Orchard remorse

[TopCat99]

I'm still in the process of rebuilding after quite some time of repairing   I found out that Orchard has the soft pull thingy to see what you qualify for.  Since I'm not out of the woods yet, I figured maybe they wouldn't be so bad--maybe one more rebuilder would be a good thing...right?

Welp, the app said I qualified for a Platinum with a $39 AF and 14.9%.  Given that I've seen the $79+ AFs and ludicrous APRs floating around from Orchard, I thought maybe this might work out OK.  I thought, "Well, my Cap One has no annual fee, but it's also been stuck at $500," and clicked Apply.  Given that I've had the Cap1 for three years now with a perfect history (I keep a small balance on it from month to month, but almost PIF) and I have a GEMB JCPenney that does show me love, I figured Orchard would at least be a respectable CL.  So I kept going and then got to the online account thing where you see your CL.

Drumroll please...  $300!  Seriously?  That's the best you can do, Orchard?  A lousy $300?

So now I'm regretting going through with the app.  I already have cards with higher CLs with no AF.  So I'm wondering if I should activate the card when it comes for its whopping $260 avaiable credit just for the sake of having the TL or is there somewhere I can say "thanks but no thanks" and just close the account before it's ever opened?

Any suggestions?

[st4stinger4]

I feel your pain!

I was in the same position as you and thought that orchard would be the way to go......... same thing.....300 CL.....I have had them for 14 months now...always PIF every month...and have called and e-mailed them every month for CLI (starting after 6 months of ontime payments).....and NOTHING!!!!!! Still 300 CL :-(.

I get the standard....."HSBC has made a business descion not to give CLI at this time, feel free to check again later."

Really frustrating!!!!

I dont have any other "big cc's" because my inquries are high secondary to shopping for a mortgage last year (dont want another hard pull).....so orchard and wal-mart (1000 CL on opening) are all i have.....plus car loan....and now mortgage.

Avoid them if you can.

[aftermath]

I'm sorry to say this but.... what did you expect?  It's Orchard, a credit rebuilding credit card.  They almost always start people off at $300.  If you did a quick keyword search on here, you would have known this.

You might as well keep it since you took an inquiry hit for it.  Just cancel it in a year before the AF hits again.

[vish1]

you have 3 things at stake here.

1. Inquiry - cant do anything,

2. AAoA and new account on file - You may want to try calling them and cancel/withdraw the application before they setup the account. (It's a 50-50 thing)

3. AF - you control this, yes yes yes, save it. I don't see why you need to pay this...

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@TopCat99 wrote:

I'm still in the process of rebuilding after quite some time of repairing   I found out that Orchard has the soft pull thingy to see what you qualify for.  Since I'm not out of the woods yet, I figured maybe they wouldn't be so bad--maybe one more rebuilder would be a good thing...right?

Welp, the app said I qualified for a Platinum with a $39 AF and 14.9%.  Given that I've seen the $79+ AFs and ludicrous APRs floating around from Orchard, I thought maybe this might work out OK.  I thought, "Well, my Cap One has no annual fee, but it's also been stuck at $500," and clicked Apply.  Given that I've had the Cap1 for three years now with a perfect history (I keep a small balance on it from month to month, but almost PIF) and I have a GEMB JCPenney that does show me love, I figured Orchard would at least be a respectable CL.  So I kept going and then got to the online account thing where you see your CL.

Drumroll please...  $300!  Seriously?  That's the best you can do, Orchard?  A lousy $300?

So now I'm regretting going through with the app.  I already have cards with higher CLs with no AF.  So I'm wondering if I should activate the card when it comes for its whopping $260 avaiable credit just for the sake of having the TL or is there somewhere I can say "thanks but no thanks" and just close the account before it's ever opened?

Any suggestions?

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[Anonymous]

I had something similar happen.  I have one card since BK discharge, which was 7/7/10.  It is a Cap One with $2000 limit and no annual fee, although interest rate is high, but I pay in full each month.  It has been over 4mo's since that card was approved.  I though I would now apply for a second card to keep rebuilding my credit.  I applied for a Hooters MC yesterday and was told to wait 7-10 days for a response.  The Hooters people called me today and said I was approved for a $300 line, but said the rep said she didn't know what if any the annual fee would be.  I told her that if you cannot tell me that I want to withdraw the application before the credit line or card was even created.  She said ok, it would only affect me as a hard inquiry, but since the card was never sent out, that it would never show up on my credit report.  Now I know I can't be picky with these cards, but I just didn't want some $48 annual fee, with only a $300 card.  My cap one is good enough for now, so I think I will just wait.  Anyone have any suggestions on whether I did the right thing, or if I should apply maybe for either a different card at this point or a second Cap 1 card.  Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!  This is my 1st post.  Thanks all!!!

