BA 99/500 Turned into BA $100 CL?

[creditreformer]

Apped for a BA cc in late april...denied but instantly offered the 99/500 online...which I took.  Called to confirm w/BA that's what I would get b/c when they mailed me the denial letter for the cc i apped for (platinum plus mc), it showed the 'regular secured' cc (put up 300, get 300 cl), not the 99/500.  However, as i said, ba's cust svc confirmed i'd get the 99/500 cc.

After a few wks, BA finally cashed my $99 check.  Don't have the card yet, but today my cc acct (BA emerging credit plus plat visa) showed up in my accts section on my BA online banking.  However, the CL shows as $100?  Just curious if anyone else had this happen...is it a fluke or did BA somehow switch me to some other type of secured cc and now i'm stuck w/a $100 cl?  interestingly, it also shows 'request a credit line increase' (is that the luv button?) option...which i didn't think showed for 99/500 right away.

[tray]

Hi, I would call BOA because i have a secured card with them and it only starts  at $300.00 and up also i do online banking with them and with my secured card you see the love button for a credit increase i am just waiting for the month of september where i would have the card for a year and ask for review of graduation, but your situation does not sound right so I would call and confirm, the best of luck to you.

[Anonymous]

does not sound right it should say 500 limit just got mine last week i luv it..

[creditreformer]

Well this was a little bit of a clusterfuggle (trying to keep language clean)-

Email BA- Canned response that says it’s a regular CC.  $100 is your CL.

1st call to BA (1 of the backdoor #s found here)- we show 2 apps for 2 secured ccs (huh?).  you were denied for the 99/500 (again, huh? had email offer AND confirmed it on phone before sending my 99 in), so we just gave you a regular secured CC even though you did NOT ask for it and even though our 99/500 app says if you’re denied, we’ll send your $99 back.  they said I have a regular secured cc your CL will be 100.  I tried not to LOL and said you know, a tank of gas in cali is $50+, so your $100 CL (which I paid $99 for) + $29 AF is not going to do me a whole lot of good.  BA said well, if you want to add $ to it, we will have to do more HARD inquiries and we may DENY your request.  they then said even if it was a glitch on our end, if you want the 99/500, you have to apply for and we will have to do more HARD inquiries.  Needless to say, I was NOT happy.

2nd call to BA (after some downtime before I bit their head off on the phone LOL)- Called a different (non backdoor #).  Explained the situation and said, I thought I was getting 99/500, so was this a glitch?  If not, and if all I can have is the fully secured, how can I add $ to it w/o a hard inquiry?  Hold on rep said.  Few minutes later, another rep came on and said, sorry for the mixup, I’ll fix it now and your CL will be 500.

Bam, checked online w/BA…500 CL shows up now.  I don’t know why the backdoor # couldn’t/wouldn’t do what the 2nd # did, but whatever, I now have more than the $100 CL they first tried to give me LOL

FYI, I asked if you can have 99/500 and regular secured and rep said no.  Rep said I should get CLI @ 9 mos., but it’s usually only 500, but they regularly review for CLIs and if utilization’s low, PIF (rep said they like if you pay w/BA online acct), usage is regular, and your other ccs are the used the same, then I should see healthy CL in no time.

Guess I’ll go to citi for the 4 digit secured CC b/c as of now, I only have these ccs-

Opened in early 07

First premier- 250

First premier- 250

Orchard- 300

Orchard- 300

Opened in 4/08

Cap 1- 300

BA 99/500

Target red- 200 (hoping it eventually becomes a visa w/a 4 digit CL)

[Anonymous]

I mailed in my 99/500 application with my $99 check about a week ago. I'm patiently wating to here from them. I hope they don't scew around with me either.

[creditreformer]

In case they do screw you, call this #800-242-5722 and make clear that you want the 99/500, not regular secured.  I think mine got screwed up b/c online (and in an email) it showed the 99/500 offer, but a week later, when I got the denial from ba for the original cc (plat plus regular), only the offer for the ‘regular’ secured was mentioned.  the backdoor # that yanked me around was 866-865-7842, so I would use the 1st # I listed if you get screwed around.  the rep on the backdoor # just didn’t seem very helpful/didn’t seem like she wanted to listen or investigate..which is odd as I’ve used the backdoor # before and had a GREAT experience.

Fyi, it takes a long time for them to cash your check- they held mine for about 2-3 wks.  still no card yet, but the acct showed up on my ba online banking just this wk (about 4 wks after mailing the check).  maybe by the 2 mo. mark I’ll have the card LOL

[jmbfl]

There seem to be large inconsistancies between the various credit analyst call centers servicing BOA credit accounts. Do you happen to know where the call centers were that gave you good and bad service? I found Maine (formerly MBNA) to be ng while Ohio was great. I can't find which number I had good results at right now but I will post it when I can get at it.

[Anonymous]

What does your scores have to be for BoA CC? Can you automatically apply for the 99/500 with BoA? If so which CRA do they pull from, and does it cause a hard inquiry?

[jmbfl]

You cannot apply directly for the 99/500 card from BofA. If you apply for another product and are turned down you may be offered the 99/500 card. Otherwise you will have to go fully secured. Use the preapproval link on their site. If you do not like the result call one of the credit analyst numbers and ask for a recon. If they say no to the recon then mention 99/500 card. No harm in asking.

Now, concerning back door numbers for BofA:

1) I called 866-865-7842 and was connected to a credit analyst working in a call center in Maine, which was formerly an MBNA center. This individual was most unhelpful! Basically said, "scat".

The next day:

2) I called 866-506-5067 and was connected to a credit analyst working in a call center in Ohio. I asked for the same think, albeit in a slightly different manner. This person was fantastic. Took very good care of me, gave me exactly what I asked for and left me thinking I should have asked for more.

Widely different results from different call centers within the same large corporation. It shouldn't be, but it sure was for me. Good think I have never taken "scat" for an answer in my entire life.

YMMV