FingerHut Credit Card

[Adkins]

Those with Fingerhut accounts were notified, so they could close their account if they wished. Unless they missed all the emails and snail mail, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. And companies can switch credit card providers, it happens. There's a thread about Fingerhut here. .The latest switch I had was capital one for synchrony on my Walmart card. 

[Iusedtolurk]

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@Adkins wrote:

Those with Fingerhut accounts were notified, so they could close their account if they wished. Unless they missed all the emails and snail mail, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. And companies can switch credit card providers, it happens. There's a thread about Fingerhut here. .The latest switch I had was capital one for synchrony on my Walmart card. 

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@Adkins  Out of curiosity if you can recall did when you had your Cap1/Synchrony walmart switch did it show up as a New Account on your credit report?

I know when my HSN card by Comenity switched to Synchrony no closing or New Account opening occured.

[Adkins]

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@Iusedtolurk wrote:

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@Adkins wrote:

Those with Fingerhut accounts were notified, so they could close their account if they wished. Unless they missed all the emails and snail mail, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. And companies can switch credit card providers, it happens. There's a thread about Fingerhut here. .The latest switch I had was capital one for synchrony on my Walmart card. 

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@Adkins  Out of curiosity if you can recall did when you had your Cap1/Synchrony walmart switch did it show up as a New Account on your credit report?

I know when my HSN card by Comenity switched to Synchrony no closing or New Account opening occured.

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Yes, it showed up as a new account but it had all the payment history attached, so it was new but not new, per se. 

[ALLgoodABQ]

Hey all, been a while since I've posted. Thought I'd chime in on this fingerhut bs.

I opened a fingerhut over 2 years ago, used it twice. Once for sandals and once for shorts. Too expensive and only used it for the available credit. Well yesterday I began getting all the notifications of new accounts hitting my credit. I freaked out since I had been a victim of identity theft years ago and thought it was happening again. Then saw it was fingerhut. At first I was relieved, but then began to think that when we first started getting the emails, all I remember reading was "You've got nothing you need to do, it will all be a easy transition," but did anywhere on those emails say it was going to be a new trade line, with account history gone??? I'm now pissed because my credit took a 5 point hit, and I am well passed needing this credit anyway. So what's the process of getting this new trade line removed at this point? Is this a violation of some law they didn't fully disclose what was going to happen?

Thanks y'all. You're all amazing!

it's early and im typing this on my phone, so apologies for my bad grammar. 

[TryItAgain]

Yeah that's uncool.  I closed fingerhut years ago at 1600 cl when rebuilding, knowing if I didnt they would just CLD and eventually close it.  But popping a new and seen as additional account on credit sucks.

Was the notification ahead of time not clear in that this was going to happen? I know the just mentioned capital one swap of walmart from synchrony, then my barclays to mercury bank, and Jared from sterling bank to comenity all reported appropriately on change without treating it as new acct for me.

Id be very angry if this was not stated ahead of time, in my case awaiting new build completion currently, that would freak me out.

[Iusedtolurk]

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@TryItAgain wrote:

Yeah that's uncool.  I closed fingerhut years ago at 1600 cl when rebuilding, knowing if I didnt they would just CLD and eventually close it.  But popping a new and seen as additional account on credit sucks.

Was the notification ahead of time not clear in that this was going to happen? I know the just mentioned capital one swap of walmart from synchrony, then my barclays to mercury bank, and Jared from sterling bank to comenity all reported appropriately on change without treating it as new acct for me.

Id be very angry if this was not stated ahead of time, in my case awaiting new build completion currently, that would freak me out.

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@TryItAgainIt did as I found out from @Adkins link notified card holders of what would occur (There's a thread about Fingerhut here.) and gave the opportunity to reject the new account (even though some posted that it still popped up as a New Account on their report).

As it was my cousins account I missed the additional info relating to what would happen.

[Borealis]

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@RealEstateGuy89 wrote:

My Fingerhut account was 11+ years old when I called and canceled my account back when I read that this was going to go down. First they had lowered my credit limit from $4700 to $1500 back in December/January which I thought was really odd. I told the csr that I didn't want the new account that it was being switched to but she said I didn't need to worry about that since I closed my account. 

Yesterday, I received a notification from Experian congratulating me because I had a new account reporting on my credit reports. I have decided not to call them until Monday because I'm madder than hell about it and I want to be calm when I speak to them about it. 

I also don't think it's right that a lender can do this simply by sending an email. I'd rather they close any account that I have and ask me to open a new one with them. Is this type of thing common?  

Sure has been a weird month for my credit accounts. Just when I have gotten things to a good point and I thought it was smooth sailing from here on out... leave it to Fingerhut and Comenity to mix things up.

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@RealEstateGuy89 What did they say when you called them?

I "cancelled" my card over 6 weeks ago and they still opened a Fetti account for me even though I told them not to. Four phone calls and several emails later and it still shows as open on their website. It has not yet reported to the CRA's but I am half expecting it to after my next statement date in a few days. I may try again one more time to call.

[Borealis]

For those who are asking what Fingerhut told us about this and when, I received 2 emails and a mailed letter within the month leading up to the switch.

It's a little ambiguous about the hows of this whole thing until you hit up their FAQs https://www.fingerhut.com/content/customerservice

Of the 28 questions in the section, the only ones of much use were at the very end:

• Will this change show up on my credit bureau reporting?

  Yes, the Fingerhut Fetti credit account will show up as a new trade line on your credit bureau report.

• How will this impact my credit score?

  As you know, there are many factors that go into your credit score. It’s very difficult for us to provide a definitive impact to your credit score, but illustratively it is possible:

  • Opening a credit account typically boosts the account holders’ credit score. This is because you now have two tradelines reporting to the bureaus.
  • However, an unused credit line may be closed for inactivity, which may negatively impact your credit score.
  • A history of on-time payments over time will have a positive impact to your credit score.
  • Similarly, it is very important to continue to keep making payments on your Fingerhut Advantage credit account. If this account becomes delinquent it will negatively impact your credit score.

My complaint isn't that I had no warning (although they could have been a little more forthcoming about how it was going to report), it's that they opened a new tradeline when I expressly told them not to, even after I canceled my old card weeks in advance to prevent it from happening. I was mostly mad because if this hit it would make me 5/24 and I hate to waste that on a 2ND Fingerhut card of all things. To head it off I went ahead and applied for a Chase card and was miraculously approved! I feel really bad for though for folks who were auto or mortgage shopping and got this surprise. I am assuming that through weeks/months of shuffling letters to CRAs you could eventually get it resolved, but by then it's cost some people thousands of dollars in undeserved long term interest.

[Iusedtolurk]

@BorealisI was first under the impression I had missed this part in the email, but now realize it was in the FAQ at the bottom as you stated.

• Will this change show up on my credit bureau reporting?

  Yes, the Fingerhut Fetti credit account will show up as a new trade line on your credit bureau report.

  As this would affect people on different levels and could impact peoples credit negatively I feel it should have been included and highlighted in the initial email not buried at the end of a FAQ you needed to access. A lot of people took hits to their mortgage scores, AAoA etc.

[Borealis]

@Iusedtolurk Completely buried! Yeah, as soon as I saw that I was done. It was a good builder card but it had already served its purpose and I was only keeping it around for the age - take away that and.. I guess they still haven't gotten the message though, as my spurned Fetti credit account is still visible. I'm like, "Fingerhut, we broke up. It's time to move on." Do I really need to call them again? Will it even help? Is it possible to get a  restraining order against an international online/mail order drop shipping/subprime credit conglomerate? I thought we could still be friends but now I'm not so sure.