I've had my orchard card since 2005 and have been paying a $59 AF and have never once had a credit limit increase because the two times I called in to ask for one and they told me it would be a $10 charge to get $100 CLI! I couldn't believe I still had a card with a $300 limit and never been late/over the limit and paying an AF so I called today and asked to have the AF removed, they told me no way they never do that so I said ok cancel it!
I was then sent to the department that deals with account closures and the guy there said they would wave it this year if I'd stay, I asked if they would wave the AF permanently and he said no, so I told him unless they could do that I didn't want it... He then started in on this whole line about how they are the ONLY credit card that reports to all 3 CRA's and then told me that I would never be able to get another card like Orchard with credit like mine! WTH! My scores are between 695 and 750! I gave him a piece of my mind and he shut up and closed the account. I can't believe they flat out lie to people like this, its just sad they are allowed to practice these "scare tactics" !
Starting Score: 480-550 in 2005
ive had an orchard card for a long while now. its actually my oldest card. i think ive had it for nearly 6 or 7 years now. ive been rebuilding my credit for a long while now and im finally over 700 on my equifax. id love to cancel the orchard. its got the lowest limit of all my cards at 1800 and it has a annual fee. everytime ive called in for a CLI the only offer 100 bucks and they want to charge me a fee for the increase. im afriad to cancel it because its such an old account. 
my only other two cards i just got this year
@Anonymous wrote:ive had an orchard card for a long while now. its actually my oldest card. i think ive had it for nearly 6 or 7 years now. ive been rebuilding my credit for a long while now and im finally over 700 on my equifax. id love to cancel the orchard. its got the lowest limit of all my cards at 1800 and it has a annual fee. everytime ive called in for a CLI the only offer 100 bucks and they want to charge me a fee for the increase. im afriad to cancel it because its such an old account.
A closed account should remain on your reports for up to ten years, and it is included in calculating your longest account age and average age of accounts. If you don't let balances report, or only a minimal amount, it shouldn't affect your util, either.
I'm not trying to encourage you to close it, but it's good to know how all this works. Read fused's Closing Credit Cards to help you think through the process.
@llecs wrote:Will there be a memorial service for your now-closed Orchard?
Yes, it was on Friday. I said a few choice words as I put it in the shredder 
I then checked my mail box to find that I had a letter from discover saying I had a $350 auto CLI! yay that's $50 more then my orchard card was!
...Thanks for all the congrats, I'm so happy to have outgrown orchard and be so near my credit score goal that's taken me over over 4 years to get to. If I didn't have the help of this forum I would have never been here thanks for all the advice guys!