Barclays Apple Denial - 2 Recon attempts - Should I try again?

[Anonymous]

Current Scores:

TU 613

EXP: 610

EQ: Unknown exact number

Baddies:

2 Collections

Fair Credit & Outsourcing : $1367

Wells Fargo CC: $1600

Credit Lines:

Cap1 Platinum: $501 (15 mos)

Cap1 Spark: $500 (6 mos)

DiscoverIt: $200 (1 month)

Honda: $9k (7 mos)

1-10% Average Monthly Total Credit Utilization (not including the Honda installment)

Unfortunately, I was denied today for an application for the Barclays Apple card. Here's the story.

I've been looking into getting a iPad Pro for work and have the cash but have just been holding out. Today I saw that Best Buy offered 0% financing on their store card and 10% cash back on eligible purchases. So immediately I dived into MF forums to see what people's experience was with Best Buy and subpar credit. It wasn't looking good. However I did see a lot of recommendations to try Barclays instead. So I started looking into Barclays success stories, as well as credit minimums and there seemed to be a lot of success from people with subpar credit getting approved for the Barclays Apple card. Even if they weren't approved immediately, they were successful with recon.

So I put in an application, crossed my fingers, and was denied. I immediately called recon and the first person I spoke with outright told me almost instantly that my application would not be able to move forward due to my collections (expected honestly).

I waited a couple hours and tried again, this time asking to speak with a supervisor. The man on the line told me he could connect me to a supervisor, but would be more than glad to go over it with me himself. He seemed much more helpful than my first experience so I told him to go for it. After asking me a couple questions regarding my income and employment and asked me about my collections. I explained to him the reasons, and also explained they are in the process of being taken care of currently. He put me on a brief hold while overlooking my credit file, he eventually came back and told me he'd like to see more recent positive experience and those collections taken care of and wouldn't be able to approve the application.

It might be worth mentioning, I did just recently get denied for a chase card as well this past week for the same reason. I even posted about it in here and the consensus was to take care of my collections and give it a rest for a bit. The only reason I decided to move forward with this was because of the overwhelming success stories I had seen regarding this card, and my desire to take advantage of a super low-risk situation (considering I already had the money for the device, I saw it as an opportunity to build credit for free).

So here's the thing. I was thinking of calling one more final time to speak with a supervisor and kindly plead for another recon and explain that I have the cash to buy an Apple device, but I'd rather take advantage of the 0% APR while building credit at a higher limit. Is it worth it to give it another shot? Or should I just let it go and join the garden while I take care of those collections?

[Anonymous]

I would hold off on anything at this point.  Your cards are all under 1 year except for 1.

Clean up the collections in the meantime and your scores will jump dramatically.  Get all of your cards over 12 months before trying again.

[Jnbmom]

I wouldn't try again. Your scores are not high enough for that card .

Let your accounts age and work on the baddies.

[Remedios]

@Anonymous  Sorry about the denial 

As stated in your Chase thread, the approvals for the cards you want are not going to happen right now. 

Work the negatives. Let whatever you have age. Be patient. None of us messed up over night, it doesn't get fixed over night 

Calling again will result in same outcome. Your profile does not meet the UW criteria atm. 

Stop applying for 6 months or longer, it really helps. You've tried applying, that did not work. Now try gardening. 

[Blackswizz750]

I would sit this card out indefintely becuase Barclays is a very jealous lender and does not grow the Apple card. Just garden for 6 months to one year and work on clearing baddies and showing responsible use of what you have.

[JaseT]

---

@Blackswizz750 wrote:
I would sit this card out indefintely becuase Barclays is a very jealous lender and does not grow the Apple card. Just garden for 6 months to one year and work on clearing baddies and showing responsible use of what you have.

---

While I agree with waiting on trying again for the card, my experience says otherwise on the Apple card growing. When I was approved, they gave me $3k to start. Nine months later they gave me an auto CLI of $6k, bringing me to $9k. So the card can grow, plus it helped me get the Uber card that I really wanted.

