American Express charge off. Sued by zwicker. And guaranteed reinstatement

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone. New here. But after reading a few threads I'm excited to be here. 

I got approved for an Amex gold back in 2015. I was only 18/19 

Within months invited to platinum and I accepted. Used it very very responsibly all these years. Some years running over 100k through it.  February 2021 I run into financial troubles and forgot to turn off auto pay. Well 3 returned payments later my account is canceled. I immediately call Amex see if we can work anything out and they said no and no partial payments accepted. Must pay the full 17k in full. Well I didn't have it so for months I set it aside. Around September or October I get served by zwicker and he said I can settle at 11k or PIF before the end of the year and I'll get reinstated as long as i don't file bankruptcy and have a 0 balance. Well I did it in two payments. Last payment was 12/28/21.
Called Amex a few days later and put her up to speed. And she said it shows I'm elligable for reinstatement- she ask me some personal questions then says no longer elligable. Wouldn't tell me why. Called global support and he said once Amex gets my account back they will reinstate me. But to call zwicker and verify. Zwicker says yes I'm in the reinstatement program and 21 days after last payment I'll have to call them for letter showing I'm PIF and send to AMEX?? Something along those lines. Do you guys think I'll be getting reinstated and if so what's the process like. My credit is not as good as it use to be I've been making my auto loan on time always but have a charge off with capital on. 5.8k. 
and btw it's not the oasis program. Zwicker and Amex said I'll get same card with my points, original MS date and Beni fits back but with a limit. I have a letter from Amex stating it and recorded phone call from zwicker being very clear I'll be reinstated. Amex ppl please help me out. It would be nice to get the card back. 

Update: My account is now back with Amex and just waiting on a couple confirmations before they can reinstate. 

01/26 edit: My account is offically reinstated. Went almost a whole year without it and now when i log in it shows my platinum card

Moral is when amex offers you a reinstament, take it. 

@DONZI 

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[DONZI]

hey D,

The arrangement you described seems like a great outcome.

It appears you've got assurances from the key people who can make things happen.

The last payment you made was a week ago..

I guess now is the time zwicker and amex do what they said they would do.

Frankly, your handling of the situation lacks room for improvement as far as I can see.

Well done!

[Anonymous]

@DONZI 
Thanks for the positive feedback, I'll keep posted on the outcome. 

[DONZI]

Sure thing!  ..I for one would like to know the outcome, and expect others may too.

I don't have experience in such a situation, so maybe there will be inbound suggestions from others before the conclusion.

While you're waiting on zwicker and amex maybe you have time to create sort of a how-to style format?  ..with any elaboration you think is useful.

EG: called platinum card back int'l number after talking with us plat call center.. or was a number from somewhere other than the card back?

Logic?  experience that global CSR better?

Is zwicker a standard tool for amex that you know of?  ..for DFW area only?

..etc.

[Anonymous]

@DONZI 

At first I called platinum concierge when they denied and gave me a run around I called global and that's when he gave me the breakdown of how it works and he was much more thoughtful. At one point i also called Amex recon line and they basically confirmed what global told me. Zwicker and associates is a collection law firm. Amex is known for suing for debt very quickly. So Amex never sells off the debt they just have zwicker handle it. The law firm is all over US and they're know for being pretty aggressive/harassing. But Amex is known for being one of the most forgiving creditors. And if you show them respect you'll get the same reciprocated. I've heard stories of people owing Amex for 20 years and once they PIF they issue them the same card. With the same member since date.  From what I've read it seems like if you PIF you'll usually get offered reinstatement but under the Oaisis program- issue you a optima card with very low limit. And stay on a probationary period of some sort for years before you can qualify for a upgrade. The Apollo program is the one you get your same old card reinstated.  Apparently I'm suppose to get my old points back too. My advice is whenever I'm my position dealing with lawsuit and debt collectors. Striking out and getting a sweet deal, record everything... crossing my fingers. I'll be pretty upset if it doesn't work out. I've only missed those last three payments.. 

[DONZI]

Thanks for that @Anonymous 

I've seen reference to the Oasis program and the Optima card on these forums before, but had no idea of the other stuff. Interesting.

It def. seems worth knowing about all that in case of trouble. Running and hiding, ignoring amex or zwicker sounds like a mistake for sure when there is such programs available to folks who run into rough times.

Any idea if there are other card issuing banks who offer similar programs/methods?

[Anonymous]

@DONZI 
After quick research it was clear if you ever want an Amex again in your lifetime do not burn them. Or their collectors considering they don't sell off your debt.  they simply transfer your acct to a collection law firm. And while it's under collections they will not talk about it with you. And I'm pretty sure discovery uses the same law firm. As of cc companies forgiving a charge off I don't think theirs many. Amex is one of the very few. And it's case by case. But yes ducking and hiding from Amex or any of their associates is a big mistake. And with Amex PIF is always a better idea than trying to settle for less. Which is always an option. They told me I could settle for 11k. (17k bal)  and that was without going to court. If I had gone to court I could've settle for probably 9k. But PIF def gives you some points with American Express and shows them at the end of the day they'll get their money from you. 

[EAJuggalo]

It sounds to me like you will get your card back.  But expect a hard limit to be on it for quite a while.  I had one payment returned on my Gold Card for NSF after 4 years and had a $2,000 hard limit for 10 months, then it was moved to $5,000 where it's been the last three months.

[Anonymous]

Hey @EAJuggalo 

Thanks for sharing your input. And yes they mention a 3500 limit. I use to be able to test charge 75000 a month with no problem on the app tool that would tell you if it'll approve x amount charge.  I wonder what determines the CL on original reinstatements. 

edit: I forgot to ask how long did it take after last payment to recieve card? And what was the entirety of they process like? Anything I should be aware of? 

[EAJuggalo]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey @EAJuggalo 
edit: I forgot to ask how long did it take after last payment to recieve card? And what was the entirety of they process like? Anything I should be aware of? 

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I never lost my card. I called them as soon as it happened and explained it, they still put the hard limit on my card that I'm trying to dig out from.