Speigel and Newport News- Advice for rebuilders

[Bella1980]

If you are like me and are trying to rebuild, you may also be caught up in all the threads talking about soft inquiries and preapprovals and looking to see who has your numbers and what cards they are being approved for. It is exciting and heartwarming to see the "you are approved" notice and getting the card in the mail brings a smile to your face.

All I have to say right now is STOP and THINK! Do you really need this card? Would you ever really use it? Do you have enough cards to start rebuilding?

I got so caught up in the soft inquiry threads for Speigel and Newport news that I went on happily applying and hoping to get approved without once ever looking at the sites or what they sold. I didn't even know if they had actual stores. I was "'lucky" enough to be approved for both with $500 limits.

Then I looked on the websites to see what I wanted to buy. I have to admit that I wasn't exactly impressed with the selection but decided to buy a suit from them because I needed a new one for interviews anyways. I ordered a suit on Speigels.com and a jacket on newportnews.com over 2 weeks ago.

I am still waiting for the items and when I tried to cancel the order I was told that the items have been shipped already. This is a lie, I checked the tracking numbers on UPS.COM. One didn't even exist and the other one had been sent in for shipping over a week ago but had NOT been shipped as yet!

I am so mad...as soon as I get the items I am going to return them right back (for which I will have to pay for more shipping) so I will pay about $30 for some clothes that I won't have all because I was so happy and excited to get approved for new credit.

I guess its a small price to pay and I didn't have any hard inquiries because I was "preapproved" but I should have thought about it a bit more carefully before I applied for these 2 cards.

I urge all rebuilders to really think about the cards they are applying for and the reasons for the application before they apply. You don't need to get EVERY card you may qualify for!

[Anonymous]

This is excellent advice, Bella!  I, too, was preapproved for a $500 Spiegel card when I was rebuilding, and I was tempted because it was exciting to know that I was finally to the point where someone, anyone, would issue me a card.  After looking at their website, though, I realized I would be hard pressed to find a way to spend $5 with them, let alone $500, so I decided to pass, as difficult as it was.

The thing to keep in mind when rebuilding, as you alluded to, is that once you have a couple of positive tradelines reporting, it's only a matter of time before you'll be able to qualify for better and better cards.  Once you do, you'll be happy you don't have a bunch of accounts that you don't really want cluttering up your reports.

Great post!

[Anonymous]

Wow, I have always received my order within 5-6 days. I like some of their clothing, but I usually have to do extensive searching. If you return anything, they will deduct 6.95 from your return after they receive and process it. (Was the item you ordered back ordered or listed a later ship date, since it has happened to me on occassion?)

Also, you didn't have to get both cards since you can use them at the either store,  Eddie Bauer and a few other's. If you check at the bottom of the home page, it will have a list of stores. The card (Speigel anyway) can be used at pretty much all of them.

I had a pretty decent credit line with them ages ago but I also bought the majority of my suits for work with them.

[Bella1980]

The item was not on back order and what makes me so mad is that my interview is tomorrow. That is why I made sure to order it so far in advance.

I can use my Speigel card at Eddie Bauer??

[Anonymous]

I did when I had mine.

[adamseve]

Thanks so much for this advice.  It really does make you think.

I've never had any problem with either of these stores.  Sounds like someone made a mistake and they didn't own up to it.

Now, I love both of these stores. What report did they pull?  Did you have any baddies, i.e., BK, unpaid collections, lates, judgments.

[Bella1980]

The stuff still isn't here.

They didn't pull any report as I got them through a soft pull, I can't see softpulls on Truecredit but I think Speigels pulled Experian.

I have 6 baddies on Experian: chargeoffs and collections. It is also my lowest score.

[Anonymous]

Bella I'm sorry to hear you're having such a bad experience.  I love Newport myself.  I am complimented often on items I buy from there (but of course I'm picky about what I buy).  In 4 years I've only had two problems with items but it ended up working in my favor.

I have not gotten the credit card yet but debating on it.  I shop there too often not to get some kind of reward points for it.

Good luck with your order and when it arrives I hope you're not disappointed.

Message Edited by Davis12906 on 08-09-2008 01:10 PM

[tri3nity]

Is it easy to get a Spiegel account. Looking for accounts to help my fiancee establish credit.

[Bella1980]

It seems pretty easy. Have him go through the preapproved links and he can see if he is approved without getting a hard inquiry!