Hi, Wanted to add an experience with Chase Recon line. First, I'll list some DP for context. I realize without the DP's, the information isn't very useful.
Average Age: 3 yr 9 mo
Oldest Account: 13 years
# of Accounts: 10
Last 24 mo. Cards: 3/24, that includes approved for Chase FU October 15th with CL of $10,500.
Fico: Exp. 703, Trans. 701, Equi. 698
Annual Income: $275,000
Utlization; Was around 9%. I pay in full every month all cards, but I put about $10,000 a month on credit cards and some spend reported.
Credit History; One Late Payment 2016; was traveling and forgot a Wells Fargo Car paymment (30 day).
Sued by a Dentist in 2010 for $2,000. Ended up not taking seriously and didn't show up for court. Dumb; had to pay it anyway. I guess customer satisfaction doesn't play here. However, reports as public record.
So, I was interested in the Chase Travel Benefits, mostly primary rental car insurance. I earned over 400,000 Hilton Honor points this year with my American Express Hilton Surpass card and will continue to use that for hotels. I was also thinking flights. I had 190 flights this year (2019). That is segments.
So, I apped and got an instant decline. I was a littel puzzled and looked up the recon number. The next day I called the recon line and spoke with a rep. I asked him if he could give me some insight on why I was declined. He said sure, and that he would take a look and get back on the phone. When he came back he listed 4 things including too many credit inquiries, derogetory public record, and I can't remember the other two (this was December 22nd 2019). He asked me if that made sense. I said frankly no. Makes no sense. I have harldy any inquiries and the last one was your company about 67 days ago, which was approved. And the public record was a dentist who sued me in 2010.
He then said that I would get a letter in the mail formally outlining this information. He then said can I help you in any other way.
At this point, I was trying to figure out where the recon came in. He wasn't offering. So I said this.
"The reason I am looking into this is I have spent about $15,000 in the last 90 days with American Express and I heard that the Chase ecosystem is good for travelers. I was hoping to give it a try and move more spending towards chase." He said oh, and then nothing else.
So, I was still trying to figure out what was I missing. So I said this.
"Is is possible for you to take a closer look at my application?"
To this he quickly replied with this.
"Sure, so to be clear sir. You are asking me to take a closer look at your application to see if there is something I can do to reverse this decision?"
I said yes; and then he said.
"Ok, please verify income for me and housing payment." After that he said, "Ok Mr. xxxxxx, I will go ahead and take a closer look at your situation and come back every three minutes to report back to you. It make take a few times before I have an answer."
I thanked him for his time and help. He came back on in 3 min and asked if he could have 3 more? I again said of course, take your time and thank you for you help. He can back on 3 minutes later and said, "Congratualations, you have been approved and can expect your new card in the mail in 1-2 weeks." The CL was low, the minimum ($5,000), but I am glad to start using to see how I like it.
It was clear he was looking for something very specific from me to trigger the next step. I don't know if it's legal or company policy. I didn't research this and don't know how documented this is. But I thought I would tell my story if it helps someone else.
I didn't use credit for 15 years (I thought credit cards were bad); actually me dumb. So I believe this was mostly just getting into the credit card game the last few years and having a new CFU. This year I believe my cash back, travel points, etc. will give me close to $5,000 of value on money I was spending anyway.
Grateful for all the informed people on this site along with YouTube to help me re think I viewed credit cards.
