I'm a credit risk?

[Bob Wright]

I had my Jeep in the shop for some rather expensive repairs, the shop being a Shell station. I had recently had some work done to the tune of $499, which I had charged on my Shell card. And I had not received my February statement, so the $499 was outstanding. I knew my repair bill was going to be around $900 or more, and my credit limit at Shell was $850.

So I called Shell and explained my situation, asking it they might increase my credit limit to around $1500 or so. After they asked me a few questions, they sort of hemmed and hawed, they said no, they could not increase my credit limit any. So I let it go at that.

I have a MasterCard with a credit limit sufficient to buy a house with, not a very expensive house, but a house none the less.

Now I have maintained a reasonable credit balance, paid all bills on time, usually in full. Shell has told me they will send me a letter explaining my lack of credit risk, but have yet to receive that.

This didn't put me in a bind in any way, but seems to me I asked for a simple little help which they denied.

No big deal, just feel a little miffed.

Bob Wright

 

[Bull Barrel]

What bank is the card with? Its likely it is the bank placing the limit.

 

[hittman]

PM to you.

 

[Dan in MI]

I remember trying to get a credit card 30 some years ago. My own bank wouldn't issue me a card. I looked at the credit specialist and said "I have three times the amount in an account HERE of what I am looking for and I can't get a card?!" The response was they could tie up whatever the card amount was as collateral and I could get a card. Apparently paying in cash, not using credit except when required (they held those previous notes) and paying off all debt early or on time wasn't enough. I said skip it. I just wanted it for travel. Luckily that was the time when everyone was giving a points card for whatever was hot that week. My company started one and I got the card with zero issues.

 

[bogus bill]

This is a old story that happened to me in 1965 with Sears. Of course that was 53 years ago and I was a young guy with a temper. I had just got a new Sears store credit card. My car needed new engine mounts. I took it to sears, showed them the card and they did the work. I went to pick the car up and they wouldn't let me have my car, said I needed to call the credit manager. I blew up, walked right over the shop manager, took my car and scratched out. Then when I cooled off I did call the credit manager. He said he "happened to have a cop standing there". I blew up again and said "Who are you trying to B.S. etc." Then we get down to business and he said the reason my credit wasn't approved for the job was I had bought some cloths on the brand new card and hadn't had a payment history yet. Yeah? Well I have my car, what are you going to do about it. Well, we will make a exception this time. Your credit is approved. I hate to admit it but I stayed with Sears until I got burned again on a insurance matter a few years later, TWICE!!
Once I was buying a used Harley and I needed insurance on it. Allstate was by far the cheapest and they sold it like candy at a counter in the sears store. I bought the insurance, went to HFC got a loan and bought the bike. Then a week or so later I got a refusal of insurance! The deal was they said they shouldn't have sold it too me as it strictly was for customers that had their auto insurance with them and I didn't. (At that time I had a perfect driving record with no wrecks or tickets). It caught up with me later. I went to buy auto insurance as I had recently moved from back east to California and had to redo my auto insurance. A refusal of insurance (Sears) showed up on my record and I had to pay in the nose for a number of years because of it! I was a slow learner. A few years after that I bought my first house. Again, with shopping around I found Allstate was the cheapest so I buy it and the house. AGAIN, I get a refusal of insurance a few weeks later, ask why, and now unbelievably again am told they shouldn't have sold me the insurance as it was their policy to NOT SELL house insurance to a single man!! Yes, this was all fifty years ago and probably sounds unbelievable now. No wonder Sears is going under. They deserve it in my view.

 

[bogus bill]

Bob, your difficulty and mine are fifty years apart but yet these outfits still operate exactly the same! I have credit cards I never use and found out I have excellent credit. My wife is death on using credit cards, far more than me.. She is the most security minded woman I ever knew and that's strange as I should be as I worked security for 35 years. In this day and age it`s difficult to live without a credit card just about like what the bible was talking about with the mark of the beast.
Especially if you fly or need reservations to a motel! You can be a millionaire and try to pay cash but still need a lousy card to call ahead for a room or you just might be sleeping on the sidewalk when you get there! Now days most people buy their guns on line and you cant do it without a card as many wont take a check! What gets me, is standing in line to pay and people ahead of you paying for their soda and beef jerky with a credit card! No wonder this country is in the shape its in! When young people and old ones now too, have a credit card there suddenly is no thought at all on restraining themselves if they don't have real money on them. I know I may be missing a bet though on air miles etc but have never used points for anything.

