Merrick Bank Rant

[valley_man0505]

I have been fighting for years to improve my credit after the damage my ex-wife did.  Merrick Bank (Hooters at the time) was the first CCC to allow me to open an account with them, which was in 2007 after I began the "cleanup" process.  About 5 years ago, I finally had ALL negatives taken care of and removed.  Throughout that process I was able to open a couple high rate CC.  Right after I got my mortgage in 2009, two more medical CAs popped up.  These were also for my ex-wife, but they would not remove them.  This  past month, they FINALLY dropped off, and my report is once again free of any negatives (aside from high utilization).  My score jumped from about 630 to 680, so I figured this would be a good time to start looking into some better terms on my CCs.

US Bank, surprisingly, increased my CL from $500 to $3,000 and dropped my APR from 19.99% to 15.99%.  My next attempt was Merrick since this my highest rate card (24.2%) and I am sick of the $6/month fee.  However, when I called Merrick, after a 10 minute wait to speak with someone, the CSR came on and she was immediately extremely rude before I even started talking to her.  I asked her if it is possible to qualify for a lower APR and/or reduction/elimination of my monthly fee (I know a lot of people "only" pay $3, so I would have been happy to get at least that).  The CSR snapped at me and said they do not take requests from customers.  I asked if my account is periodically reviewed and she said yes, but they can't change the APR unless the Federal Prime Rate changes and they do not change monthly fees.  From that point on, every question I asked got the same response:  "I would like to remind you that this card has a high rate because it helps people fix their credit".

I  probably could have handled these responses if it weren't for how incredibly rude the CSR was about it.  Wow.  And, of course, Merrick doesn't even have a way for me to submit a complaint unless I do it by snail mail or call back and speak to another rude CSR who obviously won't care about my complaint.  Their website gives no other options for contacting them.

If this card weren't anchoring my AAoA, it would be gone already.  I can just SD it, but then I still have to keep paying that #$#%%^ monthly feed.

[Revelate]

Rudeness aside, to be fair, there are product limitations on every lenders cards and this is likely one of them.

That said, if you were to close the card, it wouldn't touch your AAoA in the slightest: AAoA factors both open and closed accounts.  What it will do though is start the 10 year clock after which the tradeline will fall off.  

If it's a junk card anyway, just close it and move on is my opinion; at a 680 you can do better than that and in 10 years if you're still using your credit file, you'll likely have plenty of bulk where that account falling off won't hurt you.

Much respect for the work you've done to clean up your credit reports though!

[roniram]

If I were you, since your scores have increased, and you can now qualify for better cards, I would do so.  Then, call Merrick back, tell thm you are going to close your cared, and then tell them WHY.  Tell them the last person you talked to told you this card was for people who have to fix their credit, and yours is now fixed.   I have a Merrick Bank Card and and soon as I can get prime cards (hopefully within the next few months) it will be the first to go, even though it is one of my oldest.

[dtjones052209]

+1 Relevate

[BarryNTexas]

I took the plunge this week and closed my Merrick Card down.  I did it with extreme prejudice!  It was a joy to sit there and listen to the CSR try to talk me out of it... nothing she offered would have made a difference of course.  I feel so much better mentally geting rid of their card and look forward to the future!  The last thing she said to me was the account is officially closed and if I ever change my mind down the road to give them a call back... they MIGHT be willing to give me another shot.  NOW THAT MADE MY DAY!!!

Take control of your destiny and close the account and find a CCC that will look upon you as a customer who actually is using them as a solution rather than them using you as a solution to their P&L.

Good luck! -Barry

[wacdenney]

Merrick is an account destined to be closed the day it's opened.  I kept mine longer than I really should have because I liked the "free" FICO score. 

[valley_man0505]

Thanks for the all the input.

Revelate--you know, I never even considered that.  I guess it would still count towards AAoA even if closed wouldn't it?

For now, I think I will suffer a little longer with it.  This is primarily because my utilization is the main thing holding my score back, so I hate to lose the extra available credit.  However, now that those last 2 CAs are gone, I imagine that I will be pretty succesful over the next few months at getting some CLIs on some of my "better" cards.  Once I do that, I will close (and have fun doing it). 

And, yes, I am aware that the best way to improve utilization is the pay down balance, not by getting more available credit.  I am working on that at the same time.  I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[SunriseEarth]

If the monthly fees are worth how the CC plays into your UTIL, then it might be worth keeping for now.  As had been mentioned, it won't drop your AAoA for ~10 years, when it falls off your CRs.  And I'm sorry for the bad CSR...maybe you got the same person as the other forum member got on the phone. 

My Merrick is currently in the SD, as I don't have much use for it anymore, as I'm getting better cards.  Fortunately, I don't have AF, so it's causing no harm in the SD for now.  In May, it becomes 1 year old.   I'm really debating if I should keep it open until next May, so I can have two full years of positive history.   We'll see.