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I recently tried my luck twice with good-faith adjustments. Once was for 30-Day with First Premiere and one for 60-Day with WFNB.
I found some templates online and customized them to fit my situation. I explained that I was simply irresponsible, that I learned my lesson and that it hasn't happened since (been about 18-months since).
Both replies were the same almost word for word. Along the lines of "we reviewed your account and found that we are reporting it properly to the bureaus". No reference of good-faith or adjustments. As if they never even read my letter (they probably haven't). I wrote a reply of how dissapointed I was with their service but figured why waste a stamp...
While I am right around the 2 year mark and will not re-attempt, I was wondering if someone else's luck was different than mine. Maybe it is just the 2 institutions that I contacted, maybe it is all. Would love to know.
I got Scottrade to re-code an inquiry and change their policy for IRAs for DW.
DW has received two phone calls from C-level and a letter staff regarding baddies, but no GW.
Try over and over again until the bank tells you that they will no longer respond to your requests.
They are very real, just hit or miss. I had success with Well Fargo about 3 months ago. Keep your head up!
Grant
They are real, but they are the exception to the rule. And I would say that getting an immediate positive response is the exception to the exception to the rule. You're almost always going to get denied at first and several times thereafter. The people that have the most luck with GW requests are those that are the most persistent.
Remember, you are asking them for a favor. Don't write them a letter complaining of poor customer service because they are continuing to report accurate information. That's not poor customer service. Even if your comments are limited to it being poor customer service because you got a canned response that seems like they didn't read your letter, still that's not going to help your case. You need to remember you are asking them to do something that is outside their normal policy.
Also, if you started with a GW letter you found on here or elsewhere on the internet and changed a couple details in the middle to fit your situation, I would just throw the whole thing out. Start over and write a letter without looking at a template. So many of them start off the exact same, something along the lines of:
I am writing regarding my [lender] account and to respectfully request a revision to some late payment notations listed on my credit reports. Your customer service representative suggested that I write to you for a "goodwill adjustment." ...
I've seen a lot of letters floating around out there that start off like that. That means that the person who received the letter has to have seen countless ones like it. It's clearly copied somewhere from the internet. It doesn't sound genuine. There's probably no chance any customer service rep told anyone to write in asking for a goddwill adjustment. So right off the bat the reader isn't inclined to engage with you and help you. They just toss it aside as another person who copied something from the internet thinking they can get their credit reports altered.
This might all be irrelevant to your situation, but when I wrote my first GW letters I made that mistake. There's no magic language you have to use. You're basically just asking them for a favor. You're much better off putting the template aside and trying to write the letter based only on your experience. And keep trying.
Thanks for the responses everyone. I guess I was looking for some king of re-assurance that GW adjustments are real before I continue "chasing ghosts" here... I will definitely re-write my letters and give it a few more tries. May be worth my while after all.
I got HSBC to give me GW adjustments for a 90 day late and a 30 day late, so they do happen if you are persistent enough. I was rejected several times and even was rejected after going through their executive office over the phone, but they eventually did it. Just keep trying and it will happen.
@BlQn wrote:Thanks for the responses everyone. I guess I was looking for some king of re-assurance that GW adjustments are real before I continue "chasing ghosts" here... I will definitely re-write my letters and give it a few more tries. May be worth my while after all.
Chasing ghosts is essentially what GW is haha..
I had a lot of luck with GW adjustments and removals... right now, I am having a hard time with 3, but I will keep pursuing it. haha
What else do I have to lose?!
-scott
+1 to WaltK's post.
Reluctance to delete accurate information based on payment is premised on the fact that it does not serve the integrity of the credit reporting system, depriving other creditors of an accurate credit history. That is the primary reason that the CRAs exist. Thus, the CRA dicta not to delete on that basis.
I agree with Walt.... take it easy when asking for removal of accurate information.