I am 70 days behind on my AMEX (balance 40K). I spoke with my account manager today (yes, I have been assigned a specific person) who told me about the program. First six months at 0%; next six months at 9.9%.

She told me I'd need to bring the account current first to get into the program. Uh, hello? If I could do that, I wouldn't be behind in the first place. I told her that would be impossible. She then asked if I could pay at least what my September payment was....$1300. If I could do that, I could begin the program.

Almost signed up but wanted a night to run numbers first.

Then I got a letter today from AMEX talking about the hardship plan. It directed me to their website. When I did that followed the links, I found the plan the account rep had told me about but......there was no mention of having to pay anything up front. In the info, it said that after the first three fixed payments (totalling $1200), my account would be current.

So, what's the deal? Do I really have to pay a large amount now or was the account rep trying to get more money out of me?

Thanks for any help. I want to move on this in the next 24 hours.

IMO you must speak to someone in the hierarchy to recheck the facts. Remember that getting behind on a hardship program would be detrimental for your credit report. Hence, you must agree to the program only if you can continue it in the long run.