ISPNYC

I have been actively reading Flyertalk's forums since it's inception over 15 years ago. I'm somewhat ashamed that this is my first time posting in a forum here.

I have run into an issue with American Express which I was hoping this wonderful community could provide some advice on.

I have been an American Express cardholder for over 26 years, a majority of those having been with the AMEX Platinum Card.

I am fiercely loyal to American Express and have accrued over 600,000 current Membership Rewards points.

I have praised the value of the AMEX Platinum Card to friends and family which had resulted in several new accounts opened over the years by these acquaintances of mine.

A few months ago there were some payments made to my account from two bogus bank accounts that were not mine. I had no idea these accounts and payments even existed on my AMEX profile until I received alerts that payments were returned for lack of funds. Upon investigation I found that two unknown bank accounts showed up under my payment methods and these are where the multiple bogus payments originated. Thankfully I saved a screenshot showing these accounts on my AMEX app payment methods page.

At around the same time my AMEX Platinum card was suddenly cancelled.

When calling AMEX I was advised that the cancellation was due to these returned payments. Specifically I was told that once an account has 3 returned payments, it is automatically canceled. When the agent saw this was due to returned bogus payments, they started the process to re-activate my account.

I subsequently received a form letter in the mail advising my account cannot be reactivated due to my "low" credit score of 700.

This surprised me as I have personal associates with the Platinum Card who have credit scores much lower.

Over the next few weeks I researched Flyertalk and followed all the advice I could find. This included calling again to reactivate, calling the executive offices (only to be advised they don't take consumer calls anymore), and sending a certified return receipt concisely written letter to CEO Kenneth Chenault.

Each query I made, including that to Mr. Chenault was ultimately met with a similar form letter in the mail once again advising that my credit didn't meet the standards of American Express. The form letters make it appear that no one is even hearing what I'm saying or reading what I'm writing. Never was anything addressed about these bogus payments that caused the cancellation in the first place. Nor was my loyalty or profitability as a customer ever taken into consideration.

Having been loyal to AMEX for over 26 years and charging likely in excess of one million dollars over that time, I feel completely betrayed and flabbergasted that I'm being met with this response. Not to mention the loss of Membership Rewards points which is stinging. I would imagine that with all I have charged over the years, combined with all the annual fees I paid, that I would have been considered a somewhat profitable account for AMEX.

I wanted to make this Flyertalk post to a) look for additional advice from this wonderful community on how to reactivate my AMEX Platinum Card account and b) call out the fact that you may want to consider your loyalties since in the end, AMEX seems to not care at all about the individuals that contribute so greatly to their success. They can and will drop you at a moments notice for issues out of your control. They will not listen when you try to discuss these issues with them.

I'm the interim I now have an American Airlines Executive MasterCard issued by Citibank and am finding the benefits similar if not better than what I had with AMEX.

Please help guide me to see how I can go about reactivating my AMEX Platinum Card. I want to continue being a loyal AMEX customer if they would only allow me to do so.

Thank you in advance! (And I promise to be a better contributor to these great Flyertalk forums!)

Oreto

It sucks for sure to potentially lose out on MR points but it sounds like AMEX has made the decision for you regarding an ongoing relationship. You and AMEX both have the right to go your separate ways but, as a business, it is a best practice to keep a good customer happy so that they continue to patronize your business.

A 700 score is not that low. However, to open a platinum account one may need a higher score and AMEX may consider the restoration similarly as they would a new account. Personally, not even considering your history with them as well as the likelihood(if they believe you) that the cause of the cancellation was out of your control would be more concerning to me. You shouldn't have to jump through hoops for them given the state of the credit game.

In my opinion, I'd focus more of my time on an attempt to rescue your orphaned points. Of course, you would rather have the flexibility to transfer to whomever best suits your agenda in the future but current events may dictate that a final home be selected now.

Best of luck to you.

Yllanes

Maybe you can open a lower-level AMEX card to at least rescue your MR points?

mapleg

Amex decides who is credit worthy and solely at their discretion. The fact you received a form letter saying declined for low score, does not tell the whole story. They have to give you a reason, and that is one of them. Credit decisions are multi-faceted and no lender is going to give someone a long list of reasons as to why they were declined.

As a sales guy involved in finance once told me "It's our XXX money and we will lend to whoever the XXX we want". He added a few 4 letter words in there as well.

Phoning and writing long winded letters to Amex as to why they should give you a credit card will fall on deaf ears. In fact, it may hurt you further by them placing you on some kind of watch list as someone who is a troublesome client or would be client.

On the MR Points-I would be fighting to get those back...that's a significant loss, but also a lesson in collecting loyalty points in any program. Earn them and burn them may be the best strategy. Are you saying you lost 600,000 MR's in one swoop?

t1c

There is a clause with Amex that if your are reactivated then they will restore your points..

