AMEX won’t let me upgrade.

andys15

Hi. I am trying to upgrade my BA AMEX card to the premium plus one, but AMEX won’t let me upgrade. 

They say they don’t know why I can’t upgrade, I just can’t. 

I assume it’s because I would be entitled to the companion voucher straight away and I have never paid any interest on my card in the 3 years I have had it. 

I know it’s their right to not allow me to upgrade but surely they should state a reason and not just say they don’t know the reason. 

emmajones1976

Their reason will likely be you dont meet their internal credit scoring, the logic behind it they certainly wont be divulging to customers even if the £10 an hour call centre staff knew it, which they wont.

[Deleted User]

You're just not meeting the criteria - but they won't reveal those, for obvious reasons.

It's nothing to do with you not paying interest though.

Sandtree

What do you mean they wont allow you to?

As in they've put through an application for you to and have declined or they say you simply cannot apply to upgrade?

To the best of my knowledge AmEx doesnt offer any "upgrading" or equivalent but make you apply for the new card that you want with the exception of the Centurion which is offered as an upgrade from Platinum Charge Card

lisyloo

No sorry, I’m sympathetic but no reason why they should state a reason especially if it’s commercially sensitive information for their business.
if it was well know people would deliberately find ways round it.
they don’t want you to actively improve to fit their criteria, they want to judge you on the objective truth without you manipulating things to meet their criteria.
so I’d say every reason why they shouldn’t from their Point of view.

Sandtree

andys15 said:

emmajones1976 said:

Their reason will likely be you dont meet their internal credit scoring, the logic behind it they certainly wont be divulging to customers even if the £10 an hour call centre staff knew it, which they wont.

That’s not the reason. I asked if it was an income or credit rating thing and was told no. ( my income is over £150k, I have no debt, no mortgage and never missed a payment with a lot of history of mortgage and debt closed in full). 

They just said I can’t have one.   Companies will tell you if you cannot have a loan etc due to credit scoring etc.  

They tell everyone the same thing, even if you have 100 fraud markers on CIFAS, its a polite way of telling you to go away 

Sandtree

andys15 said:

Sandtree said:

andys15 said:

emmajones1976 said:

Their reason will likely be you dont meet their internal credit scoring, the logic behind it they certainly wont be divulging to customers even if the £10 an hour call centre staff knew it, which they wont.

That’s not the reason. I asked if it was an income or credit rating thing and was told no. ( my income is over £150k, I have no debt, no mortgage and never missed a payment with a lot of history of mortgage and debt closed in full). 

They just said I can’t have one.   Companies will tell you if you cannot have a loan etc due to credit scoring etc.  

They tell everyone the same thing, even if you have 100 fraud markers on CIFAS, its a polite way of telling you to go away 

Why would they be telling me to go away?  I already have a credit card with them. I have a £19k limit. I want to give them £250 to upgrade it, so why are they telling me to go away. 

andys15 said:

Companies will tell you if you have failed there credit checks. Internal or credit search.

Because the agent you are talking to isnt told the reason why you have been declined and so the company dont want you to have a long debate with their agent when the agent isnt empowered to do anything even if you present a compelling argument.

Hence the "go away" isnt from a whole relationship perspective but its a way to end the conversation and a stock answer is given to everyone (though it makes most people waste their time looking at their credit report etc which for many will not present any new information).

Decisions who to lend to are purely commercial and a decline to lend wouldnt ever need to be justified unless there is reasonable cause to believe its based on protected characteristics (sexual orientation, religion etc). 

I have an unlimited credit line with Amex (according to the marketing, in practice the highest single transaction they've said they'd approve is £75,000), they could give me a Centurion card which would given them a £3,000 initial fee plus an additional £1,800 fee per year but they arent going to entertain a long conversation with me as to why they wont even if I wanted to... that one is slightly different and everyone with a qualifying Platinum is instead simply told its invitation only but they will note your interest on the account. After that its about getting you off the call to keep their AHT down because there is nothing else the agent can do.

mcpitman

It's really simple - you can't always get what you want, they aren't going to tell you there reasons for not upgrading only new applications.

It's a commercial decision not a personal one.

Emmia

andys15 said:

Sandtree said:

andys15 said:

Sandtree said:

andys15 said:

emmajones1976 said:

Their reason will likely be you dont meet their internal credit scoring, the logic behind it they certainly wont be divulging to customers even if the £10 an hour call centre staff knew it, which they wont.

