topic HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances?? in Credit Cards

HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

nitrov — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:31:25 GMT

I just got a call from WF who provides financing for Mattress Firm stating one of my promotional balances was expiring within 30 days and to check my statement. When I went online to check my statement, I noticed a big fat giant box with a notification on the top that said "Please be advised that the program between Mattress Firm and Wells Fargo will be ending on March 31, 2016. This means your credit card may no longer be used to make purchases and your account will be closed."

I called a CSR and asked what this meant since I still have a balance of $2000 that was supposed to be 0% for another 36 months from a mattress I bought last year. She said my account will be closed so I cannot make future purchases but I can still continue to pay the balance off under the agreed repayment arrangement. I told her a closed account with a balance will adversely affect my credit and she said she can direct me to the credit reporting group if that happens. WHAT?! I don't want my credit to take a hit because they're closing the account. Does that mean this will report as "Closed by credit grantor?" I've never had something like this happen before! Should I PIF before 3/31 to make sure it doesn't negatively report? HELP! What do I do?

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:45:34 GMT

@nitrov wrote:
I just got a call from WF who provides financing for Mattress Firm stating one of my promotional balances was expiring within 30 days and to check my statement. When I went online to check my statement, I noticed a big fat giant box with a notification on the top that said "Please be advised that the program between Mattress Firm and Wells Fargo will be ending on March 31, 2016. This means your credit card may no longer be used to make purchases and your account will be closed."

I called a CSR and asked what this meant since I still have a balance of $2000 that was supposed to be 0% for another 36 months from a mattress I bought last year. She said my account will be closed so I cannot make future purchases but I can still continue to pay the balance off under the agreed repayment arrangement. I told her a closed account with a balance will adversely affect my credit and she said she can direct me to the credit reporting group if that happens. WHAT?! I don't want my credit to take a hit because they're closing the account. Does that mean this will report as "Closed by credit grantor?" I've never had something like this happen before! Should I PIF before 3/31 to make sure it doesn't negatively report? HELP! What do I do?

A card being reported as closed by creditor won't hurt your scores one bit. As long as it continues to report with the original limit and current balances, which it should, you'll be fine and nothing will change.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:46:04 GMT

Wow, sorry to hear about this. To be quite honest, there is not a whole lot that you can do about it other than try to pay off the balance before that account is closed and reported as such.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:47:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wow, sorry to hear about this. To be quite honest, there is not a whole lot that you can do about it other than try to pay off the balance before that account is closed and reported as such.

Nah, he doesn't need to pay it off before it closes. He can continue to pay it just as he was.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:50:14 GMT

Yeah, you're right. I just know how I am and if I had a card that was closing I'd try and get it paid off. Then again, I'm a little crazy about stuff like that.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

nitrov — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:56:42 GMT

I thought they always say you NEVER want to let an account close with a balance on it? As long as it won't hurt my credit I don't care one bit. I can't believe they're closing the accounts. I've never had this happen before. I know it's not just me and it's not adverse action in any way but it's still just unbelievable that they'd do that!

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

nitrov — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:57:59 GMT

It's not like it's a terribly large amount of money so if it would avoid hurting me I'd rather just pay it but if I won't hurt me I'll just leave it.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:59:50 GMT

@nitrov wrote:
I thought they always say you NEVER want to let an account close with a balance on it? As long as it won't hurt my credit I don't care one bit. I can't believe they're closing the accounts. I've never had this happen before. I know it's not just me and it's not adverse action in any way but it's still just unbelievable that they'd do that!

The only time it would hurt you is if it reported as a $0 limit with $XXXX as a balance. Occasionally a creditor will do that if the closing was a result of adverse action but in this case I'm sure they will continue to report it exactly as they have with the possible addition of 'closed by creditor' which doesn't hurt you at all.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

kjm79 — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:59:56 GMT

When an account closes with a balance, both the balance and CL should still report. What might hurt you down the road is when you pay off the balance and then the OC stops reporting the CL. That will reduce your overal available CL. But, for as long as the account still carries a balance, your should not be adversely affected.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

nitrov — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:04:09 GMT

Ok, thanks everyone! Hopefully it doesn't hurt me. Can't believe those people!

