Amex F/R Master Thread

[wired41]

I wish you good luck with this FR. Please keep us posted.
Can you please share more info about the AU's you added, such as how many per account and did they share the lastname of the account holder etc?

5 AU on two, 4 and 6 on the other. But I made a mistake on the card I received 2 weeks ago. Somehow the same AU's got added twice (today I received the second set of cards with different numbers). There were different last names on some of the cards, but they were all family members and I used social security numbers. Will update when this gets resolved.

[yoyo6713]

So my SO's AMEX cards are still showing "charging suspended" (started from Oct 29th) and today I received a form/letter from IRS indication my 4506-T was rejected.  Since I sent the same form twice under both her card number and mine I suspected the 4506-T for her didn't get through.  I have her called 1-800-678-0738 as instructed on the AMEX website to get an update.  After entering the necessary information the message said her cards in good standing and can be used freely even though the website still said "charging suspended", in addition to that she was connected to AMEX collection agency (no one picked up the phone after hitting 0 for operator).  I thought that was strange so I added some money from her AMEX card to her serve account and it went through fine.  She now has the extra money in her serve account from her AMEX card.  However, the AMEX website did not show any pending transactions which is very strange.  Also she did not receive any message or indication the FR was done (unlike mine I received an email to say FR is finished).  Anyone has similar experiences?   So I guess the nightmare is over?   No limit increase (or decrease), very strange.

[Armadillo]

My FR trip report:

Trigger- probably opening AU's on all of my cards and my wife's cards (just one, some two AU's per card). I think it may have been b/c I did it online one at a time going in to each card and ordering in a span of 10 minutes or so. I was adding myself to all her accounts and her to all of mine. A couple I added her under both her maiden and married names.

FR- Within a couple days we both received phone calls (messages) to call them. I was told I'd be getting an email with a 4506t to fill out and send back within 5 business days. I told the guy that I didn't file my own taxes could I send bank statements. He questioned me on my business account and basically told me there's definitely no way to clear a business account without tax returns. I told him it was a nonprofit (it is) so there's no profit for taxing. Bottom line, after a couple HUCA's and preemptively closing my two business cards, I convinced the lady I was talking to that I really didn't have tax returns to prove anything (don't file, family supported, studying, wife income, etc.) and isn't there something else we can do and after checking with a supervisor? back and forth a couple times IIRC, she told me that they will accept my most recent 3 months of consecutive bank statements from the two accounts that I pay my bill from, and that I had 10 days (or thereabouts) to get it to them.
(Btw, contrary to what has been said by previous posters, I wasn't assigned a specific case manager and was repeatedly told just to call and speak to whomever.)

I faxed it all in adding my savings account as well thinking it would help for them to see I have money there. Aside from כל המוסיף גורע (it appears that it just throws them off to get extra papers unrequested), it seems they just want to ascertain cash flow - that there is regular money coming in. (I don't think it was said מפורש, but it was pretty clear.) I called to make sure they got all the pages b/c the fax was interrupted and I sent the rest from where I left off. They only had the first batch on my file and I was told they wouldn't piece faxes together so it should be sent all together in one fax, which I did.

Almost there: A few days later I got an email which said:
Dear Armadillo:
 
We are writing to you today because we have taken an action on your account and wanted you to be aware of this change as soon as possible.
 
We have placed a spending limit of וכו...

A few days later the my accounts were still frozen, so after calling twice and being told I'd hear from them when the system updates with the new limits on my accounts (it was a weekend - the email is something they automatically spit out by law whenever there's a change in credit limit, but supposedly the overhaul takes time) I called again 4 or 5 days after the email and after being put on hold for a while was told she removed the freezes, wasn't sure why they were still there (they should have been gone), and she was submitting a request to investigate and I might still hear from them to give me an explanation for the extended freeze.

We are BACK IN BUSINESS! WHOOHAA! Not a minute too soon for Small Business Saturday with all my new AU's

Postscript: Still waiting for a response on my wife's account.

Special Thanks to all previous posters who's helpful tips helped me make it through what to do and say (from preemptively closing and how to do it w/o ending up by FR department, to pushing for bank statements and anything else including stuff I didn't need to use or just got chizuk from).

Further questions welcome. Sorry for the length of post, hopefully someone gets something out of it.

[AJK]

Glad you made it through!

How badly were your limits slashed?

[sky121]

Oh man. I hope I wont be sorry for adding a couple of AU's.

[MEIR613]

MOP I don't think its worth it the extra 3 4 hundred dollars(or whatever amount it is for SBS for additional AU) to get F/R from amex if you can't prove the income. Especially for people who get nervous if a banks website is down and they can't get in. Just throwing my 2 cents in.

[sky121]

MOP I don't think its worth it the extra 3 4 hundred dollars(or whatever amount it is for SBS for additional AU) to get F/R from amex if you can't prove the income. Especially for people who get nervous if a banks website is down and they can't get in. Just throwing my 2 cents in.

+1 its def not. That's why I feel sorry now. Here's hoping nothing bad comes from it.

[MEIR613]

+1 its def not. That's why I feel sorry now. Here's hoping nothing bad comes from it.

I hope all goes well.

[Yordai Dooma]

How long after receiving the AU cards are people getting the call?
After activating them?
Did anyone who got FR'd get the call before even activating the AUs?

[MEIR613]

How long after receiving the AU cards are people getting the call?
After activating them?
Did anyone who got FR'd get the call before even activating the AUs?

I don't know. But my guess is as long as amex sees that you added them = red flag.

[Fan of Dan]

I don't know. But my guess is as long as amex sees that you added them = red flag.

At some point I am sure the chances of a FR are smaller.

[yoyo6713]

How long after receiving the AU cards are people getting the call?
After activating them?
Did anyone who got FR'd get the call before even activating the AUs?

For us it was like 4 days after adding AU, before we received any of the AU cards.  My SO's cards are still partially frozen (two weeks and counting) but mine are OK without anything happening.  Maybe I need to add more AUs ?

[Yordai Dooma]

For us it was like 4 days after adding AU, before we received any of the AU cards.  My SO's cards are still partially frozen (two weeks and counting) but mine are OK without anything happening.  Maybe I need to add more AUs ?

Was the call after activating them or did you get the call even before activating?

[yoyo6713]

Was the call after activating them or did you get the call even before activating?

Before we even receive the cards, let alone activate them.  So FR started immediately after AUs were added.  I have not activated these AU cards yet since my SO's cards are still locked up.

[Yehoshua]

I added 3 AUs the other day with an honest explanation to the guy over the phone.  This brings the total AUs to 4.

1) Should I be concerned?
2) Are you able to tell online if your accounts have been frozen? My online AmEx account looks normal.

[Shvitzer]

I singed up for amex blue cash preferred
any one knows if I use this card only for grocery shopping will it trigger a F/R by AMEX?

[Fan of Dan]

I added 3 AUs the other day with an honest explanation to the guy over the phone.  This brings the total AUs to 4.

1) Should I be concerned?
2) Are you able to tell online if your accounts have been frozen? My online AmEx account looks normal.

You are probably ok, although the guy you spoke to to get the AU's has nothing to do with the FR dept.

[Yehoshua]

Got it.  Thanks!

[Armadillo]

Glad you made it through!

How badly were your limits slashed?

plat from unlimited to 12k, another from 15 to 8

[Armadillo]

Before we even receive the cards, let alone activate them.  So FR started immediately after AUs were added.  I have not activated these AU cards yet since my SO's cards are still locked up.

+1 same here FR was before getting the cards