That’s not the reason. I asked if it was an income or credit rating thing and was told no. ( my income is over £150k, I have no debt, no mortgage and never missed a payment with a lot of history of mortgage and debt closed in full). 

They just said I can’t have one.   Companies will tell you if you cannot have a loan etc due to credit scoring etc.  

They tell everyone the same thing, even if you have 100 fraud markers on CIFAS, its a polite way of telling you to go away 

Why would they be telling me to go away?  I already have a credit card with them. I have a £19k limit. I want to give them £250 to upgrade it, so why are they telling me to go away. 

andys15 said:

Companies will tell you if you have failed there credit checks. Internal or credit search.

Because the agent you are talking to isnt told the reason why you have been declined and so the company dont want you to have a long debate with their agent when the agent isnt empowered to do anything even if you present a compelling argument.

Hence the "go away" isnt from a whole relationship perspective but its a way to end the conversation and a stock answer is given to everyone (though it makes most people waste their time looking at their credit report etc which for many will not present any new information).

Decisions who to lend to are purely commercial and a decline to lend wouldnt ever need to be justified unless there is reasonable cause to believe its based on protected characteristics (sexual orientation, religion etc). 

I have an unlimited credit line with Amex (according to the marketing, in practice the highest single transaction they've said they'd approve is £75,000), they could give me a Centurion card which would given them a £3,000 initial fee plus an additional £1,800 fee per year but they arent going to entertain a long conversation with me as to why they wont even if I wanted to... that one is slightly different and everyone with a qualifying Platinum is instead simply told its invitation only but they will note your interest on the account. After that its about getting you off the call to keep their AHT down because there is nothing else the agent can do.

I am sorry but you are wrong.   I can get the credit card I want. They told me to apply for it and I would be accepted. They just won’t let me upgrade to it from my current card. They want me to apply for it ( I will get accepted). This is nothing to do with criteria or credit checks. 

Apply then, get the card you want and just suck up the fact that for whatever reason you can't have the companion voucher this year. They don't have to tell you why they won't upgrade you.

mcpitman

I'm intrigued what is so important about this upgrade.

I get you won't get your voucher thingy, but what is so attractive about the new product you want upgrading to?

Thrugelmir

andys15 said:

Sandtree said:

andys15 said:

Sandtree said:

andys15 said:

emmajones1976 said:

Their reason will likely be you dont meet their internal credit scoring, the logic behind it they certainly wont be divulging to customers even if the £10 an hour call centre staff knew it, which they wont.

That’s not the reason. I asked if it was an income or credit rating thing and was told no. ( my income is over £150k, I have no debt, no mortgage and never missed a payment with a lot of history of mortgage and debt closed in full). 

They just said I can’t have one.   Companies will tell you if you cannot have a loan etc due to credit scoring etc.  

They tell everyone the same thing, even if you have 100 fraud markers on CIFAS, its a polite way of telling you to go away 

Why would they be telling me to go away?  I already have a credit card with them. I have a £19k limit. I want to give them £250 to upgrade it, so why are they telling me to go away. 

andys15 said:

Companies will tell you if you have failed there credit checks. Internal or credit search.

Because the agent you are talking to isnt told the reason why you have been declined and so the company dont want you to have a long debate with their agent when the agent isnt empowered to do anything even if you present a compelling argument.

Hence the "go away" isnt from a whole relationship perspective but its a way to end the conversation and a stock answer is given to everyone (though it makes most people waste their time looking at their credit report etc which for many will not present any new information).

Decisions who to lend to are purely commercial and a decline to lend wouldnt ever need to be justified unless there is reasonable cause to believe its based on protected characteristics (sexual orientation, religion etc). 

I have an unlimited credit line with Amex (according to the marketing, in practice the highest single transaction they've said they'd approve is £75,000), they could give me a Centurion card which would given them a £3,000 initial fee plus an additional £1,800 fee per year but they arent going to entertain a long conversation with me as to why they wont even if I wanted to... that one is slightly different and everyone with a qualifying Platinum is instead simply told its invitation only but they will note your interest on the account. After that its about getting you off the call to keep their AHT down because there is nothing else the agent can do.

They told me to apply for it and I would be accepted.

That's almost certainly incorrect. The marketing material will be very cleverly worded. The final decision will only be made at the point of application. Might be that they hit their target response already. Decision ultimately is commercial. Not about you personally. Board policy being set at the macro not micro level.