Wanted to share some DPs on the Comenity SCT.
Couldn't get the Boscovs SCT to work for me for the past few months (tried incognito, cleared cache/cookies, used MS Edge, Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Safari no luck), so I tried Wayfair. Pre-approval pop-up + last 4 of SSN. Instant approval for $6.5k BUT it was a hard pull. I called the 3 CRAs and Equifax confirmed there was a hard inquiry. Not sure if locking my credit report would invalidate the SCT, but not sure I want the hard inquiry on my CR. Kind of defeats the purpose of a SCT (increase credit score by lowering utilization and no hard pull), but the $10.5k increase is going to raise my CS a lot more than a few points decrease for a hard inquiry. But I'm still going to fight it. I filed a dispute with Equifax, sent a letter to Comenity, and filed a CFPB complaint.
TIP:
you cant register for online access until after you've received your cc by mail (~2wks). the way around this is by calling wayfair's CS dept and asking for the sales dept. they can contact comenity on an authorized/secure line and get your account number. some CSRs say they can't share the account number over the phone (something about the patriot act which is BS IMHO), but 2 comenity CSRs mentioned this workaround although one supervisor was absolutely clueless. finally, i got a comenity supervisor to OK it for me. once i got my account/card #, i registered and then hit that luv button 2x and raised my credit limit to $10.5k the same day i got approved!!
8/7 approved w/ SL $6.5k
8/7 1st CLI $8.5k
8/7 2nd CLI $10.5k
8/7 3rd CLI denied
According to cc companies, the CC starting limit is a combo of one's creditworthiness (credit score/history, debt/risk ie loans, mortgages, income) and your average CC limit.
My average CC limit before applying for the Wayfair card was slightly >$7k. Now, it's >$7.5k.
Interesting to note that my Comenity cards are the ones with the highest limits. For every card, I have at one point been delinquent (30, 60 days) so my CL was lowered and some accounts closed. Probably why my actual CCs (Discover, Barclays) have the lowest CLs; they are not so forgiving. Also, I only recently started requesting CLIs the past year. Before that, I was completely clueless about CLIs and just assumed you were stuck with the original SL.
The Capital One card is now a combo of my $5k Platinum>Savor card + $15k Quicksilver
Capital One Savor $20k (combined CL) (2012 Platinum SL $1k; Quicksilver 2015 SL $2k)
Wayfair $10.5k (2018 SL $6.5k)
Sportsman Guide Visa $7.8k (2017 SL $7k)
Overstock $7.6k (2017 SL $4k)
Discover It $4.5k (2016 SL $1k)
Ann Taylor LOFT $3.8k (opened 2006)
NY&Co $3.55k (opened 2010)
Barclays Rewards $2.4k (2016 SL $2k)
I'm going to be applying for a new Barclays card (Uber) in October and then combining it with my current Barclays cc. Also going to be opening a Chase Freedom and NFCU Flagship Rewards CC within the next 60 days once my credit score increases from the overall lower utilization. Applying for the Chase first due to the 5/24 rule. Maybe another SCT to increase my credit score. Then, NFCU since they typically give high SLs. Hopefully, the hard inquiries from opening a new cc will be buffered by the bump from the increase in my overall credit limits. Wish me luck!
REAL FICO scores: 7/14/2018 TU 739 | 7/24/2018 EQ 721 | 8/7/2018 EX 729
