I'm so mad at myself...

[TroysMom1]

Over the past serveral years I've worked tirelessly to improve my credit.  I've had a Merrick Bank card for about 15 years that I never use.  I keep it because it's one of my oldest cards, and I'm chage a $4/month maintenance fee.  Well, I guess I was distracted with the hustle and bussle of the holidays, and I forgot to make my $4 payment and it went 30 days late.  It has already been reported to Experian, and my score with them dropped 43 points!!!  Here's my question, has anyone ever gotten Merrick to remove a 30 day late from their credit report.  I know it was my fault, but I disputed the claim with Experian anyway hoping that Merrick won't investigate my claim so that it will be deleted automatically.  I will do the same when/if they report to the other 2 credit agencies.

I can't believe I let myself get jammed up over a $4 payment!!!

[Jnbmom]

I would call Merrick and see if they would remove the late notation given your long history with them and if this was the first time they may delete.

I would not dispute with the other 2. I wouldn’t have disputed it as they may update the others with the late as well.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

Disputing something that's legitimate will just cause more problems. It's fairly known here not to ever dispute anything on EQ unless you really have to because of the headaches that come with it.  In addition to that, if you work it out with Merrick and they tell you to dispute, but it's already come back as correct, there's a possibility now that the bureau won't remove it because it's already been confirmed as being correct. You'll have to jump through hoops to fix it. Some people have given up because of the hassle. You should have called and called, and sent goodwill letter after goodwill letter asking Merrick to remove it. As for them actually removing it, I don't have experience with that. Good luck and don't take no for an answer. Just keep asking other people over there.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear about the oversight.

I recall a few threads about goodwill attempts with Merrick, but I don’t recall any successful ones. Hopefully you’ll have better luck.

A few good learning events from this, however: auto-pay is our friend, think long and hard about keeping useless cards open (especially when they charge a fee!), and when something adverse happens in your credit life, take a deep breath and relax for a minute before making knee-jerk decisions (easier said than done, I know).

Good luck!

[M_Smart007]

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@TroysMom1 wrote:

Over the past serveral years I've worked tirelessly to improve my credit.  I've had a Merrick Bank card for about 15 years that I never use.  I keep it because it's one of my oldest cards, and I'm chage a $4/month maintenance fee.  Well, I guess I was distracted with the hustle and bussle of the holidays, and I forgot to make my $4 payment and it went 30 days late.  It has already been reported to Experian, and my score with them dropped 43 points!!!  Here's my question, has anyone ever gotten Merrick to remove a 30 day late from their credit report.  I know it was my fault, but I disputed the claim with Experian anyway hoping that Merrick won't investigate my claim so that it will be deleted automatically.  I will do the same when/if they report to the other 2 credit agencies.

I can't believe I let myself get jammed up over a $4 payment!!!

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Call, and try to see if you can get it reversed? A late over $4 is horrible! and 43 points

I would even go as far as calling a few times, if it does not get you anywhere.

[Anonymous]

This sucks. This is one of my biggest fears as I get more and more cards I worry about keeping track of everything. I don't use auto pay but I use a GTD app to track all aspects of my financial life. As was said above, don't fall for the myth of you need to keep all cards open.

What I would do is launch an intensive goodwill effort. If the phone call does not work launch an avalanche of goodwill letters. Credit bureaus can flag you for too many disputes (frivolous) but no one csn flag you for sending goodwill letters. Just keep going until someone helps you. I never delt with Merrick but I have delt all the other subprime usually suspects. It took over a year to get results with some of them. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear about the late.

This is exactly why I told someone in another thread to avoid cards like that. Even after years or responsible use, all it takes is one time forgetting about those annoying fees and it'll haunt you.,

I really hope you can get it sorted out. That's a big score hit.

[Anonymous]

man...43 points with a late $4 payment.

hope it can get taken care of and off the report for you.

[rbentley]

So sorry over your late and huge point loss over such a minor amount. 

This is exactly a case where you should set autopayment.

[AverageJoesCredit]

This can happen wirh any card not just a card with fees. Worse thing about credit you can build a perfect profile and 1 mistake can ruin it . Definetly call and try and use your 15 history as a background for forgiveness.