Just got off of the phone with JC Penney Credit services. Had an interesting conversation with the CSR. He told me that there arecertain factors that go into whether you can reopen an account or not. Prior paying history, prior purchase history and their own scoring model all play a part. What he said is that if you get a Penneys charge and don't use it for a year, they will close the account and revoke your reopening privileges. You will have to reapply. I told him that it seems kind of silly for me, a consumer, to hear this because if I wanted to get a penneys charge, and buy new linens once a year and leave the charge inactive the other 364 days a year, I would have to reapply every year! I also told him that from a business standpoint this is a good move because if the account is inactive for a certain period of time, Penneys is not making any money, and the bank the card is issued on is mot making any money. Offering 10 or 15% off the 1st purchase is a small price to pay for earning interest on 1000.00 worth of stuff at penneys. The main reason I posted this, is to let people know that once the account has been closed, It is coded to NEVER be reopened again. This may affect the history aspect of your reports as far as having a new store charge every year. Erica
Yeah, I tried to reopen an old inactive Penny's card. They too told me I had to reapply, and that I would lose my 7+ years of history...not. MikeB
Erica, I found out I reapply for card is much easier than reopen the account. It is because when I tried to reopen the Lowe's store card account and they denied me because I had too much inquiries in my report. At the same time I applied for GMCard and I got approved. They both pulled the credit report from Equifax. Only Target reopen the account without any hassle. Ron.
I just read this message. So I called JC Penney to see if my account was still open. The girl said "Yes, and the last time I used it was Oct. 1999". I told her I read on the net, that if you didn't use your card it would be closed. She said "Yes, but if you make one small purchase, every once in a while, it will stay open."
Well........my last payment, etc was May of 1998. I called them last July and they said I couldn't use my account due to late pays. Well, got brave last month and called them back--they said there was nothing wrong with my account but that due to inactivity, the CL was down to 100.00 and to save it, use it. Obviously the 12 month thing does not apply to all accounts, since mine was dormant almost 3 years.
I suppose that for everyone they have different answers. That is exactly what the guy told me. I even asked him twice to make sure that I understood completely. He reiterated this to me exactly. As a matter of fact, when I said that I still didn't understand, he put me on hold and went to talk to a supervisor so he could explain it more clearly. He came back on the line and was about as clear as mud, expressing the same ideas over again. Don't know if this is true for everyone, or just me, but my account has been closed since 1997. Erica
I don't know if planetfeedback.com could help or not. Why don't you try? It sure can't hurt. Most people have been very happy with the results. Good Luck.
