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so i've had a tooth that's been bothering me so i decided to check out this new dental place in town i was told accepted my insurance. when i arrived i had a bunch of paperwork to work that included a page for CARE CREDIT.
from these boards i know a little bit about what CARE CREDIT is, so i filled out some of my info on the page, not thinking much of it. anywho, only a few days later i get a score watch alert saying i have a new inquiry from GEMB on my account. i thought it was when i had applied for a victoria's secret card (even though i knew they only pulled EX) and thought nothing again. fast forward to a couple days ago. i get a CC in the mail from CARE CREDIT with a $1,000 limit!!!!!??????? super confused at this point since i didn't remember giving them enough info and HAD NO CLUE i was applying for credit, since i'm just working on my scores at this point in time.
but i *may* need to put a crown on this one tooth of mine and the dental place said that since i was approved for CARE CREDIT i could get the crown ($899) for 12 months at 0% interest for $75/month.
i said that sounded like a plan (since my insurance won't cover crowns) and then he went ahead and ran the purchase through!!! even though i haven't gotten the work done-is that the norm?? he said i wouldn't get my first bill until the crown was already put in (sometime in june) but now i'm having serious second thoughts...i KNOW i should have been more firm (i'm 25 but only have one CC and am not used to getting approved for things and not having a co-signer, i think i just froze)
i just have some questions abou the card:
am i maxed out now since he already ran the crown through?
does it work just like a CC according to FICO?
since i only have 1 CC now and i am looking/needing to add more TL's is this going to be good for my scores?
if i decide i don't need the crown now or can't afford the monthly payments do i just call up the dentist and tell him to take the charge off my account?
thanks in advance everyone!!!
@blondie_keen wrote:so i've had a tooth that's been bothering me so i decided to check out this new dental place in town i was told accepted my insurance. when i arrived i had a bunch of paperwork to work that included a page for CARE CREDIT.
from these boards i know a little bit about what CARE CREDIT is, so i filled out some of my info on the page, not thinking much of it. anywho, only a few days later i get a score watch alert saying i have a new inquiry from GEMB on my account. i thought it was when i had applied for a victoria's secret card (even though i knew they only pulled EX) and thought nothing again. fast forward to a couple days ago. i get a CC in the mail from CARE CREDIT with a $1,000 limit!!!!!??????? super confused at this point since i didn't remember giving them enough info and HAD NO CLUE i was applying for credit, since i'm just working on my scores at this point in time.
but i *may* need to put a crown on this one tooth of mine and the dental place said that since i was approved for CARE CREDIT i could get the crown ($899) for 12 months at 0% interest for $75/month.
i said that sounded like a plan (since my insurance won't cover crowns) and then he went ahead and ran the purchase through!!! even though i haven't gotten the work done-is that the norm?? he said i wouldn't get my first bill until the crown was already put in (sometime in june) but now i'm having serious second thoughts...i KNOW i should have been more firm (i'm 25 but only have one CC and am not used to getting approved for things and not having a co-signer, i think i just froze)
i just have some questions abou the card:
am i maxed out now since he already ran the crown through?
does it work just like a CC according to FICO?
since i only have 1 CC now and i am looking/needing to add more TL's is this going to be good for my scores?
if i decide i don't need the crown now or can't afford the monthly payments do i just call up the dentist and tell him to take the charge off my account?
thanks in advance everyone!!!
I do know this...you never pay for any work that hasn't been done yet. Because what if he or she does a bad job on this Crown etc....then you are stuck because he already has your money. Your on the hamster wheel trying to negotiate when as you stated yourself you should have been firm. I do hope it works out for you, but this doesn't sound good to me.
Unless you get that crown next week I would make him credit the account back. you don't want to be billed before work is done like last poster stated.
yes the account will help since you have very little credit
but yes this will be nearly maxed which will hurt you until you get it under 50% and so on down.
@heirophant wrote:
I disagree with the last 2 posters. Dental work is expensive. If you are having a crown done, why not start paying on it now? Crowns are a pretty standard procedure and unless the dentist is a complete idiot, he's probably going to get it right. Personally, I have a lot of work to get done and I told my dentist to charge me in advance $1000 last December so I could start paying on it and hopefully get everything done in one shot when my insurance policy started its new year and contributed another $1500. As a result, I now only owe $100 after my last visit and my care credit is paid off completely. It was a very unstressful way to pay. I love my care credit card and I suggest it to everyone I can.
You sound better then the infomercial. I guess everyone will have to make up their own minds. Me personally, i never pay for anything without seeing some results first. People don't say hey I want this home improvement done and here is all the money up front for the work and I trust you'll do the work right. "Doesn't work like that in the real world" so not to get in the weeds with you, maybe a partial payment would be ok but the full amount, that's unacceptable.
@Itsmeagain wrote:
I have had Care Credit for about 1 yr. I got it because I needed an expensive procedure not covered by my ins. and it seemed like a good deal. The clinic also took the card in advance and did a pre-approval. They did not charge the card however, until after the procedure which was a couple months away. So, to answer your question; it's just a pre-approval. Don't be concerned, it won't show up on your CR until after the crown work is done. I've found that Care Credit is much easier to work with than some of the other GEMB family. I needed a higher credit line and they quickly approved a 2500 increase about a month after opening the account. And if it is "maxed out" higher CL's are easy with Care Credit. It works just like a credit card according to FICO. Depending on your situation, this card should help your scores. If you don't have the crown work, just call and cancel. The pre-approval will not show anywhere but on your Card Credit account. It will not be reported but you will have a brand new credit line showing on your CR as a revolving account.
This explaination may have resolved the questions everyone is trying to get too. Thanks for explaining this, if it's not actually being charge then i guess that's ok.
i also wanted to note that inquiry did NOT cost me any fico points, so that is super nice.
i kinda got two different sets of opinions on this but i appreciate all of them-thanks again!
overall, i think the pros of this card outweigh any particular doubts i was having : )
and even though i was lame enough to not even realize i had applied for one, i'm super happy i got approved!
Congrats Blondie_Keen. I agree that the advantages outweigh the singular disadvantage of having to use a provider within their network. But the zero percent interest makes it well worthwhile. And since it shows as a regular trade line on the CR, what's not to like?