I'm an authorized user on my wife's Optima acct going back 10 yrs. A couple of weeks ago I received a pre-approved invitation to apply for the Delta SkyMiles Options cc. AMEX took a shrewd approach to convince me to apply stating: "You've been experiencing the benefits of Cardmembership carrying somebody else's Card. Now, we'd like to invite you to start earning your own award travel." This is the FIRST time I had ever received anything in my name from AMEX, so I was pretty excited (pretty pathetic, huh?). Whoa! But wait a minute... how could AMEX be offering a card to me when I have a BK-7 showing up on EX and EQ? Maybe they pulled a promo on TU (no BK-7 on this CR as it was removed when I sent letter saying "not mine"). But check this out: Just 6 months ago, I had applied on-line for AMEX ccs, and was declined. Each time EX was pulled in CA and since BK-7 shows up on EXP, the applications were all rejected! However, this was a mail-in application... I started thinking, maybe AMEX will pull a different CR on mailed-in application, maybe TU (only clean report)... I figured, what the heck, I gotta start somewhere with AMEX, so I filled out the application and mailed it in. This just shows how desperate I was to get into the "club" and how much I was asking for punishment ... CONTINUED
Anyhoo, long story short, AMEX receives the application, pulls EX again, and rejects the app b/c of the BK-7. I asked the rep why did AMEX send me a pre-approved app if they weren't serious in giving me a card? She replied it was a promo pull on EX, but they didn't access the whole report (the BK-7). I told her, can't you pull another CR? The BK-7 doesn't show up on my other reports. She stated, no, sorry, since you live in CA, we only pull EX for that state (I now know that includes both on-line and mail-in applications). Then, she said, don't worry, you can apply again after 7 years, at that point we don't look at the BK... But here she was mistaken because she thought that the BK-7 would fall off after 7 years, but that is not the case with BK-7 b/c they stay on CR for 10 years! My conclusion: AMEX WILL NOT APPROVE A CC IF BK IS ON CR, PERIOD!!! (ymmv) If you live in a state where they pull a CR where your BK is not showing, more power to you, but I've come to the painful conclusion, after getting 2 hards in 6 mths, that AMEX will not approve with BK on CR! I'm sure others have said pretty much the same thing, but I wanted it so bad that I just threw all common sense out the window and went out on that branch and came crashing down! OUCH! Oh, well, end of story. Mr. X
just marketing man. Credit card issuers send a lot of those "pre- approved" offers (Should say invitation offers). I got a discover one every week and everytime i have applied they denied me. Usually Amex is serious with those offers but was not in ur case. Sorry.
Are you certain it said pre-approved or pre-selected? My DS is an authorized user on mine and they sent him a pre-selected invitation. They once billed him as the primary cardholder by mistake as well.
Good call, cocomad! Nowhere on the offer does it state pre-approved or pre-selected. On the application at the bottom of the page, it does state "Invitation expires 2/25/05" and "RSVP Number ******" Reading the offer again, I'm really pissed off by AMEX's use of language that is geared specifically towards my post BK-7 status: "Here's a fee-free way to build a great SkyMiles balance while you build great credit!" Since when does AMEX offer its product to sub-prime customers? It's a catch-22, really! AMEX fishes for sub-prime clients, they apply, and they get rejected b/c of BKs, charge-offs, etc! What the heck is going on? Mr.X
Mr.X, I was rejected for amex because of BK7, but once it was 7 years old, they were willing to reconsider, before 7 years they were not. I was approved after asking for reconsideration. How old is your BK7?