 

[Pat-inCO]

This didn't put me in a bind in any way,
but seems to me I asked for a simple little help which they denied.

That's where I would quietly pay off the card and never use it again.
Correction. I would put one small charge on it so they have to bill me,
and then return the card, in pieces, with my final payment.

I had a problem with a credit card from my credit union. I made a purchase
that everyone here would like, and went in that day with a payment for
the balance plus the new charge. They refused the payment. I said that
if I could not manage my money as I saw fit, I would do it elsewhere.

When the updated bill came in, I went to the CU and paid it in full, plus
three cents, AND handed them the card . . . in pieces.

They were upset with the over-payment. Tough. :roll:
After four months of a three cent credit, they closed the account.

 

[wwb]

Don't bother trying to discern any logical reason for the way credit is rated. Unless you have a mortgage, 2 car payments, and 7 credit cards, all of which are paid on time, you're a bad risk. :?

My mortgage has been paid off for over 15 years, my last car payment was sometime in the late 80s, and I have 1 credit card - paid in full every month. Bought a new truck 2 years ago - ordered it just the way I wanted it, and had to wait about 4 weeks for it to be built and delivered. About 3 days after finalizing the deal and putting a sizeable downstroke on it, the finance manager from the dealership called, saying there was a problem with my credit. Told him not to worry about it, since I was paying cash.

 

[Colonialgirl]

Long ago, I used Allstate insurance on my auto; Bought a trailer able sailboat and insured the BOAT and TRAILER. It got stolen and they said the insurance ONLY covered the trailer. CHANGED immediately for the auto and have never gone back.

 

[Ka6otm]

Don't bother trying to discern any logical reason for the way credit is rated. Unless you have a mortgage, 2 car payments, and 7 credit cards, all of which are paid on time, you're a bad risk. :?

Not so. I paid my house of around 20+ years ago, my last car payment was January of 1976 and while I have around 10 credit cards, I only use 2 and they're paid off in full each month.

My Credit score varies between 820~830

 

[Dan in MI]

This^.

It's about available credit and how little you use.


But they call you a credit deadbeat because they make zero interest on you.

 

[Kevin]

Not necessarily true. We pay our single credit card each month so we don't pay any interest; our credit is above 800 as well and we have a house payment and two car payments.

The level of income also helps. But If your house is not paid off and your mortgage is more than twice your annual income it hurts. If you are on a fixed income (retired) it also hurts.

 

[vito]

Not directly related to being refused credit, but I have been told that it may not be a good idea to have a very large credit limit on a credit card, since other creditors look at that as if you were using the entire amount of credit available, and might not be a good risk for further credit. I'm not sure if it is true. The one credit card that I use is paid in full every month, and over time the company (Capital One) kept raising the limit on my card. Now it is up to, I believe, $33,000, far higher than I would ever need. I do wonder if that would then hurt me if I wanted, for example to buy a new car and pay some of it with a bank loan. If the bank thought that at any moment I might have a balance due on my credit card of $33,000 I could understand them being a bit reluctant to loan me more money.

 

[Dan in MI]

If you have a large limit but don't use it, or pay it off every month, that's a good thing.

 

[exavid]

Not necessarily, if you have few charges against your card, always pay it off each month, you're not the kind of customer they really want. The card companies want you to run up debt so they can earn some interest. Paying off each month doesn't make them any money.

 

[Dan in MI]

What the card companies want versus your credit rating are different animals. As I believe I said before, the card companies call people that use the card but pay it off every month deadbeats, because the only get the vendor portion for their income, no interest.