[CreditInspired]

Welcome to the forum

Please note that there's a record of each of your calls. So calling again a third time, especially after talking to a supervisor about the recon, only marks you as the person who won't accept NO.

You have toy limits, your accounts are new, and you have an unsatisfactory credit profile. Yes, you may have read some success stories from other people, but everyone's specific credit profile is different, hence, YMMV.

In my most humble and sincere opinion, if it were me and I had the money for an iPAD pro, I would use those funds to clear up one of the baddies. That alone will give your scores a bump and mark one collection as paid. This will help your future applications.

Yes, I think you should garden until your Discover turns 1 year old and you have taken care of the collections.

GL2U

[Blackswizz750]

Thanks JaseT for showing me otherwise and using it as a stepping stone to better cards. I have done that for Amex.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I would hold off on anything at this point.  Your cards are all under 1 year except for 1.

Clean up the collections in the meantime and your scores will jump dramatically.  Get all of your cards over 12 months before trying again.

---

Got it, thanks for the feedback!

---

@Jnbmom wrote:
I wouldn't try again. Your scores are not high enough for that card .

Let your accounts age and work on the baddies.

---

Okay, will do! Thank you!

---

@Remedios wrote:

@Anonymous  Sorry about the denial 

As stated in your Chase thread, the approvals for the cards you want are not going to happen right now. 

Work the negatives. Let whatever you have age. Be patient. None of us messed up over night, it doesn't get fixed over night 

Calling again will result in same outcome. Your profile does not meet the UW criteria atm. 

Stop applying for 6 months or longer, it really helps. You've tried applying, that did not work. Now try gardening. 

---

Thanks for the continued feedback, I really appreciate it! You're absolutely right about the patience. I will definitely do that here on out!

---

@Blackswizz750 wrote:
I would sit this card out indefintely becuase Barclays is a very jealous lender and does not grow the Apple card. Just garden for 6 months to one year and work on clearing baddies and showing responsible use of what you have.

---

Interesting! I've heard good things about them. Still going to garden regardless now, I appreciate the feedback!

---

@JaseT wrote:

---

@Blackswizz750 wrote:
I would sit this card out indefintely becuase Barclays is a very jealous lender and does not grow the Apple card. Just garden for 6 months to one year and work on clearing baddies and showing responsible use of what you have.

---

While I agree with waiting on trying again for the card, my experience says otherwise on the Apple card growing. When I was approved, they gave me $3k to start. Nine months later they gave me an auto CLI of $6k, bringing me to $9k. So the card can grow, plus it helped me get the Uber card that I really wanted.

---

Yeah I've also seen a lot of people have good results from them. But definitely will wait, thanks for the advice!

---

@CreditInspired wrote:

Welcome to the forum

Please note that there's a record of each of your calls. So calling again a third time, especially after talking to a supervisor about the recon, only marks you as the person who won't accept NO.

You have toy limits, your accounts are new, and you have an unsatisfactory credit profile. Yes, you may have read some success stories from other people, but everyone's specific credit profile is different, hence, YMMV.

In my most humble and sincere opinion, if it were me and I had the money for an iPAD pro, I would use those funds to clear up one of the baddies. That alone will give your scores a bump and mark one collection as paid. This will help your future applications.

Yes, I think you should garden until your Discover turns 1 year old and you have taken care of the collections.

GL2U

---

Thanks for the detailed response! Yeah the two people I spoke with were just reps, I never actually made it to the supervisor. You're absolutely right, it seems it's just too early at this moment. 

In terms of paying off the baddies, I'm actually doing that now. Cash flow isn't the issue. There are specific events/people I have to wait on before I'll get them taken care of. In the example of the FCO collection, it's a joint issue and the other person responsible is assisting me this week to get it taken care of. In the WF collection, I'm waiting to hear back from someone regarding a question I had for them. I've literally just started getting on top of these this past week, decided it was time.

Thanks for the advice though. I definitely will garden and wait for things to settle and get better after I take care of these baddies.

I appreciate everyone's response! Thank you!