You should be able to google the process..

cfischer

26 years of Amex membership, no missed payments etc. etc. ... and your credit score is only 700? Something else you are not telling us here? That doesn't sound right. Also, you could you miss that that 3 Amex payments failed? I assume they would let you know asap (never happened to me, but they email about pretty much everything else all the time)

Oreto

Obviously, we don't have the full details but a 700 could mean anything from high utilization on more than one account without having missed a payment or perhaps the OP's significant other forgot to make a payment for 90 days on a joint account. Even a son/daughter for whom the OP co-signed a loan and that person played games with the creditor. The possibilities are endless but even still 700 is still considered a good score just not for AMEX where the Platinum card is concerned.

I know that AMEX regularly looks at my credit report so this may just be a case of they were looking for a reason to cut the OP loose and this just happened to be it. I would have preferred to read that they gave the OP an opportunity to transfer his MR points out before cancelling his account, though, as that is concerning from a customer viewpoint.

mikesyr18

The three main charge cards (Green, PRG, and Platinum) all have the same underwriting criteria. I got in with a 702 and I've read posts where others have gotten in with as low as a 650.

The underwriting for the charge cards are weaker because they're less of a risk for American Express as a lender.

ISPNYC

Thank you for the advice. I suppose at this point I should indeed focus on getting my points back. These bogus bank accounts appeared out of nowhere. I would imagine with technology AMEX can trace back who added them and see it did not come from me. At this point I'm starting to feel like someone tried to sabotage my account

That's a good idea and I might consider it if it's the only option.

I have only called 3 times and the one letter I wrote was concise, respectful, and to the point. Yes, the instance my account was cancelled, my Membership Rewards Points disappeared immediately. In hindsight I should have never let the points accumulate so high however I was saving for a dream vacation which is now lost. This is what I find so stinging. That AMEX can yank the points out from under me after 26 years of extreme loyalty. And this is due to some type of accounting error that I had zero to do with. I feel completely betrayed by a company I always admired and was loyal to.

Thanks. I will definitely investigate this.

There is nothing else to the story. I pay all my bills on time if not early. I've never bounced a check in my life. The letters I received from AMEX specifically mentioned the 700 credit score. However the agent on the phone said it was specifically due to 3 returned payments. Yes I received emails about the returned payments however I received them all the same day my account was cancelled so I had no time to react. In fact, what first alerted me that there even was an issue was when I received an alert from Apple Pay that my AMEX was no longer valid. Over the next few days I received several more emails of returned payments from these bogus accounts so whoever/whatever was creating them continued to do so for some time. I'm estimating in the end there were at least 3 or 4 more returned payments after the initial 3 that got my account cancelled.

I have no joint credit or loan accounts with anyone and I have no children. I've also never co-signed a loan with anyone. That's why I am so baffled by this decision by AMEX and their complete reluctance to address the real issue behind this which is the bogus payments from bogus accounts.

MSPeconomist

By chance, do you have anything in writing from AmEx (such as an email from some employee) saying that they would re-activate your account? If so, I'd approach them based on that commitment.

mia

It does not sound as if there is any inconsistency. The returned payments are the reason the account is closed. This is probably a largely automated process. However, reopening the account is manual, and in that process American Express looked at your credit score.

If someone hacked your American Express account they may have taken other actions which lowered your credit score. Do you know which bureau American Express used? Have you looked at all three of your credit reports to see if the information is accurate? If this is an identity theft incident you may have problems greater than the loss of some rewards points.

Centurion

The OP needs to give up a lot more for me to side. As in your on time payment history with amex prior to this bank account mix up. I would side with the OP in the past but Amex has added a feature where you can cancel a payment to Amex so why did the OP not cancel his payment?

Often1

Stop calling & writing Amex. Your communications all wind up in the same CRM database. The only thing that paying for certified mail does is cut the USPS deficit.

Do spend some time getting that credit score fixed. If indeed the only negatives are those three returned payments, your score ought to be way above 700. So, pull your credit reports and see what is on there and then challenge the returned payments for the reasons you have listed above if they really are reflected.

As it stands, there is no inconsistency between Amex's original statement that it would reinstate and the later decision to decline your card for poor credit.

mhdena

Maybe OP applying for and getting the no fee Everyday card will #1 see if he's able to get credit with Amex and #2 if he gets the Everyday have the MR points returned.

mikesyr18

I'd like to add that even if AMEX were to re-open your account, they'll charge you a fee to do so.

Once you hit 700 you should be able to get approved for any card as long as you don't have too many recent inquiries or new accounts opened. The credit score itself doesn't need to be fixed, just whatever the computer looks at when it looks at the OP's credit report... Could be there's a fraud alert on it or something.