GEMB "luv botton" questions

[spiritcraft1]

Is it always a soft when you "hot the love button" on a GEMB acct? Lowes, Sam's etc... Or have some received hards... or is calling better?

[scramblingin2007]

I've hit the button for: jc penny, lowes and old navy, always a soft.

[nicemann]

I have both a GEMB card with Walmart and JCP.  When I hit the button I never get hard or a soft. I was told all they look at is your payment history with them.  I know when I have gotten declined it was always "Need 4 Month Payment History at Current CL" with Walmart and 3 months with JCP.

[Anonymous]

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@spiritcraft1 wrote:
Is it always a soft when you "hot the love button" on a GEMB acct? Lowes, Sam's etc... Or have some received hards... or is calling better?

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Question? What info does a creditor see when they pull a soft inq? Is it score and all credit including inq?

Or just score? I just dont understand whats the diffrence..

[laz98]

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@nicemann wrote:
I have both a GEMB card with Walmart and JCP.  When I hit the button I never get hard or a soft. I was told all they look at is your payment history with them.  I know when I have gotten declined it was always "Need 4 Month Payment History at Current CL" with Walmart and 3 months with JCP.

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how strange.  i just read a different post that said GEMB said they look at your entire CR.

[spiritcraft1]

I went for it...  all accts 3 months old...

Lowes:  online... "account not eligible for CLI"..  still at $500

Sams store card:  online  request denied basically...  still at $700

Amazon:  phone...  tried to increase my lowest limit ($200)...  nope...  spoke to a rep and I closed the account.

Message Edited by spiritcraft1 on 10-14-2008 03:51 AM

[CreditAble]

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laz98 wrote:

how strange.  I just read a different post that said GEMB said they look at your entire CR.

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 GEMB Sam's does use soft "account reviews" for some CLI approvals. GEMB gave me plenty of credit report "Mumbo Jumbo" when refusing to raise my $4,000 credit limit. 

 The CSR gave me standard bogus (credit report) reasons for not giving me an increase. High balances were among the reasons although I had no more than  $200 reporting and only on one credit card.

[CreditAble]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What info does a creditor see when they pull a soft inq? Is it score and all credit including inq?

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 An Account Review may include your complete credit history especially inquiries. Additionally there might be some kind of credit score generated.

 

[CreditAble]

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@spiritcraft1 wrote:

Sams store card:  online  request denied basically...  still at $700

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 You might try charging $350 on the Sam's card and pay it in full as soon as you receive the statement. You could pay the card in store if you like. My initial CL was $1,000. Within the first few months I charged $500 and the next statement the limit was automatically (without asking) increased to $1,500.

 A  year later I asked to be raised to $2,000 right before the Christmas shopping season. I explained my customary "don't want to charge over 50% of my credit limit". I purchased $1,000 that month and had the CL upped to $4,000 the following Christmas. 

 Unfortunately, for me, further increases will only be available if I convert to a Sam's Discover card. Be aware that if you are able to convert to a Sam's Discover you might qualify for higher limits.

 The bottom line is that GEMB might not want to give increases if you don't charge enough in a given month or if you revolve balances with relatively high utilization within the first few months of using the card. 

 I was able to get one unsolicited auto CL increase in the beginning by simply using  the card for 50% of the Credit Limit.

 If there is something you need to purchase for $350 anyway at Sam's you could charge it and let it post to the statement. Once you get the statement go right to Sam's  the next day and pay in full at the membership desk. 

 While there ask the Sam's service person to get GEMB on the telephone for you. Tell the GEMB rep that you just paid your statement so that you could use your card some more. Ask for a credit limit increase so you can do your Christmas shopping at Sam's. Ho Ho Ho...

 Your mileage may vary but I found that GEMB isn't too hard to deal with around the holiday shopping season until the Credit Limit requests are for relatively higher amounts. 

Message Edited by CreditAble on 10-14-2008 06:31 PM