Amazon.com Store Card - Worth it?

[bluefoxing]

I have always coveted the Amazon.com credit cards. It's a silly holy grail of mine. Why? I use Amazon alot. Finding what everyone wants at Christmas time is easier on there, even if I procrastinated and do it last minute. I buy alot of books and movies and simply put - the idea of having purchasing power to buy when I want and not 'when I can' is a thrill. I've applied to them ritualistically every year for the past 6 years and have always been denied. GE Bank hates me. Always have. They've never approved me for anything they'd backed - even when my credit was stellar.

So today's ritual application took place as I contemplated pre-ordering two books by favorite authors coming out soon and got the 'Apply for a Amazon.com Store Card and receive $10 credit upon approval' fishing ad. I figured, what the heck. Filled it out. Submit.

I was ready to 'x' out, feeling resigned. I've seen the "Sorry, we cannot approve you at this time and will send you a letter stating why" screen so many times. Imagine my shock when it said instead," Congratulations! You've been approved with a credit line of $600." I did a double take - and had to reread it a few times to ensure I was reading it right.

My elation only lasted so long. I read some posts (on their own site none the less) bashing the customer service provided by GE in relation to the Amazon Store Card. How they send you a paper card, and not a real card...and will decrease your credit limit without warning to within a $1 of your balance. This scares me. As someone rebuilding their credit - the sudden decrease of available credit causing a increase to my utilization ration would be a hurtful rollercoaster.

Do any of you have the Amazon Store Card... and what types of experiences have you had? Should I just refuse to use the card?

[Creditaddict]

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@bluefoxing wrote:

I have always coveted the Amazon.com credit cards. It's a silly holy grail of mine. Why? I use Amazon alot. Finding what everyone wants at Christmas time is easier on there, even if I procrastinated and do it last minute. I buy alot of books and movies and simply put - the idea of having purchasing power to buy when I want and not 'when I can' is a thrill. I've applied to them ritualistically every year for the past 6 years and have always been denied. GE Bank hates me. Always have. They've never approved me for anything they'd backed - even when my credit was stellar.

So today's ritual application took place as I contemplated pre-ordering two books by favorite authors coming out soon and got the 'Apply for a Amazon.com Store Card and receive $10 credit upon approval' fishing ad. I figured, what the heck. Filled it out. Submit.

I was ready to 'x' out, feeling resigned. I've seen the "Sorry, we cannot approve you at this time and will send you a letter stating why" screen so many times. Imagine my shock when it said instead," Congratulations! You've been approved with a credit line of $600." I did a double take - and had to reread it a few times to ensure I was reading it right.

My elation only lasted so long. I read some posts (on their own site none the less) bashing the customer service provided by GE in relation to the Amazon Store Card. How they send you a paper card, and not a real card...and will decrease your credit limit without warning to within a $1 of your balance. This scares me. As someone rebuilding their credit - the sudden decrease of available credit causing a increase to my utilization ration would be a hurtful rollercoaster.

Do any of you have the Amazon Store Card... and what types of experiences have you had? Should I just refuse to use the card?

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it's great for 0% purchases and if you don't really have good reward cards then I guess it's a good card but if you have good rewards then you are loosing out by using it for every day purchases on Amazon.

[CreditJim]

Congratulations. I have lots of other cards with rewards available to me but I still like using the Amazon store card occasionally when I want to stretch out the payment a little bit at 0% rather than paying in full. 

[DrZoidberg]

It's not bad. It's your run of the mille store card. I got approved for $900 initially and used it a lot while in school and got Auato CLIs up to $2k. Now I don't use it very much and haven't seen a CLI in over a year. 

[Involver]

I got this card t rebuild nearly 18 months ago and have had one measly CLI. I requested another last month and was declined with a 764. They seem to be super generous to some people and not at all to others.

[DrZoidberg]

It depends on how much you use it. 

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@Involver wrote:
I got this card t rebuild nearly 18 months ago and have had one measly CLI. I requested another last month and was declined with a 764. They seem to be super generous to some people and not at all to others.

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[Kennie02]

I have mixed feelings about this card. I shop on Amazon a lot. I have gotten into the habit to PIF if I use it because I started with an 800 CLI and then got a CLD to 660. That sucked but it happened during a time where my credit took a nose dive, so can I really blame them? I like to keep it because they do have great financing offers of 0% interest on certain purchases. I am doing a lot better so I think I will hit the LUV button in a few months and see what happens. I thought GE hated me too but I recently added a different GE card so maybe not... 

[Kenny]

Congrats on your new card though! Use it, you've already earned it.

(I think the biggest thing when you know an issuer can change your balance at any moment is to only utilize it for promotions aka 0% financing for large items or PIF monthly when not in use for a promo.)

[jaebsf]

It's an OK card product if you buy often on Amazon and PIF. The downside is that it is from GE and the customer service is amoung the very worst I have experienced.

[bluefoxing]

I made a intial small purchase ($35... $25 after my $10 off) and will see how it goes.

Did any of you get a phsyical card? Or is it as I've read - just a piece of paper?