[My2cents]

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TopCat99 wrote:

I'm still in the process of rebuilding after quite some time of repairing   I found out that Orchard has the soft pull thingy to see what you qualify for.  Since I'm not out of the woods yet, I figured maybe they wouldn't be so bad--maybe one more rebuilder would be a good thing...right?

Welp, the app said I qualified for a Platinum with a $39 AF and 14.9%.  Given that I've seen the $79+ AFs and ludicrous APRs floating around from Orchard, I thought maybe this might work out OK.  I thought, "Well, my Cap One has no annual fee, but it's also been stuck at $500," and clicked Apply.  Given that I've had the Cap1 for three years now with a perfect history (I keep a small balance on it from month to month, but almost PIF) and I have a GEMB JCPenney that does show me love, I figured Orchard would at least be a respectable CL.  So I kept going and then got to the online account thing where you see your CL.

Drumroll please...  $300!  Seriously?  That's the best you can do, Orchard?  A lousy $300?

So now I'm regretting going through with the app.  I already have cards with higher CLs with no AF.  So I'm wondering if I should activate the card when it comes for its whopping $260 avaiable credit just for the sake of having the TL or is there somewhere I can say "thanks but no thanks" and just close the account before it's ever opened?

Any suggestions?

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Stay off of the drums!

Ole My2cents

[MarineVietVet]

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@aftermath wrote:

I'm sorry to say this but.... what did you expect?  It's Orchard, a credit rebuilding credit card.  They almost always start people off at $300.  If you did a quick keyword search on here, you would have known this.

You might as well keep it since you took an inquiry hit for it.  Just cancel it in a year before the AF hits again.

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Hi aftermath,

There was a recent addition to the instructions for adding the FICO Fitness Challenge that you may not be aware of but this addition says:

Note: Please do not change the FICO Fitness Challenge signature from the "official" one above  If you do, you will be asked to change or remove it.

You will need to change your signature to comply.

Thanks for your understanding

-Marinevietvet, myFICO moderator

[aftermath]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

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@aftermath wrote:

I'm sorry to say this but.... what did you expect?  It's Orchard, a credit rebuilding credit card.  They almost always start people off at $300.  If you did a quick keyword search on here, you would have known this.

You might as well keep it since you took an inquiry hit for it.  Just cancel it in a year before the AF hits again.

---

Hi aftermath,

There was a recent addition to the instructions for adding the FICO Fitness Challenge that you may not be aware of but this addition says:

Note: Please do not change the FICO Fitness Challenge signature from the "official" one above  If you do, you will be asked to change or remove it.

You will need to change your signature to comply.

Thanks for your understanding

-Marinevietvet, myFICO moderator

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Hi Marinevietvet,

I understand, but this is completely different then the stock Fico Fitness Challenge signature.  It is not a challenge based signature nor is it showing my credit scores.  I'm just merely listing my credit card accounts (like many users here do) with a message of APPROVAL to go along with it.

I spoke with myficoBarry via PM a couple of days ago in regards to a similar signature.  I ran it by him and he was alright with it, but a moderator on here who was unaware of this deleted it and I had to create a brand new one from scratch, which is what you see now.

If it's still an issue, I will go ahead and remove the APPROVAL picture and just list my credit card accounts.

[Anonymous]

Well, while there may be a way to cancel the account before activating it and never paying the $39 AF, you can't get rid of the inquiry. So I say keep the card. Who knows, you may need it someday.

And why would it only have $260 available credit? Isn't it customary for annual fees to occur *annually* as in you'd be charged the following year?

[MarineVietVet]

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@aftermath wrote:

 Hi Marinevietvet,

I understand, but this is completely different then the stock Fico Fitness Challenge signature.  It is not a challenge based signature nor is it showing my credit scores.  I'm just merely listing my credit card accounts (like many users here do) with a message of APPROVAL to go along with it.

I spoke with myficoBarry via PM a couple of days ago in regards to a similar signature.  I ran it by him and he was alright with it, but a moderator on here who was unaware of this deleted it and I had to create a brand new one from scratch, which is what you see now.

If it's still an issue, I will go ahead and remove the APPROVAL picture and just list my credit card accounts.

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Well Barry is about as far up the food chain as you can get so if he approved it who am I to say anything? 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".