Barclay's Confusing Goodwill

[Anonymous]

I wrote Barclay Card a goodwill letter requesting they remove the most recent and only late payments from both of my cards and they wrote back hinting that they would, but to me to write to their credit dispute department. I'm not disputing the payments were late, so my question is: should I send the same letter requesting they be removed as a goodwill gesture or dispute that they were late to begin with?

[Anonymous]

You should put on the top and bottom of your letters "This is not a credit dispute" - This way, they cannot confuse it because you have no idea who is actually handling these documents when they arrive. Some people are more intelligent than others.

[RobertEG]

I would interpret their response as being from someone who does not know whtat they are doing or recommending.

You want your request to reach the desk of someone who both understands and has the authority to grant exceptions.

I would pursue via letter or call to their exectivie offices, and get your request on a wooden desk.

[BeautifulBlueBoy]

Take Robert's advice. He will lead you down the correct path.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! Any advice on the best way to convince someone at the executive office? I spoke with someone from the AmEx executive offices and was told they couldn't change the reported late payments because "they're a bank and have strict guidelines.

[Anonymous]

Here's the message I received in respons to my email. It certainly seems like a form letter, but seems to imply they will remove the derog marks:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your JetBlue Rewards Card. We can certainly address your concern regarding the credit bureau report associated with your account.

We understand how your health situation can impact your payments and we commend your efforts in making your credit history a priority. In an effort to resolve your dispute regarding the credit bureau report, we ask that you write a letter to the following address:

FCRA Credit Bureau Disputes
P.O. Box 8803
Wilmington, DE 19801

Please include the following information with your dispute:

Account Number
Contact Information - Name, Address and Phone Number
Specific information that is being disputed with an explanation on why it is being disputed
Any supporting documentation or other information reasonably required to substantiate the dispute (i.e. portion of consumer report, police report, fraud, or ID theft affidavit, court order or statements)

Please allow us 30 days to complete an investigation of the dispute and will mail a letter explaining the outcome. We hope you find this information helpful.

We extend our best wishes to you on your upcoming birthday! We know you have many choices when selecting a financial institution and we would like to take this time to express our appreciation that you have chosen BarclaycardUS as your credit card provider. We wish for your wife's good health! If you have any other questions or concerns, please reply to this message.

[Anonymous]

Hi there, I was really uplifted to see this post of yours. I'm writing a goodwill letter to Jetblue and I wasn't sure where to mail the physical letter to. Can you share what mailing address you used? 

Thanks so much in advance for your help.

[RobertEG]

Creditors are well aware of the CRA policy that instructs furnishers not to delete prior reporting based on the consumer having paid the debt.

That policy is incorportated into their credit reporting agreements with the CRAs, and thus they risk loss of their credit reporting agreements if they grant such deletions.

The recommendation is similar to ones posted in the past, and is apparently a misguided effort to grant deletion without simply violating CRA policy.

Their misstaken assumption is that by having the consumer file a dispute, and then the creditor not verifying the accuracy, the CRA must then delete.

The problem is that there is no inaccuracy in reporting upon which to file a valid dispute.

Thus, they are recommending filing of a improper dispute in order to then fail to verify the accuracy, and thus compel CRA deletion.

Not a proper process on their part.