Credit Question- Celles? Adult-types?

jasmineh7777

 So, something strange happened today. I was doing holiday shopping and my credit card got declined. I had my debit card so nbd, but I was annoyed nonetheless.


 H called the company, and they apparently lowered our available credit by a few thousand dollars. They said they mailed us a letter with an explanation over two weeks ago, which we have yet to receive.  (Also, we were still well below our new limit and they couldn't say why my card was declined.)

 We both have really good credit. We are paying off a house, both work full time, etc. We've never missed a payment or even made a late payment. We've been approved every time we've tried to increase our limit. The woman H talked to couldn't tell him jack, and he has to wait to speak to a manager next week.
 
 But I'm rather annoyed. Any idea as to why they would suddenly drastically decrease our credit limit? I am confused. Would our age be a factor?

allisong23

A lot of credit card companies have been doing that, even to their good customers. They all suck.

Wrkn925

With all those unanswered questions, I would assume it was just a malfunction.

When I worked at a restaurant and a gas station, cards would get declined all the time for stupid reasons.  It was really embarrassing for the customers.
Sometimes the banks lines would be down(debit), sometimes our machine was being finicky.

anna.oskar

My H says:

A few years ago banks were giving credit to everyone and excessive credit at that.  They are now systematically reviewing the credit information and due to today's underwriting standards, most people actually aren't qualified for the credit they have available. (Hence our economic troubles due to lending practices)  When they review now, they often lower the credit limit to reflect what your limit actually should have been had they been responsible to begin with.

The card decline was most likely just a screw up with your bank itself.  Due to the high volume of charges coming through the system, if your card couldn't make contact with the bank through the reader, it automatically is programmed to say "decline" even if you do have available funds.  You shouldn't worry about it.  It's a glitch.

kd.joseph

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_credit-question-celles-adult-types?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:c0f73da5-3d23-4f1d-a868-ba25ad962bdaPost:75b25454-9303-415b-9f01-60d01c05dea8">Credit Question- Celles? Adult-types?</a>:
[QUOTE] So, something strange happened today. I was doing holiday shopping and my credit card got declined. I had my debit card so nbd, but I was annoyed nonetheless.  H called the company, and they apparently lowered our available credit by a few thousand dollars. They said they mailed us a letter with an explanation over two weeks ago, which we have yet to receive.  (Also, we were still well below our new limit and they couldn't say why my card was declined.)  We both have really good credit. We are paying off a house, both work full time, etc. We've never missed a payment or even made a late payment. We've been approved every time we've tried to increase our limit. The woman H talked to couldn't tell him jack, and he has to wait to speak to a manager next week.    But I'm rather annoyed. Any idea as to why they would suddenly drastically decrease our credit limit? I am confused. Would our age be a factor?
Posted by jasmineh7777[/QUOTE]

You can read mine....or just read Anna's.

Just had this happen with one of mine. You should have got a letter though. With the new restrictions on what CC companies can do now days, with late fees,interest increases, etc...they are going through accounts and deciding if you have too much debt to ratio and other factors.

Now why if you still have credit left on there and they declined that is weird, unless you would have gone over? But she should have been able to tell you something.

K&J64

It probably is because you're a good customer and you pay your minimum or above your minimum payment every month and that you're basically not earning them enough money, so they lowered your limit. It's not an untypical practice these days, given that you're still under the limit of what the new lower limit is though is alarming. I would check you credit card statement online immediately to ensure that there's no unexpected charges and also check your credit report to make sure there's no unauthorized accounts as your debt to income ratio can also affect the credit companies are willing to have available to you.

Whenever something seems unusual with your credit you should get your 3 credit reports and make sure everything looks ok. Good luck, hopefully they just lowered it because of their new business practices and it has nothing to do with your credit.

jasmineh7777

Thanks for the input ladies. 

  H talked to the company and they did in fact lower our limit, so it wasn't a glitch. I just feel like it was really unprofessional to not notify us first. 

 I have a bad taste in my mouth now, so we'll look for another card. Like I said, our credit is pretty darn good, and having it get declined today was embarrasing.

Anna- That may be part of the case. H has had this card since he was a teenager. It may have been a bad idea then, but he's never made any poor choices with it.

jasmineh7777

Kcullen-We will definitely check our credit scores today. Thanks!

tidetravel

How often do you use the card?  CC companies have started lowering balances on or even completely cancelling accounts that go unused or have little activity.. 

garcias1

Good luck credit card shopping.  If you do decide to stop using the credit card you have now, don't close out the account.  It hurts your credit when you close accounts; your credit score takes into account the length of the time that your credit lines have been open.  If you want to know your approximate credit score, you can get it at www.credit.com. It is totally free (you don't have to do the scammy programs that websites like freecreditreport.com make you do).  I'm sure your credit is pretty good, but it would be good to know your approximate credit score as well (credit reports won't tell you your credit score).  You may be able to use that as a bargaining chip to either open a new card or negotiate with your current credit card company.