I am having Orchard's unsecured MC from Oct. 2000 with $300 limit. They have finally..automatically (no requests) increased the credit line to $500 (300 to 500).. ......$200/- more.
You go. I had them for a year and they didnot give an increase at all. No lates, and no over the limits. I paid $10 for the little $100 increase that I did get. Cancelled last month.
Ever since bought by Household Bank, Orchard is a waste of time & money. As a Household rep said on this board, their typical increase is $100 every 6 months. So in *5 years*, you may be looking at a $1K increase... And paying $10 for a $100-increase is an insult. No thanks, if I was in that credit situation, I'd go for a Providian. Especially when we know the fees for increases can be waived, same goes for annual fees. Saar
My experience with Orchard has been very good. I have two accounts that get automatic increases every 3 months. They usually run $300 each time and I've never been charged a fee. The credit lines are now $5,000 and $2,200. I don't like having to call them every year to get the annual fee waived which they always do, and wish they would just waive it permanently. It also seems that I have reached rock bottom on the interest rate, currently 16.4. They promised me a 15.9 variable which went up the last time the fed increased rates but never came down with any of recent cuts. I am discussing this with them now. Although this is a rather high purchase rate and for that reason, I don't carry a balance, it's not bad rate if I need a cash advance. If anyone knows whether Orchard offers a lower rate, please let me know.
Re: Dave Dallas- If you 'purchase' an increase, it restarts the clock. You probablly would have received an automatic increase had you held out.
Re: Dave Dallas-- Been with them since '94 and have always paid on time. That probably counts for something. These cards are not the best around but I keep them because it's good to have a lengthy account reporting to the CRAs. Last year I closed Capital One after six years but kept Orchard because it is much better than Capital One. Most of my other accounts are very new--opened in 2000.
