Cabela's just screwed me

[valley_man0505]

After nearly 7 years of dealing with multiple CO's and collections, I am finally only 3 months away from having ALL my baddies gone (the last one is scheduled to drop off in February).  I have some recent medical collections that are tanking my score right now, but I plan to have those all paid off within the next month, so I should be able to get rid of those (assuming HR 3421 goes through). 

Suddenly, last week, the fraud department from Cabelas called to ask me about 2 suspicious purchases.  Neither of them were mine, so they said they would close my account and open a new one.  Well, they closed the account, and my $3500 CL was maxed out at the time.  Well, yesterday I got a letter in the mail saying that they closed my account and tried to open a new one, but due to the recent medical collections which were not on my report when I first opened my Cabelas card a couple years ago, they could not open a new one.  All because of a couple medical bills that appeared mysteriously on my report earlier this year that were from a surgery my ex-wife had 4 years ago.  I paid $4000 worth of bills from that surgery the year before and the hospital said they were all taken care of.  Well, it turns out the anesthesiologist bills separately from the rest of the hospital and I had no idea those bills existed until they popped up on my report.

Here's the real kicker--the fraudelent purchases on my Cabelas card totaled about $6 total between the two!  So, now I essentially have a $3500 balance on a $0 CL card AND I lost the card on top of it.  I was never late with a single payment on the card in the 2 years that I had it.

I still plan to call for recon, so maybe it will still turn out for the better.

[MS00000000]

They called you about two suspicious purchases that totaled $6? I wonder why that would trigger a fraud alert with such small amounts. Seems strange, like maybe they were looking for a reason to close your account. Then again, I'm suspicious of pretty much everyone. 

[Anonymous]

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@MS00000000 wrote:

They called you about two suspicious purchases that totaled $6? I wonder why that would trigger a fraud alert with such small amounts. Seems strange, like maybe they were looking for a reason to close your account. Then again, I'm suspicious of pretty much everyone. 

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Test purchases by fraudsters are usually small, so the card owners don't notice them. If those go through, the big purchases will follow suite.

[Anonymous]

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@valley_man0505 wrote:

Here's the real kicker--the fraudelent purchases on my Cabelas card totaled about $6 total between the two!  So, now I essentially have a $3500 balance on a $0 CL card AND I lost the card on top of it.  I was never late with a single payment on the card in the 2 years that I had it.

I still plan to call for recon, so maybe it will still turn out for the better.

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That really sucks. I hope you will get this decision reversed.

[Anonymous]

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@valley_man0505 wrote:

!  So, now I essentially have a $3500 balance on a $0 CL card AND I lost the card on top of it. 

I still plan to call for recon, so maybe it will still turn out for the better.

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A closed card with a balance will still report the credit line.  Your utilization will not change. Good luck!

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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A closed card with a balance will still report the credit line.  Your utilization will not change. Good luck!

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Not always. There are several possible scenarios:

- If a closed CC account with a balance continues to report the original credit limit, then both the balance and the CL of the closed account will be used in the utilization calculations.

- If a closed CC account is reporting a zero CL, even if there is a balance on the CC, the card will not be included in the calculations.

- If a closed CC account is reporting a non-zero CL but has a zero balance, the card will not be included in the calculations.

- If a closed account reports a CL that is equal to the balance (balance chasing), then this will be included in the calculations.  This is the worst-case scenario with regard to utilization.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[valley_man0505]

No luck on the recon.  I was told that a minimum 680 FICO is required regardless of what the reasons are for it being below 680.  In fact, the person I talked to couldn't even see what was on my report--all she could see was my FICO score.  I commented on how my card never would have even been closed if it weren't for these fraudulent charges.  The comment I received back was that this action just sped up the inevitable because since my FICO was below 680, my card would have eventually been closed as a result of my low FICO.  Funny thing is that my FICO has been below 680 since a week after my account was opened 2 years ago.  Right after I openend the account, a collection that I knew nothing about popped up on my report.

I have my doubts about whether these fraudulent charges ever occured.  They won't give me any proof that they even existed--they won't even tell me the name of one of the places it was used other than it was a "coffee shop".  I think they just wanted to create a reason to close my account.

They assured me that my full CL will continue to report to the bureaus.  I will believe that when I see it, though.

[valley_man0505]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

Not always. There are several possible scenarios:

- If a closed CC account with a balance continues to report the original credit limit, then both the balance and the CL of the closed account will be used in the utilization calculations.

- If a closed CC account is reporting a zero CL, even if there is a balance on the CC, the card will not be included in the calculations.  Not necessarily.  I had a CapOne card that was charged off.  They continued reporting a balance every month, which was updated each month to reflect new fees right up until the account reached CRTP.  The CL reported was $0.  Over the years, this account ballooned to the point where it had a balance close to $6000 (the balance was about $500 when it was CO'd).  This was counted in in my utilization...only on TU, though.  As a result, my TU utilitzation was over 500% at one point, but EQ and EX were less than 100%.  Of course, this was also for a charge-off, so maybe the rules are different than for an account that is just "closed".

- If a closed CC account is reporting a non-zero CL but has a zero balance, the card will not be included in the calculations.

- If a closed account reports a CL that is equal to the balance (balance chasing), then this will be included in the calculations.  This is the worst-case scenario with regard to utilization.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

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[Creditaddict]

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@valley_man0505 wrote:

No luck on the recon.  I was told that a minimum 680 FICO is required regardless of what the reasons are for it being below 680.  In fact, the person I talked to couldn't even see what was on my report--all she could see was my FICO score.  I commented on how my card never would have even been closed if it weren't for these fraudulent charges.  The comment I received back was that this action just sped up the inevitable because since my FICO was below 680, my card would have eventually been closed as a result of my low FICO.  Funny thing is that my FICO has been below 680 since a week after my account was opened 2 years ago.  Right after I openend the account, a collection that I knew nothing about popped up on my report.

I have my doubts about whether these fraudulent charges ever occured.  They won't give me any proof that they even existed--they won't even tell me the name of one of the places it was used other than it was a "coffee shop".  I think they just wanted to create a reason to close my account.

They assured me that my full CL will continue to report to the bureaus.  I will believe that when I see it, though.

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I got a Cabelas card about 2 years ago when everyone was getting approved.... about 12 months later it was promptly closed in a quarterly review.... you should consider yourself lucky you held on to as long as you did.... they changed lending criteria over a year ago and the 680 is true, and now no BK, Judgements, etc. allowed on your report either.

[MS00000000]

I have my doubts about whether these fraudulent charges ever occured.  They won't give me any proof that they even existed--they won't even tell me the name of one of the places it was used other than it was a "coffee shop".  I think they just wanted to create a reason to close my account.

This is what I was thinking. It sucks though. I would like to think that a company looks at a customer's personal history with them instead of just dumping someone because of changes on their credit report. I suppose they have the right to extend credit and revoke it at will though. Still sucks. Sorry you have to deal with it.