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Great news!
I hope you get a nice score bump.
Added by edit: You also won't take a new account ding!
Me too!
Just realized that once this hits my reports, it will become my "oldest" revolving account - beating out my Cap 1 platinum card -the first card I got after trashing my credit in college and current oldest open card- by two years.
And now back to gardening.
I do not see how it is an issue if AMEX declines to backdate because you burned them in the past. To me its a no brainer. Mayne if yoi paid it off but if you just let it go id say no too.
It's still unclear to me if the CSRs who say it isn't done when an account was closed as a derogatory account are correct and the other CSRs are making a gesture of goodwill or just aren't checking into the status of the prior account when making the change, or if there simply is no such policy about prior derogatory accounts, but good to know that people are having success with persistence.
@manzanita wrote:Welp -
Because I'm impatient and have the time this afternoon, I tried one last attempt via their secure message system and took the chat option. I said exactly what had been suggested - I noticed the date was wrong, and I know how Amex likes to acknowledge the original membership date, and would she mind changing it? Not only was the rep NOT confused by the question, she didn't miss a beat looking up my old account and submitting a date change. According to her I will receive new cards with 2001 on them.
So, barring anything else, that might be the end of this story. So far, when it comes to CC customer service it seems chat is the way to go...it's that way for me with Cap 1, and so far with Amex. Thanks everyone for chiming in and encouraging persistence.
Huge congrats!!
The chat option works a lot like the phone (luck of the draw on who you get) but I think the reps that work through chat are more on top of what's going on, more experienced and have more authority than phone reps.
You'll want to check your CR later to see that the original Member Since date show's as the "date opened" for the account though. Getting the card with the MS Date doesn't guarantee the CR will be reported that way. (It's one of the ways they sometimes attempt to get you to quit bugging them about it but it doesn't do anything for you, so be sure to check the CR).
@Walt_K wrote:It's still unclear to me if the CSRs who say it isn't done when an account was closed as a derogatory account are correct and the other CSRs are making a gesture of goodwill or just aren't checking into the status of the prior account when making the change, or if there simply is no such policy about prior derogatory accounts, but good to know that people are having success with persistence.
It's actually another way for them to get around having to do it (it's a common excuse). The fact is, if AMEX takes someone back, it's because past "derogs" are "settled" and you get to keep your original MS date. They know that is the one thing AMEX can do for customers that no other creditor can do, allow them to keep their date of original account. If they feel you're "OK" to be allowed back in, then you're essentially being allowed to "re-open" your credit account with them, it's complicated but all cards etc fall under your original "account" as a member, not an individual TL so to speak.
So essentially, if I understand your last sentence correctly, there is no such policy.
(And you're getting that from as close to "from the inside" as you're ever probably going to).
@RyVision wrote:
@Walt_K wrote:It's still unclear to me if the CSRs who say it isn't done when an account was closed as a derogatory account are correct and the other CSRs are making a gesture of goodwill or just aren't checking into the status of the prior account when making the change, or if there simply is no such policy about prior derogatory accounts, but good to know that people are having success with persistence.
It's actually another way for them to get around having to do it (it's a common excuse). The fact is, if AMEX takes someone back, it's because past "derogs" are "settled" and you get to keep your original MS date. They know that is the one thing AMEX can do for customers that no other creditor can do, allow them to keep their date of original account. If they feel you're "OK" to be allowed back in, then you're essentially being allowed to "re-open" your credit account with them, it's complicated but all cards etc fall under your original "account" as a member, not an individual TL so to speak.
So essentially, if I understand your last sentence correctly, there is no such policy.
(And you're getting that from as close to "from the inside" as you're ever probably going to).
Interesting. Thank you. Most of the time, when I read these threads, the argument is simply that it has been done before for people, so the CSR stating that it can't be done must be wrong. But that's not necessarily the case because the CSR who processed the request for the person with the derogatory account could have been the one who was wrong, or could have been extending goodwill. Interesting to hear that you have this from an inside source.
@ LS2982 Hi there - I did pay it off before it went into collection. (See original post).
Just catching up with the rest of the thread- my sense from my conversations is that it's not a policy (because was asking them that too, and they wouldnt really say.) Obviously, as I said before I realize that it would be more of a favor. But it never hurts to ask - nicely. And yes, my sense was that I was off the blacklist, and the original closed account has been off my CRs since 2005 (again, they deleted the TL because they had been reporting a balance due in error for a few years). So, my sense is that I was "back in the fold," so why not acknowledge my original start date? That was really my internal thought process - I didn't say that to them of course.
The impression that I got was that I spoke to two different general customer service reps who were unaware that AMEX uses the original membership date for anyone. So they were completely unfamiliar with this. If I had had sterling credit, they still would have balked. So, they went to their supervisor or looked on their company wiki or whatever they did to familiarize themselves. Then they said no. The reps that were familiar (one girl in New Accounts and I'm guessing the rep via chat given how quickly she responded to the request) and therefore didnt have to consult with anyone said yes. Having worked in customer servce myself this makes perfect sense.
Anyway, got an email today showing the cards are on ther way and the my account portal now shows 2001.