Thought credit was Hey there- getting back to the rationale of the credit line increase re: your unemployment - the lower your debt to available credit ratio, the higher your credit scores will be. So if you were to increase your credit lines (and NOT use the available credit), your utilization would fall and you would be seen as a better credit risk and you would have better leverage. That's where the suggestion came from. Also, just to make sure you understand, a "Hard " inquiry is the kind that shows up on your reports if you apply for credit and the creditor pulls your reports. You have to give permission for someone to pull a hard inq. Hard inqs generally indicate when people are shopping for credit. If you have numerous hards in a given period, it could raise a red flag for lenders who would be concerned that you've obligated yourself to a bunch of debt that hasn't shown up on your reports yet, or that you might be in trouble and are looking to overextend yourself to keep up. Soft inquiries don't show up in your credit scores, and are used be companies who send you those lovely reams of junk mail, or your current creditors who just want to see what you're up to. Chase got ahold of your information in May by pulling a soft inq on you. Anyway, good luck! Poochie
Re: Re: Thought credit was Really?? That sucks! Well, my error then, but you SHOULD have to give someone permission to pull a hard!!! I can't believe how much these oily b****rds can get away with. grrrrrrr. Poochie
Re: Re: Re: Re: Thought credit was StarStuff, Thank you for the compliments, and keep up the good fight, you're doing wonderfully! One more bit of advice (re: the "good fight"), considering that you have all the documentation and evidence, I would CALL, and keep pushing to get passed "up" to someone at an executive level. Ask to speak to "someone who can decide, and act, upon this right now". Ask each person, at each level, the above question, i.e.."are you able to rectify this error now", if not, PLEASE refer me to someone who can"....GET TO A LIVE DECISION MAKER. 99% of the time a "true" decision maker" will give you what you want (I know, I'm one of those guys..it's the "good cop/bad cop" routine). Throw in that you were considering requesting a credit line increase, due to previous satisfaction, but now you're considering closing the account. COME RIGHT OUT AND REQUEST THIS BE RECTIFIED, THEN SAY NOTHING UNTIL THEY SPEAK FIRST! (This is a "golden rule in negotiations...the first one to speak loses!) Hang In There, Keep Up The Good Fight, and Welcome to the "Board". P.S. Watch your credit report for this item, follow up in case they made another "error" which made it to your report.
Thought credit was And my favorite when the lowly CSR says there is no one else to speak to... Oh Really???? You are the owner of the business?
Bizwiz, you are a treasure! I owe you dinner. That "no one will speak to you on the phone about this" response was what I got from the supervisor (I initially got a CSR and immediately asked to speak to a supervisor, knowing I needed someone with a bit of authority) when I asked to speak to her supervisor. I insisted about three times to speak to her supervisor, and was refused each time; I was told that the only option I had in the matter was to write to Correspondence and Inquiries. She wouldn't even give me a name to write to, just "whoever opens the letter." That's why, when I wrote to that department, I sent copies to the only names I did have (the president and vice-president of cardmember services). What irks me most was the tone of voice. It was very subtle, but it was there. I've had dealings with Chase customer service before, and what a pleasant interaction it was. But then, they were trying to get me to do a BT and my balance was down to $0 at the time (April 2002). Friendly, chatty, warm. The CSR started out that way when I called this time, and the tone stayed friendly until she pulled up my record. Then all of a sudden she got very reserved, and when I asked to talk to a supervisor she immediately said yes. Usually they try to get you to tell them what the problem is first, to handle it themselves if they can. The supervisor's tone from the start was frosty and superior. Polite, but that was it. It just screamed, "I'm talking to someone who doesn't matter. I'm talking to someone without any clout." Dem's fightin' woids!!!
Next time just PFB a letter to them and share it in the public section. When they call you back the tone will be changed, I assure you.
I did just that, thanks to the good advice I got here. Now I'm waiting to see what happens, between the initial letters I sent and the PFB letter. I'm in New York State so the CC: on the bottom of the PFB letter reads Amo Houghton (my district's congressional rep), Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton. And the letter went to the CEO in Chase Manhattan's headquarters in New York. Don't know if that will add any punch. Guess it depends on how you feel about Hillary!
Remember to have a little patience when waiting for a response to a PFB letter. Some co's respond right away while others take a month to respond.
