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13 years ago, a small company declared bankruptcy. American Express was invited to the filing to work out some kind of a deal, they chose not to attend, instead closed account which had a balance of $10K.
13 years later, person's credit is nearing 800, has own business, has a $400K house with a small mortgage, has managed to make himself successful, very successful.
AE sends applications which are all denied because of the bankruptcy, 13 years ago. He's called, spoken with supervisors, but they are quite closed to allowing him any kind of credit card they offer (he flies Delta for up to 150,000 miles per year and wants to use the AE as they are partnered with Delta).
Anyone have any ideas on how he can approach AE to at least have them allow him a card, perhaps with a smaller credit limit. BTW, he has other credit cards and there's no problem.
I don't know if there's a way for your friend to convince American Express to give him a card. Once banks decide to blackball a customer (for whatever reason) they can be surprisingly hardline about it.
But I do know that your friend has other options besides American Express. Chase has a small stable of cards which earn Ultimate Rewards points that can be used with Korean Air and KLM/Air France Flying Blue; both are SkyTeam members whose miles can be used to book flights with Delta. Citibank ThankYou cards also earn points that can be transferred to Flying Blue to book Delta flights. And Alaska Airlines is also currently a Delta partner (as well as partnering with American Airlines), and their card is issued by Bank of America. So even if he's shut out from American Express, he does have some good card options for earning usable miles. He just won't get a free checked bag.
13 years ago, a small company declared bankruptcy. American Express was invited to the filing to work out some kind of a deal, they chose not to attend, instead closed account which had a balance of $10K.
13 years later, person's credit is nearing 800, has own business, has a $400K house with a small mortgage, has managed to make himself successful, very successful.
AE sends applications which are all denied because of the bankruptcy, 13 years ago. He's called, spoken with supervisors, but they are quite closed to allowing him any kind of credit card they offer (he flies Delta for up to 150,000 miles per year and wants to use the AE as they are partnered with Delta).
Anyone have any ideas on how he can approach AE to at least have them allow him a card, perhaps with a smaller credit limit. BTW, he has other credit cards and there's no problem.
AE did lose $10K on your friend. Can't say I blame them. After the bankruptcy your friend is not obligated to pay them. I 'll bet if he offered to make good on what they lost he could have an AE card.
Last edited by longneckone; 12-06-2016 at 01:20 PM..
I don't know if there's a way for your friend to convince American Express to give him a card. Once banks decide to blackball a customer (for whatever reason) they can be surprisingly hardline about it.
But I do know that your friend has other options besides American Express. Chase has a small stable of cards which earn Ultimate Rewards points that can be used with Korean Air and KLM/Air France Flying Blue; both are SkyTeam members whose miles can be used to book flights with Delta. Citibank ThankYou cards also earn points that can be transferred to Flying Blue to book Delta flights. And Alaska Airlines is also currently a Delta partner (as well as partnering with American Airlines), and their card is issued by Bank of America. So even if he's shut out from American Express, he does have some good card options for earning usable miles. He just won't get a free checked bag.
I wouldn't say Amex blackballed this dude. They got stiffed and as of now have decided to no longer do business with him
In 1989 AE left me stranded in an Asian hotel after they processed a fraudulent charge. I cancelled mine and had my department stop using AE. I have stayed away from them ever since and recommend all do the same.
Thing about AMEX is they forget *nothing* regarding accounts.
If you had an account back in 1992 that was closed for issues (or not), if you go to reapply ten, fifteen or even today for a new card AMEX treats it as the same "membership" application. Proof of this is on front of card (if issued) that says "Member since.....". If you've ever had any sort of card from AMEX, had the account closed then reapplied, if granted a new card it will reflect the date of your "first" membership, not the new card.
Long story short unlike some credit card issuers AMEX can and does take a keen interest in how a person or company handled previous accounts.
If OP story only involved a small amount, then AMEX *might* turn a blind eye, but for $10k there might be some problems.
In 1989 AE left me stranded in an Asian hotel after they processed a fraudulent charge. I cancelled mine and had my department stop using AE. I have stayed away from them ever since and recommend all do the same.
That's a terrible overreaction IMO. They are one of the best at customer service from what I've found and I typcially carry more than one payment method to prevent being stranded just as a general practice
In 1989 AE left me stranded in an Asian hotel after they processed a fraudulent charge. I cancelled mine and had my department stop using AE. I have stayed away from them ever since and recommend all do the same.
My dealing with Amex have been the opposite. I was traveling once and found my CC used fraudulently. They had a substitute CC ready for me to pick up at the city I traveled to that same day. Another case the consumer protection, I can charge back a vendor/retailer without hassle, no forms to fill, no long explanations to the credit card company - if I disagree with a charge, a 5 minute call to AMEX is all it takes to remove the charge. Amex takes care of the communication to the vendor - and, due to AMEX power, ME (the customer) is always right and the vendor is sh*t out of luck (I do not abuse this of course).
But yeah...obviously, you have to pay the amex bill.
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