Just got a CLI from $3,500 to $5,500 and with my trusty calculator I figured out that was a $2,000 increase!
data points:
-Adorama had a nice sales on Macs so I jumped out of the garden early in the year
-applied for card in Feb, denied - utilization
-got everything around 35% (if only I read more on the forum ahead of time)
-saw a ridiculous deal on an iMac - applied in July - pending
-something along the lines of 'we can not approve your application at this time' or 'we need to process your request'
my Adorama account kept showing a message on the checkout/billing page to 'refresh for credit limit availability' something along those lines
right under the section where you can choose the online credit card for payment. clicked it and got 'please log into your account for
application status' - which was a loop because I wasn't approved yet
-at the time I had a fraud alert on profile which was originally placed through Experian when I had to dispute inquiries (somebody actually had
the genius idea to 1)apply for an apartment 2)apply for car loans 3)apply for a job 4)apply for credit cards all in my name with my subpar
credit)
-Comenity pulled Experian which at the time I had between 661-672 (I was bad at keeping records of scores and really didn't handle the my
utilization). They had also pulled Experian in Feb 2018 on the denial. I did not read about reconsideration until the app was over 30 days old, I
had called in May and they were like, 'who are you???"
-14 days later I received a letter in the mail indicating that they would need me to call the bank to process the application(fraud verification)
-I called in and verified my info and was approved for $3,500.
-it's a bit annoying that I applied in July, had to wait half a month and then got approved in August so the credit reports show this as an August
opening, but that's life
-have not actually used the account yet(more below)
-applied for a CLI I believe on Sunday, maybe Saturday when I realized some of the accounts I did CLI requests for my wife were also with Comenity. I had looked at the CLI option on my account two months ago but saw the disclaimer 'you give the right to look at your credit report' and thought it was a hard pull due to the account being new and quit the process. But I saw the same message on my wife's accounts. She got the approvals mentioned this weekend and did not get any inquiries so then I understood why members are raving about their Comenity SLs and increases.....anyway got the 7-10 day message so I thought I was declined because I didn't use the account and it's still new.
-received a call two hours ago from a phone # I did not recognize but I always answer and it was a rep from Comenity that said since my profile has a fraud alert then they only give CLI consideration over the phone after verification.
-she asked for authorization to pull my credit report, I said I thought it was a soft pull and she enthusiastically indicated that it is a soft pull.
(so the script is similar to the language on website)
- a little more data and a personal story I wanted to share for those also rebuilding or about to rebuild....-
Getting the card I actually struck out because I had given in and tried to buy the iMac with my CapitalOne but Adorama cancelled my order because the specific model was discontinued (some things are too good to be true) so I couldn't even buy the computer with a regular credit card. The next best computer/deal was about $2,700-$3,500. ..and I had just learned about the damage high utilization causes - I could buy the computer with the card and pay the balance down to below 50% utilization to start....but the inspiration for the card was 0% interest with a 12 month payment plan, so what was the point of paying it down if I was using the account for the interest free financing? I was in a predicament so I asked Adorama for a credit line increase. They said no. I escalated and explained that I needed more credit and stretched the story into 'the item was on sale but now it's not. I expected a higher credit line.' The supervisor said he understood but just didn't think I could get the CLI with a 1 day account history. I accepted their response and gave up
-At that point I thought long and hard about the credit rebuild and the knowledge I learned, and how motivated I felt by wishing I knew more about credit reports and scoring - so I decided
1. that if I really needed the financing then I was overextending myself. I decided to admit to myself how much I've paid to credit card companies in interest and penalties....and although I haven't made a late payment on anything (credit cards, loans, utilities) in a few years I still had older late payments that would only be cured by good habits over time.
2. And that there was no point in 0% financing if I was paying interest.
3. If I just HAD to have the computer I would be overpaying beyond the 'deal' price and specs I set my sights on during application, things had adjusted and so my buying decisions should adjust as well. I needed to re-evaluate the purchase. So by buying anyway I'd put myself back into a position where I was making minimum payments here, partial payments there, full payments few and far betwen.
4. Saving the money for the next computer in a savings account might only get me pennies but it was still profit versus potential losses due to
interest.
5. I needed an upgraded computer but I still had a functioning computer, buying right at the moment was not absolutely necessary
6. I had always carried or pyramid'd debt once I had decent credit cards, I should try paying everything off for a change instead of buying more and pretend I'm a person with good credit.
7. If I am going to keep pursuing rewards and cash back cards I have to start paying PIF for every statement otherwise there's no point. I'll lose money to get the rewards money.
8. So ultimately I paid all of my cards down til none of them carried interest. And by stopping the bleeding(interest) I was able to save some extra money since the summer as well.
I realize the bottom portion of this should probably go in finances or FICO but it stemmed from the experience from Comenity/Adorama. I love celebrating my credit card vanity as much as the next person but I also think we could benefit from sharing each others' more 'honest' stories as well. There's not many but for the first time I'm seeing members who are younger into their rebuilding process and when I see their stories I wish that when I was starting to rebuild I had someone who shared some of the humbling moments for inspiration or advice just as much as I was motivated when I saw people with Platinum cards
