Want your credit line increased, APR lowered, or your declined credit card application approved? Begging and pleading with customer service not getting you anywhere except front row seats to your personal puddle of shame? Then give some of the “backdoor numbers” a shot.

These are unpublished phone numbers that give you access to people with more power than some of those frontline, outsourced, laminated binder-reading call center jockeys.

This list comes courtesy of a post over in the MyFico forums. The author updates it regularily so check there for the latest numbers.

Please use this information responsibly so that others can keep benefiting from this data as well.

AmEx Oasis Program: 888-232-3261
American Express Credit Bureau Unit: 800-874-2717. Must have a current credit report before calling. They will ask for the account number from the credit report, which is different than your card number.

Barclays/Juniper: 866-750-6031 (Corp. Offices)

Best Buy: 888-237-8289 (customer care)
Best Buy: 800-365-0292 (CSR)
Best Buy App Status: 800-811-7276
Best Buy Store Card: 800-305-0533

BofA Acquisition Dept.: 888-645-6733 (new app recon)
BofA: 800-732-9194
BofA: 800-421-2110 (product change, poss. for cli)
BofA: 888-260-4696 (secured accts.)
BofA: 800.824.5895 (secured & partially secured accts.)
BofA: 800-718-6072 (Credit analyst)
BofA: 800-881-4730 (Loan Dept.?)
BofA Credit Dept. Fax: 888-500-6270
BofA/FIA: 888-831-4181; 866-421-8071 (Credit analyst)
FIA: 866-421-8153 (credit analyst)

BP/Amoco App Status: 800-365-6204

Cap1: 800-625-7866 (Account Specialist)
Cap1: 800-951-6951 (cust. relations)
Cap1: 800-548-4593 (application department; status)
Cap1: 800-889-9939 or 800-625-7866.(Account Specialist)
Cap1: 877-513-9959 (Account Retention?)
Cap1: 800-427-9458 (Fraud department. They take ALL calls seriously!)
Cap1: 800-258-9319 (Debt Recovery)

Chase: 800-432-3117 (App status)
Chase: 888-270-2127 (App recon)
Chase: 877-781-3109 (combining & product change)
Chase: 888-245-0625 (Credit Analyst – Recons)
Chase: 800-945-2004 (WaMu CC Prod. Change) <--- (as of 09/02/09, some have posted that PCing former WaMu cards is no longer possible, so YMMV) Chevron/Texaco Biz Card App Status: 888-243-8358

Citi: 888-201-4523 (New App Approval Status)
Citi AA: 888-662-7759
Citi App Status: 800-645-7240, 800-288-4653, 800-750-7453
Citi: 800-444-2568 (Retention Dept.)
Citi: 866-927-7841
Citi: 800-763-9795 (Credit Dept.)
Citi Credit Bureau Dispute Fax: 866-548-5614

Discover: 888-676-3695 (Recon)
Discover: 800-347-2911 (Retention Dept.)

ExxonMobil Biz Card: 800-903-9966

FIA: 866-421-8153 (credit analyst)

GEMB: 877-294-7541 (escalated help desk)

Home Depot MC (Commercial): 800-720-0649

Hooters: 801-545-6705, 800-850-4668

HSBC: 866-574-4421 (App Status)
HSBC: 866-719-3897 (Credit Analyst?)

JC Penney: 800-542-0800

Juniper: 866-408-4064 (Credit Analyst)
Juniper/Barclays: 866-750-6031 (Corp. Offices)

Key Bank: 888-201-4523 (App status)
Key Bank: 800-254-2737
Key Bank MC: 800-288-4653
Keybank Credit Research Fax: 216-357-6404

Lowes: 800-445-6937 (App Status)
Lowes: 866-232-7443 (Biz Acct. Underwriting)
Lowes Fraud/UW: 800-444-1408

Macy’s: 800-627-2909 (Credit Dept. – new credit, inquiries on upgrade to Visa, credit reporting issues)
Macy’s: 800-543-9617 (Recovery Services)

Meijers MC: 801-517-5560

National City: 800-762-0974 (Credit Dept.)

Orchard: 800-395-6090 (May get answered in Spanish by bilingual CSR’s. If this happens and you don’t speak Spanish, either try again later or try saying “Habla ingles?” or “Ingles, por favor” to let them know you’re an English-speaker).

Philips 66: 866-289-5630, 800-610-1961

Sam’s Club: 800-301-5546, 866-246-4282 (Underwriting)

Sears: 800-599-9710 (App status)

Shell Fleet Card: 800-223-3296 (App status)
Shell: 800-223-3296, 866-438-7435
Shell: 800-377-5150

Staples: 800-767-1291, 800-282-5316

Sunoco Corp. Card: 800-935-3387, 800-278-6626
Sunoco: 800-310-4773

Target Biz Card: 800-440-5317

Tiffany: 800-770-0800

US Bank: 800-947-1444, 800-685-7680 (Underwriting)

Valero: 877-882-5376

Wal-Mart: 800-301-5546
Wal-Mart Underwriting: 877-294-7548
Wal-Mart Underwriting (GE Moneybank): 1-866-419-4096

WaMu CSR: 800-356-0011, or 800-280-9441
WaMu: 888-687-2273 (Apps/New Accts)

WFNNB: 614-729-5000

Wright Express: 888-743-3893

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.