hi-liter Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 As some of you know, I have a secured Orchard card that will be turning 3 in Feb. and it is currently keeping my socks company. Randomly, b/c I'm a curious one, I've gone to Household's website to "see what card I'm mostly likely to be approved for". Until a few weeks ago, I usually saw 2-3 card choices, one of which was always the Orchard secured, along with other Orchard cards. Last week I decided to visit the site again, but this time the only card that appeared was an HSBC Platinum with no annual fee and 0% interest for 12 months. Needless to say I was super surprised. I checked back today, to see if it was a fluke, but nope, not a fluke.Here's where I'd like your thoughts. Should I bug Orchard customer service to request "graduation" from the secured card? Or should I just apply for the Household platinum and if approved, cancel the Orchard card?I'm hesitent to cancel Orchard b/c I don't want my average account age to tank, but I would like my stinkin back. I'm also tired of paying their annual fee since none of my other cards charge one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 HBSC Platinum or Household? These are two entirely different cards.Don't know what you should do because we don't know your situation. What report would Household/HSBC pull (probably EQ)? What is your FICO there? What else is on that report... baddies, any other TLs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hi-liter Posted July 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 The HSBC Platinum Mastercard. They soft-pulled my EX, as always, but will pull either EX or EQ. My FICO for EQ isn't horrible- 683 as of last check a week or so ago. No idea about EX FICO. I have 1 CO on EX (from 2000-2001) and 2 CO on EQ (from 2000-2001 and a $30 one from 2002)I have about 8 open TLs-all in good standing/never late, with a nice mix of installment, revolving and store credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmuse00 Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Here's what confused me LNY.I recently also applied with Household since I have an Orchard card. Applied online to see what card I might be approved for and it said I would most likely be approved for the "orchard gold"???So i went ahead and submitted my application and it came back saying I was already a member and could not apply.Plus the softpull was made on my EX report by HSBC NV same that report my Orchard card. I knew that Orchard was also a Household Bank card but thought they operated as separate entities. Now I am confused. Why was i not offered a household card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc72 Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 So when applying, when it says "credit card selector", this is a soft pull?Hubby has secured Orchard, but he applied through the mail before I came to this board.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hi-liter Posted July 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 yep-soft pull. I wish I knew of other cards that offered the same soft pull sorta deal, but I haven't found any yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justaguy Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 So if you hit that site and they do a soft pull that says you should apply for a certain card, does that mean you have a really good chance of getting that card? What exactly are they looking at when they do a soft pull? Purely score? Then when you apply do they actually scour your report for anything they can deny you for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc72 Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Here's what confused me LNY.I recently also applied with Household since I have an Orchard card. Applied online to see what card I might be approved for and it said I would most likely be approved for the "orchard gold"???So i went ahead and submitted my application and it came back saying I was already a member and could not apply.Plus the softpull was made on my EX report by HSBC NV same that report my Orchard card. I knew that Orchard was also a Household Bank card but thought they operated as separate entities. Now I am confused. Why was i not offered a household card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmuse00 Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Justaguy:I'm not certain that it is a done deal but you do have a greater chance of getting the card they say you will be approved for. I worked on my credit and everytime I tried using this promo method with the softpulls it kept showing me the secured card. Worked harder on getting my report cleaned up and then tried again when I had less negs and higher score. This time they offered me both secured and unsecured. So I applied and sure enough got the unsecured card with a $500 cl. It will be a year in Aug. JC: I read somewhere that one could have both an orchard and a household card at the same time and that is why I tried for the household but like I mentioned earlier they keep offerring me the "orchard" which I already have. Weird! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justaguy Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 OK this is cool and at the same time kind of strange. I have a Household Bank Card that started in 2003 with a $300 limit. It is now up to a $900 limit. I have no balance on it and since getting a better card with my Credit Union I asked them if they could move me up to a better card with a lower interest rate or a lower fee. I also indicated that should they not change anything that I would be closing my account before the next annual fee hits me. They basically said no, in fact here is the message:Dear Justaguy, We understand your concern regarding the annual fee on your account. Unfortunately, we are unable to comply with your request to remove the annual membership fee from your account. According to your Cardmember Agreement and Disclosure Statement, an annual fee will be billed to your account on the open date and on the anniversary date each year the account is open. This fee allows us to continue to provide quality service to our customers. You are important to us and we appreciate your business. Sincerely, Ram Household Bank Customer Care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hi-liter Posted July 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Justaguy- out of the cards you were offered, did you apply for the "best" card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justaguy Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 They were all 3 basically the same. All had the same rates, and fees. One was a Rewards card, one was a cash back card, and one I thik had like longer term of 0%. I may be mistaken on the last one though. I went for the rewards card, since i haven't had a rewards card before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Household is a step above Orchard. You can qualify for an Orchard card, and still not qualify for Household. Household cards tend to have higher limits.I have a HH card with a $2800 limit. Over 4 years with perfect payments and low utilization. The only card I have with an AF, and the interest rate is like 23%. They refuse to lower the rate OR waive the fee. The balance is now down to like $17, and I know as soon as I pay it to zero, they're going to close it. This is what they do when they see you have better cards with higher limits, and you don't "need" them anymore.They're like jealous suitors. Hi-liter: Bank of America also offers a soft-pull selector. Although every time I've played with it, I've never seen a pull of any kind. Probably because I'm blacklisted. heh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmuse00 Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 LNY:You got that link for the softpull for BOA??? I'm curious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 https://preapproved.bankofamerica.com/SelfInquiry.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hi-liter Posted July 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 I just played with the BOA link and no dice. I think I read somewhere on here that if you've opted-out, that you won't get a result. So either A) I suck and they don't want me to have their CC, I've opted out and that's why it's not working or C) Burning MBNA has landed me on a blacklist for BOA/MBNA.Oh well.So, back to my original question- should I ask Orchard for graduation or should I burn an inquiry with the HSBC Platinum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmuse00 Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 https://preapproved.bankofamerica.com/SelfInquiry.aspxThanks! I still have fraud alert on TU & on EQ from when my wallet got stolen so I better make sure they are off before I try. I made sure it was off my EX when i applied for the Macy's card. Despite what others have said I do think sometimes alerts can have a bad affect on getting new credit. I can't get a fico score and a rep told me that sometimes the alerts block you from getting a score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 I just played with the BOA link and no dice. I think I read somewhere on here that if you've opted-out, that you won't get a result. So either A) I suck and they don't want me to have their CC, I've opted out and that's why it's not working or C) Burning MBNA has landed me on a blacklist for BOA/MBNA.Oh well.So, back to my original question- should I ask Orchard for graduation or should I burn an inquiry with the HSBC Platinum?Probably all three! Orchard pretty much graduates when it wants to, not when you ask. Can you afford the inq. on whatever report they'll pull? If not, why not go for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hi-liter Posted July 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 Well, I went ahead and decided to apply, if for no other reason than the no annual fee. I didn't get an answer online, which never means good things for me. I checked TC this morning, and it looks like they pulled EX, which is goo news, since EX is my best report with only 1 6yr old baddie.So..we'll see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyfox2020 Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 I tried the BOA "pre-qualified". Got Alaskan Airlines. But I usually get this offer in the mail. Is this any different than the processe they use to send out the mailers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 I don't think so, Skyfox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
someonesomewhere Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 https://preapproved.bankofamerica.com/cc/SelfInquiry.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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