topic Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing".... in Credit Cards

I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 17:56:42 GMT

Got Chase Amazon in July 2015 and in fact, I was thrilled with $2500 credit line at that time. Amazon also gave me a store card with $700 limit.

Over the time, Chase has declined 4 of my apps (3 for United and 1 for Marriott) in the last 12 months. They wouldn't give CLI without HP (which is OK but I was not sure given their previous app denials) and they'd not reduce my APR. Since July 2015, have added good number of cards and the Amazon store card itself grew from $700 to 5K as of today.

Saw some posts in MyFico on people closing cards and I thought cutting the plastic into tiny pieces is the best way to treat Chase. Called them and told them I was not happy, app denials, APR denials, etc and the Customer Rep simply asked me "what do you want me to do?" asked for closure and within 5 seconds, she confirmed the account was closed and went on with standard statements.....I hung up.

Tomorrow targeting Synchrony Pepboys and BP gas card closures..less plastic is better

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

blondy250 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 18:09:19 GMT

I understand your frustration but think closing cards that you use is a little rash, what was the reason for the denials?

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 18:15:21 GMT

@blondy250 wrote:
I understand your frustration but think closing cards that you use is a little rash, what was the reason for the denials?

It was not rash at all. My initial United app was in Dec 15 and denial reason, after me calling them in 7 days was "Unitedplus name mismatch with SSN"....I didn't even receive a letter from Chase till I called them. Subsequently denials were due to # inquiries and accounts. At the very same time, Amex, Citibank and Wells Fargo gave me cards with much higher limits. My last Chase app was in Sept 16. Now that I've got Citi giving me DC CLI in just 3 months and also throwing in a TYP, thought it's good time to close Chase.

The only advantage of this card was it was Visa and I've few Visa cards. Nevertheless, my FCU Visa card is 10K limit and more than enough for my Costco purchases.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

blondy250 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 18:34:12 GMT

Not judging you, did the same thing on on a Barclays card a couple years ago, for poor customer service, and low limit (next lowest was 25k at the time). I regret it now.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 18:39:44 GMT

I'm surprise a chase customer service rep said that to you and didn't try to help you out.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 19:01:11 GMT

@blondy250, I'm not regretting the decision and probably will not in the future, unless Chase remains the only Financial institution in the world

@TheGeekyCreditGuy - the CSR was not rude but didn't even check if I wanted to review my decision. "OK, your account is closed now" was her statement. Probably, their operating manual tells them to ignore the checks if called on Sunday ? (just kidding...)

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

CreditMagic7 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 19:11:10 GMT

@blondy250 wrote:
Not judging you, did the same thing on on a Barclays card a couple years ago, for poor customer service, and low limit (next lowest was 25k at the time). I regret it now.

Sporting 800's in the FICO range does give one more OPTIONS

Curious though, why the "regret"?

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

austinguy907 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 19:17:31 GMT

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

noobody — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 19:20:01 GMT

Both United and Marriott cards are under 5/24.

Since you "added good number of cards", it's very likely you will be auto declined.

Chase NEVER lower APR to anybody

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

austinguy907 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 19:31:48 GMT

@noobody wrote:
Both United and Marriott cards are under 5/24.

Since you "added good number of cards", it's very likely you will be auto declined.

Chase NEVER lower APR to anybody

As much as I hate Chase for being too big to fail and crappy experiences with them I have to dispute the APR thing When they took over my account back in '08 from another bank and slapped it with a high APR it's now down from 21.24% to 17.24%. I didn't ask and they didn't tell but, it happened. I just keep them around for the age of the account and went with Slate for the free FICO. Other than that they renew the card and it hits the shredder.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

blondy250 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 19:37:42 GMT

Creditmagic, I felt the customer service rep was rude and unprofessional, in regards to an online account access issue I had with them They wouldnt raise my CL with them (10K at the time) because the account was less then a year old. I regret the decsion to close it because that account bought my AAOA down to 12yrs and I have nothing to show for it. I probably should have SD'd the card. I have no plans to ever apply for another CC again (no inquiries since 2014)Im happy with what I have I have (lowest Citi 30K, highest Discover 48K plus Chase Amex Sync in between). I will update my scores when I get a chance.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

lg8302ch — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 19:38:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@blondy250 wrote:
I understand your frustration but think closing cards that you use is a little rash, what was the reason for the denials?

It was not rash at all. My initial United app was in Dec 15 and denial reason, after me calling them in 7 days was "Unitedplus name mismatch with SSN"....I didn't even receive a letter from Chase till I called them. Subsequently denials were due to # inquiries and accounts. At the very same time, Amex, Citibank and Wells Fargo gave me cards with much higher limits. My last Chase app was in Sept 16. Now that I've got Citi giving me DC CLI in just 3 months and also throwing in a TYP, thought it's good time to close Chase.

The only advantage of this card was it was Visa and I've few Visa cards. Nevertheless, my FCU Visa card is 10K limit and more than enough for my Costco purchases.

Sorry that you feel that way about Chase. Looks to me that the denial reasons are valid points/concerns? Why not simply work on the denial reasons before a new application? Since you have a few other cards now you might consider to head in the garden and get ready for a Chase card in the future?

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

CreditMagic7 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 19:44:04 GMT

@blondy250 wrote:
Creditmagic, I felt the customer service rep was rude and unprofessional, in regards to an online account access issue I had with them They wouldnt raise my CL with them (10K at the time) because the account was less then a year old. I regret the decsion to close it because that account bought my AAOA down to 12yrs and I have nothing to show for it. I probably should have SD'd the card. I have no plans to ever apply for another CC again (no inquiries since 2014)Im happy with what I have I have (lowest Citi 30K, highest Discover 48K plus Chase Amex Sync in between). I will update my scores when I get a chance.

blondy250- Thanks for that and quite agree, it's easy sometimes to get bent when we feel our issues or concerns are taken lightly.

