Negative Experience applying for Citi Diamond Preferred - 805 Equifax score

[enharu]

@bears, my understanding is that OP got it for 0% financing. A personal loan on other hand will start charging interest from day 1 of the loan.

[tiduspr]

That's correct; pretty much the only thing that interested me about the card was the 0% Apr for 18 months; if I can't manage to get an increase on the CL, I'll never really use it.

Only applied because I was pretty sure I'd get a great offer; don't know if Simplicity would have even a different experience...

but after these 3 weeks, the senseless excuse for turning me down initially (even though after I called they somehow had no problems to transfer my documents to the Spanish department), and the ridiculous Apr that's "based on credit worthiness", I just don't feel like I want to have my finances in the hands of citi.

In a couple of hours I'll give them a call, and hopefully they'll understand that I don't want another hard pull.

That might be a bit of a hard stretch, though, since communication was another problem.

I couldn't understand half of the people I spoke to on Citi. I don't demand service from a native English speaker at all, but when more than half of a conversation that involves my credit is replied to with "yes sir" when I haven't asked a "yes or no" question, peace of mind pretty much leaves the building.

[youngandcreditwrthy]

Yep, that's what you can expect from Citi.
I think their TBTF rep is accurate. Even with a prime offering such as CDP, you still only get to barely understand the rep, and they really never do answer the question if it's a specific one or a unique situation.
Also, consider this- where did you send your phone bill? And where was the Rep located that you spoke with?
Geographically, it's almost next to impossible for an outsourced rep to physically check and confirm receipt of dox.
Oh well, good luck! And Amex BCE is a good card !

[tiduspr]

Update:

Called the Citi Executive Office Division and got transferred to their executive credit department.

Even though service was better than the main customer service line(as far as understanding what they were saying)  I couldn't really solve any of the situations.

As far as the credit limit increase request, the person I spoke to told me that they could review it, but that it would definitely require another hard pull .

With no other inquiries before Citi and the experience with them so far, I really do not want to risk another inquiry on my report, particularly so soon after the initial one. Just the one inquiry from citi made my equifax score drop from 805 to around 790ish, last time I checked.  I don't think it's worth risking another drop on my score, particularly from a company that would choose to simply initially decline (what I consider to be a solid) application, instead of doing what they did once I called, and simply forward the documents to their spanish department.  I guess I don't really see them increasing my credit limit, since it's going to be exactly the same report, with an additional inquiry.

I don't mean to come off as snobbish, but I thought my credit history would speak for itself, and place me in good standing as far as my application would go.  As for the apr, she pretty much said once I had established a relationship with the bank, that could be reviewed.

That relationship, though, won't be established and it will just be another card in my wallet. 

I would really like to just decline the card and close it, but most things I've read suggest that I'm not really doing anything with that, since the report was already pulled.

I feel tempted to apply for the Amex BCE, but it seriously irks me to get another hard pull.  So, I haven't decided yet.

I appreciate the suggestions and comments, everyone. 

[youngandcreditwrthy]

I think you're making a great decision.
I wound up with four hard pulls from Citi to get my CDP, and I regret that. That's why my EQ score still lags behind the rest.
If you're in doubt about the drop in score or about the BCE, just go check the reviews online :-)
Also, a prime score is 720+ I believe, so 790 is still prime!

[chnceit]

CITI is definitely a lender who is bipolar. There is no rhyme or reason to their decisions. I say keep the card, buy what you want, ask for a CLI after 6 months then ask for an interest rate reduction.

Since you already got a HP from CITI what's you got to lose for another one from AMEX? Inquiries only hurt for a year!

[enharu]

Sorry to hear about your citi experience. My experience with their normal CSRs thus far have been pretty horrible, but the EO has came through and resolved my issues in an extremely efficient manner. That being said, I shouldn't had to contact EO in the first place just to find out what kind of MasterCard did I get, but normal CSRs were telling me that I got "a normal MasterCard, not a visa or an American Express", which makes zero sense.

The CDP also seems to be their lowest tier card alongside with the dividend (not including their subprime cards such as the shell card), so I'm guessing that might have possibly played a role of some sort as well.

You should check out American Express, chase . Bank of America and FIA backed products (which is also essentially Bank of America). Bank of America and FIA backed products are known to be extremely generous with their CLs and CLIs, though CLI requests are HP on TU. There are a number of examples of people being able to get 3-10X CLI with them. Chase and American Express should also give you a decent CL due to your excellent history. income does play a relatively big role in most prime lenders' consideration process, so that may be holding you back a little, but if all you want is just a 5k CL, chances are extremely high.

[navigatethis12]

I think you should just use the card and after six months ask for an increase. I barely used any of the cards I have with them and was granted a great increase on both of them. When the letter comes you can see what adverse factors went into their decision of the limit.

[tiduspr]

Thanks for all of the replies and advice.  

*Shrugs* I'll keep the card, but know that I won't use it.  

Many of you have recommended the American Express, so I might try that out then.  It seems like a card that I can actually keep using and benefit from, even after the intro apr offer is up.  I guess my only biff with American Express is that it isn't as widely accepted as Visa is; but I already have a couple of Visas so I'm covered.

Well, if I do go ahead and apply for the AX, I'll update the thread,.

[Bluedog23]

Bears-purdue Fan, why would OP get a loan and pay interest when he has the credit profile to get what he's seeking which is a cc with an interest free period of 12 to 18 months? if I were OP I would try a different card such as AMEX BCE if Citi won't increase his CL. Don't think he mentioned which cards he already has except BOA.
To OP, good luck whatever you decide to do!