I had accounts with both Household and Orchard Bank that are a month apart in age with the Household card being older. Both accounts are now at the two year mark. Last month I called retention and got the annual fee ($79!) waived for the Household account plus a credit limit increase. They also gave me a limit increase on my Orchard account at the same time and told me to call back this month after my annual fee billed to see about getting it waived for the year as well. Well, I called today and they would not waive the annual fee. I thought I might get it removed by combining the two accounts but they said they'd just transfer the balance of $79 from the Orchard account to the Household if I combined. Well, I thought about it and I came really close to deciding to just close the Orchard account but in the end I decided to combine them and pay the $79 one last time. By combining the cards I will end up with the single Household account with a $2,950 credit limit. I'm going to send them a planetfeedback letter to see if they will reconsider the $79. Next year when the Household card comes up for it's annual fee I will ask for the fee to be completely eliminated or I will close the account. At that time I'll aready be in my new house with plenty of other credit and I won't miss them if they won't comply. On the bright side, this was the only card that woudln't waive the fee for me this year (other than my Amex Green). Providian and Capital One waived their fees with no problem. My Umbrella, State Farm, Target and two Citibank accounts carry no annual fee.
Last year in May I got an Orchard Mastercard with the $79 annual fee,$500 limit. When I first received the card I noticed that it did not come with a 1-800 to call customer service. The number for customer service is a Oregon state area code. Anyway's, I called Orchard and told them I would have never opened the account if I had to dial a long distance number to reach customer service. Retention then offered me a $300 increase or a reduced annual fee of $39.50 I took the $39.50 annual fee for that year and the lady told me to call next year about getting the annual fee waived. My annual fee is going to post on May 14 of this year and if they don't waive the $79 fee I will cancel my account. I already have four credit cards with no annual fee. Orchard has been good about giving credit limit increase every three months, I believe after you have had your account open for six months. I received a replacement card in February and did notice that it came with a 1-800 for customer service. In my opinion this card has been pretty good for rebuilding credit.
Yep. The first year with the subprime Household or the Orchard card you do not get the toll-free number. You get the toll-free number at the end of one year as a "reward". They've both been good cards to rebuild with. I was able to get the APRs on both cards lowered to 15.9% fixed and while they haven't given me the credit limit increases Providian did they've both each been better than Capital One.