It's a 2-way street but sometimes we run up against nonsense. I have experienced the same. I usually block it out of my mind and try again with someone else when met on the customer line with someone I am not comfortable with.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

Ghoshida — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 20:20:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Got Chase Amazon in July 2015 and in fact, I was thrilled with $2500 credit line at that time. Amazon also gave me a store card with $700 limit.

Over the time, Chase has declined 4 of my apps (3 for United and 1 for Marriott) in the last 12 months. They wouldn't give CLI without HP (which is OK but I was not sure given their previous app denials) and they'd not reduce my APR. Since July 2015, have added good number of cards and the Amazon store card itself grew from $700 to 5K as of today.

Saw some posts in MyFico on people closing cards and I thought cutting the plastic into tiny pieces is the best way to treat Chase. Called them and told them I was not happy, app denials, APR denials, etc and the Customer Rep simply asked me "what do you want me to do?" asked for closure and within 5 seconds, she confirmed the account was closed and went on with standard statements.....I hung up.

Tomorrow targeting Synchrony Pepboys and BP gas card closures..less plastic is better

Closing cards may be good for you, depending on your situation. If there's a lot of unnecessary clutter and nothing special about the rewards, why bother?

I do have a card lying around from my CU that was also my first card, so even though it's the only <5k card I have, I don't bother closing it. Asking for a CLI is a HP, the rewards are nothing out of the ordinary, I probably don't spend $100 in a year on that. The first year, I had spent probably close to $15k.

There will always be better options.

That said, the regular Chase rep has no say over underwriting decisions (i.e. granting new credit, increasing limits). Bothering him / her generally gets you nowhere, and this is particularly true (in my experience) in the case of co-branded cards and most Cap One cards. In order to cut costs and streamline operations, banks are increasingly making CSRs only trained in basic issues (change due dates, address, reverse interest, etc.) and (if available) transfer to account specialists (underwriters). Some banks still allow a bit of overflow, e.g. AMEX and Discover chat reps can lower interest rates.

Also, while you've got a few cards, your score may still be a bit low-ish for Chase. My first Chase card (Freedom) came through when I crossed 670 (or maybe 680) and the limit was only $500. This was after 2 declines in the 12 months before that, even though at that point I had a checking and savings account with them for 1.5 years, and cards from AMEX, Barclays, Cap One, Citi, Discover, US Bank etc. No SP increase till date and all the growth has been coming from mergers and transfer of limits. To get a CSP, I had to wait another 6 months and raise the scores to the 720+ region.

Overall, I suggest not giving up on Chase altogether; they have a plethora of good cards that can come to your benefit in many ways. Make sure you're under 5/24, get your scores north of 700, and apply for some of their better cards. The Amazon Visa was anyway subpar to the store card

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

mongstradamus — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 20:34:39 GMT

sub 700 fico score + being over 5/24 is going to be an instant denial in almost all cases. Piling up the extra HP isn't going to make chase change their mind imo. With that being said if whatever CCC isn't suiting your needs then closing is an option. Also btw closing your cards won't affect your AAOA for a long time those cards will still show on your credit report for a number of years.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

elim — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 21:03:56 GMT

I try not to make hasty decisions when it comes to accounts. Get mad if you want but sit back and think before you burn a bridge. Remember, If you travel, Chase has some great travel cards that include plenty of free $$$.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 22:08:22 GMT

@elim wrote:
I try not to make hasty decisions when it comes to accounts. Get mad if you want but sit back and think before you burn a bridge. Remember, If you travel, Chase has some great travel cards that include plenty of free $$$.

I agree, Chase has lots of good cards. However, in this case, the OP closed the Chase Amazon (one of the most useless cards) and also had the Amazon Store card, so I doubt if much is lost.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 22:19:55 GMT

All, I respect the views and comments. Think @Longtimelurker was the only one to get the context. If this was any other card, I'd have retained, even if there were no perks.

Will wait for Chase to come to me..I'm not making a move.

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 00:06:18 GMT

Posiedon- no biggie water under the bridge at this point...but I'm jus wondering though did you call Chase recon# for denials???

If so how was those conversations???

Re: I'm done with "Chas(e)ing"....

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 00:18:41 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Posiedon- no biggie water under the bridge at this point...but I'm jus wondering though did you call Chase recon# for denials???

If so how was those conversations???

Yes, I did recon all the 3 times and remember all the conversations. Marriott was the last and by the time I saw the 7 days notice, I knew it was a mistake.

The first time (Dec 15), Chase CSR transferred me to their credit dept where I got a Specialist. She said they're "still checking" and asked me to call in a day. Called the next day and it was then I was told they're checking the discrepancy between my SSN name and United MIleageplus name. Nothing happened for another week and I called them again to know that it was rejected. Never received an official letter.

The second (Feb 16) was a 7 days notice and called the recon immediately. At that time my score was 702. The recon lady told me the rejection was due to my previous application getting rejected and I've to wait for at least 3 months before app'ing again. When I mentioned the previous incident, the Specialist apologized and promised me letters will come for both. They did, after 7 days but the reason for the first denial was not name mismatch but accounts opened in last year.

The third was United sending me 70K bonus offer by snail mail. Got tempted and app'ed in July 16. This time "too many cards opened in last year" message was given.

Fourth (Sept 16) was for Marriott (I'm a Platinum member with them) and I didn't even recon....knew the fate.