topic Re: Time to let go of Orchard in Credit Cards

Time to let go of Orchard

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:53:03 GMT

I just did a BT on my Orchard card. My new citi card was offering 0% interest on BT for the next 7 months. Once citi pays Orchard I'm closing the account. I was told by an Orchard rep today that they where no longer offering CLI. I was done when i heard that an it's time to end the relationship.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:11:38 GMT

I closed my Household Bank card a few days ago. They would not offer me a credit increase either, but I don't carry any hard feelings. They were relatively good compared to my other cards at the time, Continental Finance and First Premier. I maxed out at $500 for the credit line and I didn't want to pay for the $59 annual fee any longer so it was time to move on. Congratulations on doing the same. They have served their purpose.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:50:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I closed my Household Bank card a few days ago. They would not offer me a credit increase either, but I don't carry any hard feelings. They were relatively good compared to my other cards at the time, Continental Finance and First Premier. I maxed out at $500 for the credit line and I didn't want to pay for the $59 annual fee any longer so it was time to move on. Congratulations on doing the same. They have served their purpose.

The card was good to me for rebuilding but it's time to move on.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:55:44 GMT

This is where we are currently. We've used Orchard/Household for a few years, and they have helped bring up our scores. Now I want to determine when we'll qualify for a 'real' CC.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:33:09 GMT

Same Here. They served me well but refused to grow with me. I guess I'm no longer in there target market. Oh well.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

creditreformer — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:00:37 GMT

i closed mine earlier this mo. on the 3 yr anniv. They wouldn’t cli me + would only waive ½ the AF. Didn’t feel like paying $40/yr for an 800 cl. Onto bigger/better ccs + I’ve already replaced the 800 cl (+ then some) that I lost by closing orchard.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

RobertEG — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:12:49 GMT

Unless the card is charging you an annual fee, you are only hurting yourself if you close it.

You will lose your current CL on the card, and it may also result in their deletion of the account from your CR, thus resulting in loss of its age in your average age of accounts calculation.

This looks more to me like what we call a "sock drawer" card. Just put it in your sock drawer, and dont use it.

I would only close a card to avoid fees, not to "be rid of them."

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:35:35 GMT

The card has a $40 AF.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

RobertEG — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:43:37 GMT

Good enough reason to chuck them to the circular file!

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

llecs — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:59:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

I closed my Household Bank card a few days ago. They would not offer me a credit increase either, but I don't carry any hard feelings. They were relatively good compared to my other cards at the time, Continental Finance and First Premier. I maxed out at $500 for the credit line and I didn't want to pay for the $59 annual fee any longer so it was time to move on. Congratulations on doing the same. They have served their purpose.

The card was good to me for rebuilding but it's time to move on.

Will there be a memorial service?

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

RobertEG — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:19:14 GMT

ROFL!

Yes, just call 1-800-WHO-CARES for memorial service details!

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

MrChairman — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:44:16 GMT

Had the same problem with Orchard. I will admit they were great, never any problems until I wanted more out of the relationship LOL. Called in for CLI, got a measly $100 CLI for 3 years of stellar payments, usually 0 bal. And I was paying the $40 AF which they wouldn't waive. After I got approved for Freedom @ 1500 CL and the Discover More @ 2k CL I decided it was time to get rid of them, I more than made up for not having the $400 line they provided.

-The Chairman

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:06:38 GMT

@RobertEG wrote:
ROFL!
Yes, just call 1-800-WHO-CARES for memorial service details!

I didn't find that comment funny at all an if this thread didn't concern you why comment.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

llecs — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:11:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@RobertEG wrote:

ROFL!

Yes, just call 1-800-WHO-CARES for memorial service details!

I didn't find that comment funny at an if this thread didn't concern you why comment.

I'm sorry mjbfan79.

RobertEG was responding to my funeral comment. I posted here sometime back about giving a memorial service for my Orchard after it met its demise. If you want me to zap the prior post (mine and the response), let me know.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

xchap — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:46:44 GMT

i had orchard for 3-4 yrs had to let them go too. high apr and no cl. so i said bye bye..........

i'm happier now

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:22:24 GMT

I have a question, when is a good for me to let go of introductory CCs like Orchard? I have an Orchard account. I need a larger balance for travel purposes that I always pay off within 30 days. I keep my utilization under 3%. I am repairing my credit from a prior business partner that went belly up. I am at 675 Experian, 625 TransUnion, 632 EquiFax. I know all will go up in June when my late payment from one credit card in 2009 will hit 12 months. Should I wait until then or are my scores high enough now to try for a "real" CC? I have no car or home loan and nothing else negative on my report.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:31:58 GMT

Hi, welcome to the forums!

I would ALWAYS wait for something to get better on my reports before applying, especially a recent late. It's not just the scores. Some lenders, like American Express, don't even use FICO scores. They have their own home-grown scoring system. But they very definitely do look at your reports, and recent lates scare the whee out of them.

If I may ask, where did you get your scores? Experian has not allowed consumers to buy our EX FICOs since February of last year. If you got these scores from someplace like TrueCredit or other monitoring services, they're FAKO's, not FICO's. You can buy your EQ and TU FICO's here, and you can also buy your EQ FICO from Equifax's website, and you can also buy your TU FICO from www.transunioncs.com <-- note the cs. The regular TU site sells FAKO's.

If all you have is one 30-day late, and your util on your (only?) CC is under 3%, your FICO's might well be higher.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

blacklotus — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:23:46 GMT

Experian:

I agree to only pull true Fico's from this site but out of curiousity I went and pulled my EX scores earlier this month. I pulled them directly from the Experian website so there was no 3rd party- Haulingthescoreup I believe this is also called the EX PLUS score? Well anyways the EX site is actually pretty informative and I am considered "low risk". I am glad I did pull my scores from them because of lenders pulling random CR's nowadays and I don't believe in "locking" them when I app.

App strategy I read on Yahoo Finance page says wait at least six months before apping for new card (from previous app).

EDIT: The www.experian.com EX score range is 330-830. This seems very similar to Fico ranges.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

BungalowMo — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:24:35 GMT

I know how you feel about "letting go". I did the same with my Credit One card in November. They upped my AF to something like $99, so within a few days of getting that letter, I was approved for my 10k Nationwide card.

I had the Credit One for about 5 years. It served it's purpose & gave me $100 cli's on an average of every 6 mos, but I didn't need a $900 card with a $99 fee....so, it was time for the eulogy & burial.

Even after dropping that one, my cards' collective limits are 28k & moving forward! Highest apr is 19.24 on my Chase BP Visa. I never carry a balance & they give me 5% cash back on gas purchases, which is nice since I travel over 500 mi per week for work. I currently have a $50 check on the way to me!

These days...ALL my cards give me something, not the other way around! (Finally!!!!)

Lotus: Just to add to your comment about the 6 month interval on apping.... it's ok to app in a shorter period of time, IF you know who they are going to pull & that report is clean of inq's. When I apped for the chase card, I knew they pulled EQ, so knowing Nationwide pulls TU & I had no inq's, I went for it a month after chase.

Re: Time to let go of Orchard

blacklotus — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:25:52 GMT

What was the APR on your Credit One card and did it change over time?