@tiger67 wrote:My new AmEx card arrived today. I promptly called card replacement trying to back date the account. The CSR put me on hold for 5 minutes while trying to locate the old account number in the system. I knew it didn't exist anymore, so after she came back on, I told her that I had old credit reports and orginal invoices showing the account and the opening date. She told me that they could only back date the account if I had the orginal card (I didn't). I said thanks and hung up.
I immediately called back and tried again. This CSR said "no problem" and changed the member since date to 1988. She didn't even ask for the old account number or for me to fax her proof! I logged on and sure enough, it had been updated. Since it is a new account, hopefully it will report correctly the first time it reports.
This moves my credit history from 11y 5m to 21y. WOOHOO! I'll let you know if there is a score change associated. I've lost 16 points for 4 inquiries in the last 30 days. Just wait until the 4 new accounts report.
Congrats! That's the way it used to be done. Glad to see at least some of the CSRs are still cooperating in a customer friendly manner! 
@Anonymous wrote:I came across this thread and decided to try to get Amex to backdate my account from 2004 to 1989 – the date that I opened my first Amex account. At first I had no luck but, after several phone calls, my persistence paid off.
At first I was told that they had no record of my 1989 account and could only backdate my account if I faxed them a photocopy of the actual card because it showed the “Member Since” date of 1989. I went through my records and found an old statement from 1993 which had the card’s account number. I called again and gave them the account number but they still had no record of the account. Once again I was told that they could only backdate if I sent them a copy of the actual card. I then asked if they could back date me to the date of the earliest statement that I could locate and I was told “no.”
I asked to speak to a supervisor and was put on hold for five minutes. When the rep came back on the phone she agreed to backdate me and asked what date I wanted. I said 1989. They then offered to overnight replacement cards for me. It was frustrating but it pays to be persistent.
Congrats! Persistence pays off. 