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:04:32 GMT

I would imagine that they will zero out your available credit on the account, but keep your credit limit at the original amount so as not to adversely affect your utilization. Then when they balance is paid off, it would show as closed...

Now, if they reduce the credit limit, and balance chase you all the way to the finish, THAT would be a problem

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:20:29 GMT

Found this from another thread. not sure if they close your accounts or just switch the portfolio to synchrony ? But you mentioned that you spoke to CSR and she told you that your account will be closed. interesting. sometimes dont they switch banks with people still retaining their cards ?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/synchrony-financial-mattress-firm-partner-120000241.html

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:40:25 GMT

This is the exact verbiage from my most recent statement.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:44:36 GMT

@nitrov wrote:
Ok, thanks everyone! Hopefully it doesn't hurt me. Can't believe those people!

What is hard to believe? Financial partnerships come to an end from time to time (e.g Amex Costco/JB, merger or AA and US Air impacting respective credit card programs). And this seems to be as painless as possible, keep paying under the old terms, just no more available credit. Not clear what else could be done!

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

nitrov — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:50:02 GMT

It makes more sense to me from a business perspective to transfer the debt to another form of revolving credit. Just because their strategic partnership is no longer in tact, doesn't mean they should want to lose my future business as well. A bank like WF with vast resources could easily convert the account into a WF-branded trade line and leave the account open, permitting me to use it like a regular Visa or MC rather than just close the account. Or, alternatively, Mattress Firm could give me an option to transfer the account over to their new co-branding partner. It's not like Mattress Firm is going anywhere.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

nitrov — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:51:11 GMT

And what bothers me most is the lack of advanced notice. They should have sent me a letter notifying me well in advance that the account was going to be closed. Had I not coincidentally pulled up my statement I would have never noticed this. Account closure should generate a special notice, not just a box on a statement.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 18:10:21 GMT

@nitrov wrote:
I thought they always say you NEVER want to let an account close with a balance on it? As long as it won't hurt my credit I don't care one bit. I can't believe they're closing the accounts. I've never had this happen before. I know it's not just me and it's not adverse action in any way but it's still just unbelievable that they'd do that!

With everything that has been happening in the credit world, I'm not surprised. Walmart Discover credit card switched to Walmart MC, Sallie Mae MC is no longer accepting applications, Costco decided to end their association with Amex and partner with Citi, Comenity has been AA'ing folks left and right, and now Wells Fargo and Mattress Firm are parting ways.

I focus on situations I can control: How I use my credit. Outside of that, I just roll with the punches. Best of luck!

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 20:32:40 GMT

Well I logged into Wells Fargo online and it was a surprise to me that the account was closed.

I didn't intend to purchase anything new from Mattress Firm so it's not a big deal

What IS a big deal is my Debt to Credit Ratio just took a big hit as my credit score dropped 30+ points from this account being closed.

I called Mattress Firm to ask if they planned on moving the accounts to the new credit company and they said nope!

So I get a 30+ point hit to my credit for something compleetly out of my control. Something isn't right here

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

nitrov — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 20:53:24 GMT

That doesn't sound right. Did you have a balance on your card? How much was your limit on the Mattress Firm card? Mine has a balance on it still so mine is sill reporting as open despite that I can't make any new purchases. Sounds to me like you just need to get a CLI on another account to make up for the CL you lost on Mattress Firm. Unless you have very little credit closing one store account won't impact your score that much. If you're looking at something like Credit Karma don't worry too much, they're very inaccurate. You'll be fine.

Re: HELP! Wells Fargo/Mattress Firm closing all accounts with balances??

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 21:06:13 GMT

Yeah had a Balance on it as we just bought a bed from there like 3 months ago.

So the balance is also high. Wish it could be as simple as just paying it off.

I got the info from Experian. It shows that I lost the credit line but not the debt...Thus Debt to Credit Raito bang!

I can't believe this is even allowed

-Vaio