even though by that time that balance is about three weeks old. My statement date is the 3rd every month, because I opened my account on the 3rd, so yours will probably have a similar schedule as mine.

Here's how I think yours will go, based on my experience:

Feb. 5: Opened account

End of Feb: No reporting because no statement yet

Mar. 5: Statement #1

End of Mar: Reporting of new account and statement #1 balance

Apr 5: Statement #2

End of April: reporting of statement #2 balance

Etc, etc.

So I would bet they've reported for you already (end of March) and now you're just waiting on the CRAs.

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:13:41 GMT

OK, that just HAS to be an ill-conceived April Fools joke by customer service's, or a CSR working out her notice. Even J.Crew isn't that lame. They claim to report to all three every Friday, which is a complete falsehood, but at least it makes it look like they're Hot Stuff.

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:17:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

That's not surprising, due to the way they report. It took a while for mine to show up, too.

For me, they report on the 29th of each month, and they report the balance on the statement generated during that month, even though by that time that balance is about three weeks old.

I got an e-mail on the 31st that I now have charges, but when I go online, even though I see the charges, there's no balance due, no statement date, and no due date (for the $0 balance due.) This is different...

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:22:01 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

That's not surprising, due to the way they report. It took a while for mine to show up, too.

For me, they report on the 29th of each month, and they report the balance on the statement generated during that month, even though by that time that balance is about three weeks old.

I got an e-mail on the 31st that I now have charges, but when I go online, even though I see the charges, there's no balance due, no statement date, and no due date (for the $0 balance due.) This is different...

Welcome to the Cult.

Amex is currently showing an 11.99 charge (for CS) with avail credit at 977. When I called yesterday the guy told me for some reason my avail cred is reduced by the pending and posted transactions -- WHICH ARE ONE IN THE SAME. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a panty party where every pair got together and charged something on my amex.

Yet another reason to leave it in the drawer.

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

MidnightVoice — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:25:37 GMT

WhirledPeasPlease wrote:

Amex is currently showing an 11.99 charge (for CS) with avail credit at 977. When I called yesterday the guy told me for some reason my avail cred is reduced by the pending and posted transactions -- WHICH ARE ONE IN THE SAME. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a panty party where every pair got together and charged something on my amex.

Yet another reason to leave it in the drawer.

Chase is the same - one transaction posted, same one pending, both are removed from the available credit.

But I know that it will be gone tomorrow

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:39:24 GMT

scapegrace said: "According to her, negative stuff of course is always reported promptly, but for those of us whose accounts are in good standing, who gets their account info reported any particular month is entirely up to chance –"

Which reminds me of the immortal words spoken so wisely by NewWorldMan, once upon a time:................

TheNewWorldMan wrote:
Remember that credit bureaus use different methods to receive and process good versus bad credit information.

Information that would negatively affect your credit rating--like a late pay or charge-off--is instantly beamed from the creditor to the agency via Department of Defense 256-megabit fiber optic lines and written to their servers in 8.6 milliseconds.

Information that would positively affect your credit rating is scribed onto scrolls in special ink by Gregorian monks, which are then painstakingly illuminated. The Credit Scrolls are then placed onto camel caravans which wind their way to the credit bureau headquarters by way of Marrakesh, Dubai, and Tripoli. Once the caravan reaches Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, the scrolls are then laid out in the sun for a week so that the special ink can be read. (Note that the weather around the credit bureau headquarters is notoriously gloomy, like FICO itself, so finding seven consecutive days of sunshine can be quite an ordeal in and of itself.) Only then can the information finally be encoded into your credit files.

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:22:42 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

That's not surprising, due to the way they report. It took a while for mine to show up, too.

For me, they report on the 29th of each month, and they report the balance on the statement generated during that month, even though by that time that balance is about three weeks old.
I got an e-mail on the 31st that I now have charges, but when I go online, even though I see the charges, there's no balance due, no statement date, and no due date (for the $0 balance due.) This is different...

Just as a general FYI for those eager to add weirdness to their lives, I called AmEx, because the e-mail implied that I needed to Do Something about these charges. But I was told by the CSR that my balance won't post until the 17th at midnight, viewable on the 18th, and I can't pay until then. She also said that it will show a "suggested due date" (!), but that in fact, I have 30 days to pay.

