Help: Stuck in AmEx financial review for 5 weeks.

[Jccflat]

When a FR is on pogress can someone transfer the more rewards point to a airline ?

or they block u ?

[Boragard]

I completely understand how Amex can annoy you.  I remember back in 2011, I got my first Amex card.  The now infamous Zync.  I was ecstatic.  I charged it up, then lost my job. I called Amex to get on a payment plan.  They stated "well can't you just return the items?" I replied "I can return some items but not the groceries I've already eaten."  So the associate put me on a payment plan, begrudginly, and stated if I made payments of $30 until the debt was paid off they would not report it do the CRAs.  

LIES!!!!!

They reported me deliquent after 30 days even though I had made the payment.  When I called them, they stated they never agreed to not report it as negative, especially since it was a charge account and had to be paid in full.  Amex then told me that they would remove it once they got full payment. Needless to say, I found another job in less than a month and paid it off in my first paycheck.  Then I called Amex back to get the now 60 day late removed. They never removed it where it sat on my report for 7 years.  

[sammydavidjr]

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@Anonymous wrote:

They told me that they needed me to fill out a 4506-T form for retrieving my tax returns. I filled it out immediately, and they forwarded the form to the IRS. However, I called AmEx separately to let them know that I had filed my tax returns via paper, close to the July 15 extended deadline, and that as far as I could see the IRS still hadn’t processed my return. (I am due for a refund this year, so I’ve been tracking my refund status daily.) The IRS’s delay makes total sense, since their paper processing centers were shut due to Covid and they are offering high interest on refunds to compensate.

AmEx refused to alter course and waited to hear back from the IRS. The IRS responded that they didn’t have a 2019 tax return for me on file yet (as expected). I offered to share other forms with AmEx: like my 1040, my W2s, or my bank account statements. My AmEx FR manager said yes to them tentatively but came back and said I’d need to go the 4506-T route again. So I’m in a second route of waiting for my tax returns transcripts from the IRS, but I don’t expect them to have recorded my 2019 return yet because I still can’t see my refund status.

This sounds like an awful experience. I have always liked Amex -- they are my favorite issuer by a mile -- because they have always appeared to avail themselves of the right technology at the right time, and the right humanity when technology fails. As a marketing professional, I am impressed by how they miss few opportunities to be better than the competition.

That being said, your bad experience also sounds un-necessary. Sometimes bad experiences are inevitable: a financial review is inherently unpleasant, and inevitably tedious. But their refusal to pursue alternative means to conduct the review is nonsensical: centering a financial review around the IRS in 2020 can only lead to delays -- surely there are other ways to mitigate credit risk without waiting on the revenue service.

Amex (possibly the banking unit) is listed on Plaid's website as a client: Plaid is one of the leading softwares that allows companies to connect user accounts from other financial institutions. Most people on myFICO have probably used the software at least once to allow a lender or a payment solution to provide a service that required connecting external accounts. I don't see why Amex couldn't by now have set up a provisional financial review method based primarily on a customer's bank holdings and movements. Very disappointing!

I hope things work out for you.

[MacCreed]

Amex wants collect as many AFs as possible without increasing default risk.   This NPSL business is how they do it.   

[Anonymous]

I'm sure this is very frustrating, and while you did call them ahead of time to clear it this really, isn't a 100% guarantee according to DP's I've read. If your average spend is inconsistent with the new charge it often triggers this type AA. That said, it must have been one expensive ring to warrant FR. I mean in general most people who hold the Gold card aren't using it for a mere $400 per month spend, but if you are and go to charge $4-5K for a ring it may seem out of the norm. Same thing if your typical spnd is only $1-2K per month yet you want to charge a $10K ring, it's all relative. 

i've seen mixed views on this and both sides haev their valid points, yet at the end of the day if you cannot feel comfortable/confident in your spending privileges it may be best to seek a card that does meet your expectations. 

[icednightpaper]

All I’m taking from this is to never deviate from spending patterns with an AMEX charge cards. Honestly if I were you I’d say bump it and just sever the relationship. Your FR manager doesn’t seem to care about maintaining it (putting aside that banks don’t care about individuals, it’s all business). A company like them can’t be bothered to update/mend their protocols even in a year like this? Yeesh.

[adelphi_sky]

They asked me to fill out the same form.  I let them kick rocks. lol  Although they didn't freeze my cards. Pay off the cards. Show them the error of their ways. No balance, less risk. No need for tax info. Kick rocks Amex.