Credit ratings?
Well, I'm vexed.
I was ambushed at Manchester Airport by a credit card company (specifically, BMI, doing their own cards), and I thought it had a useful air miles feature which would get me a few free trips to Spain, so I thought why not (especially since all my dedicated servers are paid for by credit card, therefore I could rack up loads of air miles).
Today I got a letter saying they refused the application, giving no real details other than "sorry we can't offer you credit at this time".
But any loans I've needed (I had a loan to do some work on the house about 5 years ago) were paid off in full, on time. I've never been in arrears for anything, and I always pay my credit card off in full. So I've had credit activity, shown that I pay what I owe always without falling into arrears. So why would they refuse me? I'm pretty certain I've never been a victim of 'identity theft' either.
The only reason I can possibly think of is in these 'credit crunch times' is that I already have a credit card with quite a high credit limit, and they may have some kind of maximum total credit limit across all cards. The trouble is they don't even give the vaguest idea why they turned the application down, if they said, "you already have too much credit available to you on your existing card", I'd not be bothered, it is at least a reasoanble reason. About all I can do is get my own credit report from the same agency they used.
Anyway, just letting off some mild annoyances. I was looking forward to some cheap trips away courtesy of regular free air miles.
I was ambushed at Manchester Airport by a credit card company (specifically, BMI, doing their own cards), and I thought it had a useful air miles feature which would get me a few free trips to Spain, so I thought why not (especially since all my dedicated servers are paid for by credit card, therefore I could rack up loads of air miles).
Today I got a letter saying they refused the application, giving no real details other than "sorry we can't offer you credit at this time".
But any loans I've needed (I had a loan to do some work on the house about 5 years ago) were paid off in full, on time. I've never been in arrears for anything, and I always pay my credit card off in full. So I've had credit activity, shown that I pay what I owe always without falling into arrears. So why would they refuse me? I'm pretty certain I've never been a victim of 'identity theft' either.
The only reason I can possibly think of is in these 'credit crunch times' is that I already have a credit card with quite a high credit limit, and they may have some kind of maximum total credit limit across all cards. The trouble is they don't even give the vaguest idea why they turned the application down, if they said, "you already have too much credit available to you on your existing card", I'd not be bothered, it is at least a reasoanble reason. About all I can do is get my own credit report from the same agency they used.
Anyway, just letting off some mild annoyances. I was looking forward to some cheap trips away courtesy of regular free air miles.
Post edited by Winston on
Comments
D.
Embarressingly enough I had to phone my ma and ask her to go and put a fiver in my bank for me, cos the money that was supposed to go in never made it there :mad:
Told them where to stick it in the end, but I suppose I should contact these credit goons sometime and tell them to give the debt back to the bank, the reason I went overdrawn was totally out of my hands and my bank basically lied to me on numerous occasions about what they were going to do about it.
So they can sod off!
But who knows in my current circumstances maybe they'd offer me a couple of platinum cards? :D
All I do is keep my cool, refuse to answer any security/identity question and say I only deal through the written word so everything is evidence, I also log the calls so I can complain to the financial ombudsman for harassment. Then they try to goad a response which I usually laugh at and put the phone down. Its the callers that get abusive, threatening to send the bailiffs round within the week which is a total lie. People don't fully understand their rights where debt chasers are concerned, they actually have very little power so they resort to nuisance pressure to try and get people to cave in. If they do call at the door never ever let them in, they have no right of access whatsoever and if they don't go away you can report them for breach of the peace and the coppers will move them on (if you got good coppers that is). Been there done that. Obviously you get a bad notch on your credit history but that's not all bad, not having a credit card is something to aim for if you ask me.
Anyway I struggled for 7 years to pay off my student barclaycard, because they kept adding interest on over and over. before they turned me over to a collection agency I told them I was unemployed and insured against loss of income, twice they sent me a redundency form. I told them no I'm unemployed I have no income and I haven't been made redundant recently.
Then without warning I get a letter from the collection people...wankers!
Anyway when I finally managed to get a job that lasted longer than 3-6 months, I tried to make a deal with the collection people for a lower payment if I payed it off in one go, they wouldn't negotiate. But I had a trick up my sleeve, a few times when I missed a payment they'd always sent me a red letter offering me a reduced one off payment, and I mean it was really reduced it knocked about 400-500 quid off. So I purposely missed a payment to get another red letter. ended up paying about 200 quid, which sounds quite a bit but it was better than 700 that's for sure :D
The clincher what really got up my nose though, no less than 6 months after I'd cleared that debt Barclaycard phoned me up and asked me if I wanted another card. I've never went so mental on anybody on the phone before, but I reckon the person working in the call centre probably quit after the tirade I blasted down the phone at them. All I really remember was saying something about having a nerve contacting me after 7 years of debt hell, and if they ever called me again I'd come to there nearest office and rip them a new arsehole.
I think the person on the other end said something like "OK thanks for your time sir" as I slammed the phone down. My mother and her boyfriend (who is now dead) thought it was absolutely hilarious, but I my heed must've been purple with veins bulging out of it by that stage I was so pissed off.
They never called me again though :lol:
* it gives additional protection for goods/services that don't arrive/get done as promised.
* it means if someone gets hold of the numbers, they can't pillage and empty my current account. Even if the banks refund fraudulent transactions, while it's being sorted out, I wouldn't even be able to buy groceries, something that woudln't happen if someone fraudulently maxed out my credit card.
* if my ATM card fails while I'm away, I have a backup (even if it costs ?2 for the cash advance) and don't go hungry.
So credit cards are very useful, don't not have one for the sake of not having one, if you pay your bill off every month they cost you nothing but can provide you with a bit of extra security.