Poochie, sorry, didn't mean to ignore your post. I understand what you mean about getting the credit lines raised so the ratio would look better. I just wondered what response I would get from Chase, having just been kicked up to 23.99 percent because they decided I was a bad risk, asking them for more credit! AT&T Universal is already being closed next April (my card's expiration date) because they wanted to jack my interest rate to 11.99 percent and I said no. But I'll bet they offer me a deal to stay before April rolls around. Citi just sent me the same notice, but I haven't refused it yet. I have a higher CL on Citi, $5500, with about $4500 of it at a locked-in 3.9 percent (BT deal) and about $900 at 8.99 percent. They're my most maxed-out card but I pay them about $120 a month so it goes down pretty fast. I know the lower interest rate gets paid off before the higher, so I'll probably refuse the increase on Citi as well and see what offer they give me. The Citi card doesn't expire until 2006, so by that time I'll certainly have my balances down to a good score again. I'm not charging anything on ANYTHING again until they're all down, after this experience. I honest to God had no idea it was a problem; I felt if I could handle the payments, and I can, then I was doing fine. Others may think I'm in over my head, but their circumstances aren't mine. The interest charges were, to me, a cost that I accepted for the privilege of using the cards. If only I had understood the debt-to-available-credit ratio, I would have acted differently. I would really like to see that made a mandatory part of any credit agreement, to disclose that information. And in plain English, too. Those confusing little teeny-print agreements written in legalese they give you with the cards are shameful.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Thought credit was Yeppers, Unfortunately StarStuff, the cold hard transcript of your credit usage, (your CR) makes no provision for your circumstances. Nor does it care even a wit. It's merely a business decision. From now on always ask yourself, "will what I'm about to do make it APPEAR as though, at least on the CR, that I'm headed for trouble"? .
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Thought credit was Good post. You should put that question in your siggy My Capital One card is under $1000 cl and I always pay my balance off on that card for that reason.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Thought credit was I wouldn't close the AT&T card if I were you. You may want to pay it off and not use it, but don't close it. That's part of the ratio game. You'll have the available limit, and no utilization against it. Also, 11.9 is way better than 23%. Always keep cards available in case you get rate jacked, as you have. Besides, the interest on zero is zero, so no balance means no interest. You can even use it some to keep it active, just pay it in full each month. I have several accounts that I don't even KNOW what the interest rate is--nor do I care. I don't carry a balance, and I have a lot of available credit. It helps the ratios. AT&T will probably give you some automatic credit line increases, may even give you one if you ask. I don't know if they'll do it without a hard inquiry, though.
I'm positive AT&T will make me "an offer I can't refuse" before they close my account. In fact, the CSR I talked to when I refused the rate hike told me they would. But if they don't, they don't. Once I get my balances down and my CR is solid gold again, I'll start getting those pre-approved, 0% intro APR offers cramming my mailbox again. This time around I'll be smarter, though! For one thing, I won't make a move without checking it out on CreditNet.
Re: Re: Re: Thought credit was A-1 -- N Absolutely nowhere did any of these companies state -- even in the legalese that they presume 99 percent of their customers will never read, let alone understand -- 1* that they would raise your interest rates if you spent more than X percent of your credit limit. 2* it apparently is perfectly legal for the CC companies to pull this rate hike on unsuspecting customers. StarStuff ===================== 1*There is no justification or logic for jacking one based on utilization of credit. It's like a car dealer jacking the price of the car because you took the whole car instead of just a fourth or one half of it. When are people going to wake up to the fact they are getting screwed big time? 2*No only is this legal it's also legal for them to use these tactics to trash your credit. THE END ** *** ** LB 59 """"```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""'''
Re: Re: Re: Thought credit was A-1 -- N Another one to avoid is the Motley Fool.com credit board. They seem to have the same attitude there that the posters have at MSN.
Re: Re: Re: Thought credit was A-1 -- N 1*If I have to close the account, I will. I do have other cards: 2*I have an AT&T Universal, a Citi Platinum, a Bank of America Visa and a Household Bank card. StarStuff ============== 1*Watch this one. 2*If you close chase it will increase your utilization even more which could trigger rates jacks on any or all of these cards. THE END ** *** ** LB 59 """"```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""''' P S Ya See: They got you coming or going because this whole credit thing is rigged.
Closing your current cards then opening new ones can hurt you rather thean help you. Closing the old cards will increase your utilization. Opening new ones will be a ding on your reports because they are new extensions of credit. The hard inquires in opening new cards will reduce your scores. May i suggest you just sock drawer the old cards rather than closing them.
I agree. Preapproved offer does not mean you get the card. If your utilization is too high, you'll get a response back that says one of two things: 1) Sorry, after reviewing your credit report, we are unable to offer you a card at this time OR 2) We are unable to offer you the terms in our initial offer, but are sending you a card with $300 credit limit and 24% APR. Once you start having problems, believe me, the preapproved offers won't be true. You're better off to keep the cards, pay them off, "sock drawer" them and use them once every few months for a tank of gas to keep them active. You close them, it tanks your score, you apply for new and get only subprime, it tanks your score, and your utilization will never get better. Keep the cards, get CL increases and APR decreases where and when you can. You may have to keep them in the sock drawer for 6 months or so before you can even work them for the CL increase or APR decrease, but it will come faster than closing and opening accounts. That shows the creditors that you have no loyalty, therefore they won't make money, therefore you won't get a card.
