Nordstroms, Please Reconsider My Credit Application

Thank you Chris M, Alley, BeccaLinda, Phil Burnham, Leanne, MA Loper,
Kim Cortes, nick l, and gb for your posts. I read them and took them
to heart. The rest of you can go to hell. Get a life, please!
Except maybe snurli, and lb1103, where I'm kind of on the fence.

Approved, $500 credit line, and Nordstrom even sent me a $50 gift
certificate because it turns out I was wrongfully declined due to a
glitch in the credit decision-making computers.

:-) :-) :-)

Wow I'm a sophomore in college and I have no issue getting credit. I
got a loan for a $23,000 car and have no issues with getting credit
cards from anywhere. I also have a FULL time job not a part time.
Why should they reconsider you, obviously there is something negative
on your credit report, maybe its pulling your report daily from
transunion and myfico? The more its pulled the more negative it
becomes. Get yourself a job and prove yourself, you should be able to
get a simple credit card.

Hi.

You don't know me or my history, but I want you to lend me money even
though you have told me no. Let me tell you why you should:

1 - I like myself and I am perfect in my estimation, so therefore you
shouldn't have a problem with me.

2 - Since I am sucking up to you, you should endow me with a line of
credit because I use the word "glowing" to describe your
establishment. I know that bribery is illegal, but since you might
not notice--I figured you could make an exception.

3 - Even though I have been denied because of too many inquiries, here
I am inquiring again. I figured that this time it wouldn't make the
amount of inquiries worse because, as you well know, the squeaky wheel
gets the grease.

Signed,

You don't know me, but I do.


P.S. - Maybe I should chalk up my losses.

Opening up a bunch of credit cards in order to get better interest
rates on loans in the future is the stupidest thing I've ever heard
of. Not to mention, you don't negotiate rates for student loans, law
school or otherwise.

If you can't get approved for a store credit card, I'd venture to
guess that you've actually got pretty bad credit, because they'll
approve anyone.

Haha I'm 21.. almost done with college (hopefully).. and besides my
bank credit card.. I have only 2 others.. one in which I'm probably
gonna cancel soon (VS card) and kohls.. which I only got because of
the sales you get with it. But yea.. i'd NEVER beg for a credit card.
Seems kinda shady. Unless you get good sales with the card.. dont beg.

Were there posts deleted? I read all the posts and it seems like some
are missing. Again I'm a day late and a dollar short.....

For someone who thinks he's so smart, you seem to know very little
about the financial world.

You're not writing a letter to some small-time department store, where
some long-time employee who'd love to build the customer base sees an
opportunity to add a customer to the roster. (Nevermind that you said
you don't shop there -- not a good admission on your part.)

Nordstrom farms out its credit card business to another party, a party
whose decisions are based SOLELY on past and current financial data
(rather than potential future performance on your part). Underwriters
set the rules, decide what criteria are to be considered and the
weight to be given to each aspect of your financial history/data.

Writing a letter like this will do absolutely nothing to change that.

However, based on your responses below (and your ridiculous post about
the grocery store security announcements), you DO seem to have the
right attitude to be an attorney, so who knows? But unless you get
some humility, law school will chew you up and spit you out. And then
you'll likely slip and fall in that puddle of spit. Hope you know a
good lawyer so you can sue for your injuries.

NEVER never beg for a credit card.

Natalio,

I applaud your diligence and apparently sincere desire to get and keep
a good credit rating, however, having been where you are, let me give
you a little advice.

You admitted to 2 things in your letter that concerned me. First,
that you don't even really shop at Nordstrom's except for occasionally
online and don't have one near you. Rule one of credit, don't EVER
take out credit at a store you don't/won't/can't use.

I got myself a Disney Store card when I was in college because I
thought it was "cool" and wound up racking up a lot of debt at
Christmas time there because I had no other use for the card.
Ultimately I could have gotten a Visa or a Mastercard with a similar
limit that would have at least helped me in that I could have used it
anywhere instead of on high-priced gifts that probably weren't
practical in the first place!

Second, you admit to a "credit application spree." As other posters
have mentioned, lots of inquiries in a short amount of time looks bad
to creditors. Even though your intentions may be good and you may be
looking for the best rate and the best credit company to deal with,
every inquiry to your history acts as a "hit" and subtracts points
from your credit score. They have no way of knowing which cards
accepted you and which did not, so they typically assume you got them
all! Sad part is that it's far easier to lose credit score points than
it is to gain them back.

While your plea is polite and seems to be well thought out, at the end
of the day, I'd just let it go if I were you. Check out CapitalOne or
Chase for a simple Visa or Mastercard - many of them have some great
programs where you can earn free gasoline or frequent flier miles or
even cash off a new car! Or go to Discover since they offer CashBack
bonus programs.

Trust me, from someone who had to learn the hard way, it will serve
you much better than a department store card and the APR will be MUCH
lower.

If you already have credit cards with balances, have several inquires,
and have only recently gotten a part time job to pay off those
existing debts then I can totally understand why they denied you
credit.

Having a lot of credit isn't nearly as important as having a stable
credit history. If, as you state, are trying to buy a car and take
out student loans then perhaps you should focus on your credit
history. Keep your payments up on your existing account and stop
applying for credit. Then when you need to buy that car, you will get
your loan and at a decent rate too.

Nordstrom is doing their part in saving you from a lifetime of debt.
They are doing you a favor. You should thank them.

To a credit card issuer, too many iquiries on your credit report
indicates that you are opening up lots of cards, and you may be more
likely to miss payments and become a credit risk.

If you keep making the payments in full each month, you should have no
problem being able to get credit.

Something tells me you didn't apply for that card based solely on that
review on the Web site. I'm thinking you applied because you wanted to
buy something and get the discount for opening up the credit card. Not
that there's anything wrong with that, but nobody opens up credit
cards because they saw a good review of them on a Web site.

You can beg all you want, but why should Nordstrom go out on a limb
for someone who has a.) never purchased anything from them, b.) is a
college student with a new part-time job, c.) obviously has at least
several credit cards they are trying to pay down to help their
utilization? You reasons for wanting the card don't make sense and
also don't provide a compelling reason to justify reconsideration.

It's called honesty, Amanda dear. Who said I was denied twice? I
think you should limit the scope of your commentaries as you're
venturing into areas you know little about.

Are you serious?

"But my two years have been nearly flawless in my estimation."

It is you estimation. If you were denied twice, why do you feel they
should consider it again?

And by mentioning how little yo ushop there, why would that help your
case? You aren't bringing them in much.

And if you are still in college, why are you racking up credit card
debt?