What were the actual denial letters for the first two? What were their reasons?
Barclays seems to be right on par as their reasoning for the denial seems typical of them from people on these boards.
Starting Score: 648Unfortunately, ReVeLaTeD, every recon attempt isn't successful. More often than not, we read about the pre-attempts, and then the successful outcomes, because 'success' = excitement = want to share with the world! 
While there are no hard and fast rules to recon, there are certainly some helpful hints that might be taken under consideration, both before the initial app, and before the recon:
Review your credit reports: You don't want any surprises! See what the lender is going/likely to see.
Know the lender: I'm not sure I can adequately express how important this one is. Having an idea of what the prospective lender considers to be a "show stopper" can be invaluable. Some lenders are not, for example, bankruptcy friendly. Some lenders won't play if you've got unpaid collections of any age. Some lenders/products require that you already have a credit line of at least $X limit already. Some lenders suspect debt pyramiding, and will balk at extending you new credit. Some lenders won't come to the table if you're recently apped for other products. Some blacklist-- and some know about your past misstep with another lender because they acquired that company, and added you to their blacklist. Some don't like AU accounts. Some (albeit very rare) don't like other lenders, and won't lend to you're a current customer with a certain other company, or if you have a certain type of credit product. Further, some lenders, if you call after the denial, and say the right things will reconsider/relent. Knowing (or at least having a good idea) the denial triggers might help you to come up with the right answers when/if recon is a possibility. Still, it's not always a possibility.
Strategically App for new credit: Give some real thought to what you're apping for, and *when* you app. If you know what's on your reports, and you know the lender, then you should have a really good sense of when you're ready to put your best effort forward. You should, at least, believe that you're likely to get approved. If you believe that you're likely to get rejected, and you're hoping to talk your way in with the recon attempt afterwards, you should probably wait until you can present a stronger application. And, patience is a virtue, having over 15 unpaid collections, regardless of age and amount, is going to be an eyebrow raiser for every prime lender. Knowing your reports would tell you when they're going poof-- wait until they've gone poof before you app.
The above in mind--
I can tell you that Juni/Barclays doesn't like to see new INQs or new accounts. Even if they'd already granted you credit, app again, too soon, and they'll close your card. They can be one of the easiest companies to recon. Their one "show stopper" is seeking and obtaining new credit. You virtually stood no chance at app, and recon, even if your reports had been otherwise clean.
Unpaid collection accounts with Chase will very likely result in a denial, and they're not easy to recon, especially if you're reconning with the same information. It doesn't matter how old the baddies are, the fact that they exist, and the fact that they're unpaid presents a picture to prospective lenders of how you take care of your obligations, and how you respond to missteps. Chase can be very unforgiving in that regard. Waiting until those baddies dropped would have presented a very different picture to them.
Citi takes the same dim view of unpaid collections (regardless of age) as Chase, from all accounts that I've read. Suggesting to them that the unpaid baddies will soon drop from your reports is not likely to sway them. It only tells them that you were willing to wait out the CRTP as oposed to paying what you owed. That doesn't give lenders the warm fuzzies. If those CA accounts had been paid and that old, I think that Citi might have been more pliable.
The good news-- once those collection accounts fall off, and you let time soothe the pain of apping for credit, you can seek lenders who are BK friendly, and app products that won't give you nearly as much frustration and aggravation as you've recently experienced.
Good luck!
I tend to agree with DI here. The purpose of a recon is for someone who actually has great credit and still managed to get turned down for some automated reason (i.e. too many inquiries). When speaking with a recon analyst, you can explain why the issue exists (i.e. I was applying for a new car and they shopped the rate increasing my inquiries) and politely explain why they should reconsider, pointing out your best features as a potential/expanding customer.
If you have negatives on your account - then your odds of a successful recon go down considerably. No matter how old your blemishes are, something like a charge off is an indicator that you didn't handle your finances wisely. Why should they assume that just because a few years has passed that will change?
It's great if you can recon and get approved, but it shouldn't be considered the norm, or expected. It is ALWAYS better to wait until ALL derogs are off your report before you apply.
Starting Score: 627 EQ, 621 TU - 11/15/08