So I have an e-mail broadly hinting that I should pay, but in fact I can't for another 2 1/2 weeks, and then there will be a suggested due date, with an undisplayed real due date.

Being a woman, I REALLY shouldn't say this, but it appears that my account was designed by another woman, working on the belief that If You Loved Me, You Wouldn't Have to Ask When It's Due; You'd Just Pay It; and In Fact, You'd Look for Ways of Paying More Than is Due, and Earlier.

* sniff *

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:54:36 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

That's not surprising, due to the way they report. It took a while for mine to show up, too.

For me, they report on the 29th of each month, and they report the balance on the statement generated during that month, even though by that time that balance is about three weeks old.
I got an e-mail on the 31st that I now have charges, but when I go online, even though I see the charges, there's no balance due, no statement date, and no due date (for the $0 balance due.) This is different...

Just as a general FYI for those eager to add weirdness to their lives, I called AmEx, because the e-mail implied that I needed to Do Something about these charges. But I was told by the CSR that my balance won't post until the 17th at midnight, viewable on the 18th, and I can't pay until then. She also said that it will show a "suggested due date" (!), but that in fact, I have 30 days to pay.

So I have an e-mail broadly hinting that I should pay, but in fact I can't for another 2 1/2 weeks, and then there will be a suggested due date, with an undisplayed real due date.

Being a woman, I REALLY shouldn't say this, but it appears that my account was designed by another woman, working on the belief that If You Loved Me, You Wouldn't Have to Ask When It's Due; You'd Just Pay It; and In Fact, You'd Look for Ways of Paying More Than is Due, and Earlier.

* sniff *

It makes me wonder what their company picnics are like. I mean do they sit around and talk about ways to confuse us while they're chomping on dogs and chips? I envision a beavis and butthead kind of thing- "Heh, we'll send a bill and say they don't owe anything -- heh!"

Again, welcome to the cult, enjoy your initiation.

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:49:57 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote: Being a woman, I REALLY shouldn't say this, but it appears that my account was designed by another woman, working on the belief that If You Loved Me, You Wouldn't Have to Ask When It's Due; You'd Just Pay It; and In Fact, You'd Look for Ways of Paying More Than is Due, and Earlier.

HTSU - LMAO, thanks, I really needed that tonight!

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

MidnightVoice — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:02:43 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:
Being a woman, I REALLY shouldn't say this, but it appears that my account was designed by another woman, working on the belief that If You Loved Me, You Wouldn't Have to Ask When It's Due; You'd Just Pay It; and In Fact, You'd Look for Ways of Paying More Than is Due, and Earlier.

Being a man, and a well trained one, I won't touch that comment with a 10 foot barge pole

I will NOT say I thought it was hilarious just in case someone on the distaff side thinks that that means I agree with the statement in any way, shape or form.

I will not put a single smiley in this post for the same reason.

Did you know that men are so stupid that when a woman tells a man all her problems he actually think she wants him to solve them for her?

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:11:21 GMT

@MidnightVoice wrote:

Did you know that men are so stupid that when a woman tells a man all her problems he actually think she wants him to solve them for her?

Did you know that women are such slow learners that when a woman tells a man all her problems, she actually thinks that he will truly listen, and make comforting noises at the correct places, and essentially tell her that she did everything exactly right, and that the other people are just idiots, and will remember the content of said conversation several days later?

I am brave: I will insert a smiley !

Really, it's a wonder that the species manages to reproduce from one generation to the next.

Re: Has anyone else heard about AmEx's reporting 'lottery' system?

MidnightVoice — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:39:23 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:

Did you know that women are such slow learners that when a woman tells a man all her problems, she actually thinks that he will truly listen, and make comforting noises at the correct places, and essentially tell her that she did everything exactly right, and that the other people are just idiots, and will remember the content of said conversation several days later?

It is all a matter of training..

haulingthescoreup wrote:

Really, it's a wonder that the species manages to reproduce from one generation to the next.

It happens because a man can't think more than 7 minutes ahead