American Express - Declined

[Burned2manybridgesB4]

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@Anonymous wrote:

For all of you who think you know it all with American Express, I just called them. I got transfered through collections, to recovery, to Oasis program. I spoke with this lady who was very candid with me. She said accounts included in Bankruptcy are not eilgable for the Oasis program and even if I paid the balance in full the company policy is to not reissue any new cards to any customer who has included any account in bankruptcy again regardless.

So for all of you who are saying there telling me what to do to kiss and make up, clearly you dont know what your talking about.

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Obviously you didn't search the subject.

You'll get back in most likely, but....

Not happening until that bk is very old, or gone.

Just forget Amex, and move on...

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

For all of you who think you know it all with American Express, I just called them. I got transfered through collections, to recovery, to Oasis program. I spoke with this lady who was very candid with me. She said accounts included in Bankruptcy are not eilgable for the Oasis program and even if I paid the balance in full the company policy is to not reissue any new cards to any customer who has included any account in bankruptcy again regardless.

So for all of you who are saying there telling me what to do to kiss and make up, clearly you dont know what your talking about.

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From what I have read on the Amex community site, participation in the Oasis program is generally by invitation.  I also know that lenders have to follow strict rules when it comes to accounts included in a bankruptcy, or else they risk running afoul of Federal law, which can be costly for them.

I can say, though, that with enough time American Express does let people back in after a bankruptcy; I'm one of them. 

It took quite a while, though... 15 years.  And, for what it's worth, they still use that as a reason to summarily deny my CLI requests.  You can't rush this process; since just like you I 'burned' them in a bankruptcy I must expand my relationship with them at their pace, not my own, regardless of how much I may want to.  They are also under no requirement to match what other lenders have done for me, nor do I expect them to.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it's my not just my opinion, it's what has actually happened to me.  Since your attempts at reestablishing your relationship with Amex are already off to a rough start, I would suggest perhaps giving it a bit more time, and take a look at other worthwhile lenders in the interim.  When the time is right, Amex will still be around.

[Anonymous]

Absolutly, I already have an amex with USAA with a $28,000 CL, so im covered on the Amex side. Just wanted to be able to start racking up delta miles again through the membership rewards. Not a huge deal.

Im going back gardening until summer of 17. Have plenty of credit and reward programs.

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Absolutly, I already have an amex with USAA with a $28,000 CL, so im covered on the Amex side. Just wanted to be able to start racking up delta miles again through the membership rewards. Not a huge deal.

Im going back gardening until summer of 17. Have plenty of credit and reward programs.

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It sounds like you have a good plan!

USAA is strong... they will serve you well. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

For all of you who think you know it all with American Express, I just called them. I got transfered through collections, to recovery, to Oasis program. I spoke with this lady who was very candid with me. She said accounts included in Bankruptcy are not eilgable for the Oasis program and even if I paid the balance in full the company policy is to not reissue any new cards to any customer who has included any account in bankruptcy again regardless.

So for all of you who are saying there telling me what to do to kiss and make up, clearly you dont know what your talking about.

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You got a clueless newb. I included Amex in a BK and about 15 years later they sent me an invitation for the Oasis program if I paid the balance that was included in the BK. I ignored it. And I have two Amex cards, so both of the things she told you are BS.

[gdale6]

Please lets all remember to keep our comments on the FSR side. Thanks to the ones who are doing so.

[Anonymous]

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@Berk wrote:

If you lend me money and I burn you one time (even for a small amount) why should you ever have to lend me another dime even if I insist upon it and get my congressman to call you? It's your money - nobody can tell you who you have to lend it to no matter how hard I try to convince you otherwise.

 Besides, not having an Amex in your wallet isn't the end of the world.

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I want to echo the basic premise of this statement.  Noone is under any obligation to loan anyone anything at anytime.  Firms that offer financial products to consumers must abide by the laws governing the industry.  Those laws allow a potential creditor to deny you credit FOR ANY REASON provided it's NOT AN ILLEGAL REASON.  I really want to emphasize this point.  I can deny you credit because I don't like that you wear red shirts.  However, I can't deny you credit for you're being a member of a protected class.

Denying you credit because of a past default, especially when that default was with the same creditor, is a perfectly valid reason for denial.  I also have to echo other sentiments that the recon was improperly handled.  It's understandable to feel frustrated when you don't get what you want, however how you handle that frustration is critical in a professional setting.  In fact, you may very well have had yourself blacklisted much longer if not permanently for your reaction to the decline.  It's perfectly ok to ask why you were denied, and to ask follow up questions in order to understand that denal.  It's at that point that you should have thanked the rep for her time and looked forward to a time in the future when you could reestablish ties with Amex.

While this thread has garnered a lot of criticism towards you, please try to take it for what it is.  Learn from this experience, be a little humble about it, and allow yourself to become more credit wise as a result.  Best of luck to you going forward, truly.

[DaveInAZ]

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@UncleB wrote:

This thread is a bit all-over the place, and while I love a good debate several of the posts so far have been (seriously) pushing the boundaries of FSR.

I'm not sure how much more can be said about this topic, as 'forward motion' seems to have stopped.  I'll just add that at some point we have to "agree to disagree" and simply move on. 

Thanks for understanding. 

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I agree completely. I was appalled that some accused Sean (the OP) of "stealing from Amex for including a debt (done by an AU) in BK. The bankruptcy laws are federal law, written to give folks a "fresh start", and following federal law is certainly not "stealing". The CC companies are certainly aware of the risk involved in extending unsecured CC credit, that's why credit card APRs so much higher that mortgage or car loan APRs - it's called risk/reward.

I know that Amex and most credit unions require you to repay them in full for any debt they had to write off because of BK, and I think that's a very gray area. Creditors are prevented by federal law from making any attempt to collect a debt discharged in BK, and in my opinion I think enticing you to repay discharged debt with the offer or hope of extending you new credit is very borderline to attempting to collect. I think it should be banned. Don't want to extend credit ever again to someone who caused you to write off debt through BK? Fine, no problem, and fair enough. But don't try to coerce them into repaying you with offer/hope of new credit.

I filed BK7 in 2010 and discharged around $80k in CC debt. Chase, Citi, Capital One & Synchrony were my main creditors. None of them would ever ask me to repay them, and if they did I'd tell them "Hell no!". I dont't expect to do business with Chase or Citi ever again. But Cap One & Synchrony have welcomed me back with open arms because I have demonstrated that my 2010 BK was a one time event, and I now have the diligence and financial abilty to manage credit responsibly.

[Anonymous]

Dave in AZ, have you tried to recon with Chase? As a former Branch Manager with them as long as the BK was at least 3-4 years old and you dont get a new analyst I was usually able to get clients reapproved.

I myself got a card with them 4 years out at 5k then it was bumped to 22k 6 months later.

[DaveInAZ]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Dave in AZ, have you tried to recon with Chase? As a former Branch Manager with them as long as the BK was at least 3-4 years old and you dont get a new analyst I was usually able to get clients reapproved.

I myself got a card with them 4 years out at 5k then it was bumped to 22k 6 months later.

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Thanks for the info. No, I haven't tried a recon as I've never applied post BK. I've tried their pre-qual page a couple times with no success. I was under the impression that if you have a BK showing on the CR it's an automatic decline, but after 4-5 years it is possible to get approval on recon. But I'm not in any hurry to get back in with them, pretty happy with the cards & credit I have. The one I want back in with is BoA as I bank with them. Only 1 card they acquired from another lender included in BK for around $8k. I actually went through he hassle of doing a secured card with BoA last year, and got it unsecured & AF removed at 7 months.