I applied and got the auto-denial.. So, I called.. A very nice guy helped me.. He looked at my app and noted that I had a charge-off way back in '08 and that was with a sister company. He said that was the reason I was auto-rejected *and* that they (Barclay's) didn't even go forward andpull a hard copy of the file.. So, I asked, could I get a reconsideration? He said yes.. BUT.. he also said that in his opinion, based on what he's seen, the odds I'd get an approval were not all that good - but since they didn't pull a hard copy, without seeing my full file, it's hard to say.. So, I asked him "Sitting where you are, do you think it's worth the risk (a hard pull)? He said, that unless my credit shows a multi-year solid record of on-time and without more than 2 or 3 new accounts in the last year, he said that he would wait.
So, I decided not to ask for a formal reconsideration - thus no hard pull..We both agreed that if I reapplied in a year or two, my previous charge off would now be nearly a decade old and I'd (presumably) have a 2 or 3 year record of on time payments... that he said would be a much stronger application.. I think that is was a fair and good call.. while I didn't ge the card, i didn't get hit with a fruitless (as the rep saw it) hard pull when the odds were appreaently not in my favor.
