Re: Credit Card Law Question
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Posted by Boadicea
(167.127.24.69) on May 07, 2004 at 08:47:35:
In Reply to: Re: Credit Card Law Question posted by adamh on May 06, 2004 at 23:14:00:
Ok, here's something I learned the hard way.... With at least AMEX, if you close an account in good standing, all you have to do to reopen that line of credit is to *use* the account in a transaction! The way I discovered this little loophole is through the shanigans of my ex many years ago. He was an authorized user on my account. During the divorce proceedings I wrote AMEX and requested the account (with a zero balance) be closed. I received confirmation that it was closed. Several months later I found out he had charged several hundred dollars to the old card. When I called AMEX, they apologized and closed the account again. A few months later, MORE charges were made. Furious, I called the CS rep and asked how they could possibly approve charges on an AU account that was closed due to divorce. Her answer: Any account in good standing at the time of closing will be reopened automatically if the account is used again! I told them to close the account again, to make a notation on the account that it was NEVER to be re-opened, and that I would SUE if they re-opened the account without my authorization. That took care of that, or at least I never had the problem again. How they can do that without it being stated in the cardholder agreement is beyond me, but I know for a fact that it is done. The best thing for you to do is dispute the charges as you would any unauthorized transaction. It helps if you have written confirmation that the account was closed, and your original written request to close the account.
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