Seriously Macy's? Wow

[jj10939]

Long story short, I opened a Macy's account online about a year ago and was approved with a $100 limit.  Yes, $100.  But I thought oh well, it will get raised in 6 months hopefully.  Well, it did not and then last month I requested a CLI by phone and got it up to $200, yes $200.

When I used the card, I usually paid it off pretty quickly because I didn't want to pay the interest associated with the card.  I bought some Christmas presents bringing my balance up to about $175.  When I called today to pay my balance, I noticed that it said my available credit was $5.  I transfered to a rep who told me that my limit was reduced on 11/15 to $180.  That's right, they decreased my limit by $20.

I had just paid off $15,000 in credit card debt this month so my scores should increase.  When he told me that I said "close my account right now".  I was so mad.  His response, "well sir, when evaluating credit limits, it is based on both internal factors and external factors found in your credit report such as payment history".  I said, "well I have never once paid any bill late, including Macy's and I just paid all of my credit debt off and I'm not giving one penny to DSNB."

Thanks for letting me vent!    I'm sure the rep didn't care, but I felt good firing Macy's today.  They have to be the most stingy and tight when it comes to extending credit.  I love Macy's but when I do shop there, I will use my debit card!

[Anonymous]

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@jj10939 wrote:

ThankI love Macy's but when I do shop there, I will use my debit card!

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Better to use a CC,  Macy's pays higher transaction fee than for Debit and you get more protection.

[score_building]

Sorry but it almost never pays to be reactionary when dealing with ccc.

Call back reopen.  Use it, PIF... in few months will be eligible for nice CLIs.

ALWAYS think long term when it comes to credit.

You've already almost doubled the initial CL even post CLD and are bound to find nice increases going forward .  Emotions and cc just don't mix.

[BobbyJ]

I totally agree with Score...  You should try to re-open the account asap!!  A friend of mine is a Credit Manager at Macys and they review accounts every 3 months via pulls from CRs.  Even know you had high debt at one time that is why it was most likely reduced.  Once Macys does another soft pull you should get a significant increase since you paid all your accounts in full.  Macys is a good card to have in the long run, especially since you can have a store card and the Macys Amex.

BJ

[FicoScore626]

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@jj10939 wrote:

Long story short, I opened a Macy's account online about a year ago and was approved with a $100 limit.  Yes, $100.  But I thought oh well, it will get raised in 6 months hopefully.  Well, it did not and then last month I requested a CLI by phone and got it up to $200, yes $200.

When I used the card, I usually paid it off pretty quickly because I didn't want to pay the interest associated with the card.  I bought some Christmas presents bringing my balance up to about $175.  When I called today to pay my balance, I noticed that it said my available credit was $5.  I transfered to a rep who told me that my limit was reduced on 11/15 to $180.  That's right, they decreased my limit by $20.

I had just paid off $15,000 in credit card debt this month so my scores should increase.  When he told me that I said "close my account right now".  I was so mad.  His response, "well sir, when evaluating credit limits, it is based on both internal factors and external factors found in your credit report such as payment history".  I said, "well I have never once paid any bill late, including Macy's and I just paid all of my credit debt off and I'm not giving one penny to DSNB."

Thanks for letting me vent!    I'm sure the rep didn't care, but I felt good firing Macy's today.  They have to be the most stingy and tight when it comes to extending credit.  I love Macy's but when I do shop there, I will use my debit card!

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I feel your pain. Macy's does SUCK when it comes to reducing credit limits because of "external factors"... I started off with a $200 Macy's card which got bumped up to $300 and a Bloomingdale's card that started out at $100 and got bumped up to $200.. Then, during this summer, before their one year anniversary they bumped both my Macy's and Bloomingdale's cards up to $1500. I was blown away by that but the increase was also bittersweet since they no longer report credit lines... Was rebuilding for a little over a year, have a bunch of cards and have paid them all on time, never been late on any of my cards.. My utilization was significantly higher for about two months due to my Jared's purchase. My Macy's balance was up to $845, went to purchase some shoes and my card was declined. The cashier called a rep on the phone and let me speak to her. The rep told me that my credit line was decreased to $850 because of external factors on my report. Which could only mean that they didn't like my utilization percentage at the time and hit the panick button. The crazy part was that the rep told me that I could charge the $5 on my Macy's card and put the remaining $95 on a credit card. I had to scratch my head on that one.

Fortunately my Bloomingdale's card has remained unscathed.

[haulingthescoreup]

Well, if for no other reason, I'd suggest re-opening the thing simply because of the discounts that you get when you pay with a card. That's a lot to walk away from if you shop there frequently, which it sounds like you do.

Awesome work with the CC debt paydown!

[OnWayUpinTexas]

Had the opposite experience (so far) as OP.  Opened with $100 CL.  Macy's (and precedessor Foley's) were part of my DMP, so I couldn't be too surprised at the horrible limit--I was more surprised to be approved.)  Hovered there for about 6 months, then increased to $700.  Hovered there about another 3-6 months, then jacked up to $2500 (current limit).  My overall utilzation (all cards) has been running at 61-65% or so (until very very recently), and until yesterday was carring a $1800 balance on the Macy's card for about 1 1/2 months.  But so far, Macy's has been nothing but good to me.  (Now I've dropped my overall untilization on all cards down to about 20%, so I'm a little less twitchy about what Macy's might do).  I will say I always call and check my available balance on my Macy's card before I shop there -- just to avoid any unnecessary embarassment.

Reportedly Macy's is about to be serviced by GEMB (based on posts here), so it might be worth reopening and seeing what (if anything) changes ... 

[Anonymous]

I decided to check my Macy's card today because of your posting , and they gave me a Cli . I went from $300.00 in Feb. 2010 to customer generated cli to $700.00 in Aug. Now they increased my limit to $3000.00 . Wow!!

[iwantbettercredit]

I got a macy's card about a year and a half ago, started with an $800.00 limit, then they increased it to $2500.00 after about 6 months. I always paid my card, never late, all the sudden they reduced me to $450???? I thought what the heck, why did they do that, i did not do anything to them, except i used the card frequently but always paid it so why would they do that. I called and got the same stupid reason,,,blah, blah ,blah..external, internal credit reviews, blah, blah, blah..the fact is this, I earned the card when they gave it to me, i did nothing to them to earn a reduction other than being a loyal customer to them, but they were not loyal to me so I cut up their card., i did not cancel it but i no longer have it to use. In fact the last time used it was right be they reduced my credit limit.  I have other cards, i dont need them and i will never shop at macy's again, they lost a good customer and they earned that loss,.they may have decent deals at times, but i can find those deals elsewhere..OTHER stores have earned me as a customer and now i help to increase their stores profits and increase their share holders pocket books.  Now, while i understand credit is something earned, so is customer loyalty...if you treat me like crap for no reason, i cut you loose, too many good stores to chose from these days...i refuse to assist in corporate greed and ignorance. I follow the same with banks, mortgage companies, etc...everything works both ways...Just as i have to earn your trust to get credit with you, you have to earn my trust for me to shop at your store or use your services, etc, etc, etc!!   

[score_building]

It's a business decision based on a formula.  

Unless spending millions of dollars at Macy's they could care less if a card holder bails or not.  To characterize a ccc by a single CLD is usually inadvisable, think long term before jumping the gun on a momentary set-back.