RehabbingANDBlabbing

I logged into Experian today only to be offered a new checking account. They are calling it Experian Smart Money. Apparently, they weren't happy to have all of your data by using Experian Boost and connecting your bank, on top of all the credit data they already have. Now they want your money too!

I have a friend like you haha. She bought a new car in 2011 and has been driving it ever since. She’s only put 64k miles on it over all these years, so she’s definitely wringing a lot of value out of it.

Well I just bought a car recently, but definitely after much research on different models, prices, and several test drives. I bought a 2021 VW Jetta in the top trim level with 15k miles on it for about $29k out the door. They gave me about $2k for my hoopty trade in, so that brought it down a bit. I didn’t have any loan on the trade either. Overall, It was more than I wanted to spend, but it was a fair price for this vehicle and I didn’t pay any market adjustments, extra fees, or anything else on top. I also used my own financing through DCU, so I got a decent rate. So I definitely felt that inflation doing this deal, but I still got a car that I actually like at an ok price that will last for at least 8-10 years.

Yeah the guy didn't test it before he left. It didn't work after his "repair." But I had to have a working dryer and I wasn't dumping any more money into that POS Samsung haha. So it's gone. I'm going to call Synchrony again and try to get in touch with Samsung's executive office for now.

I am tempted to do that, but I just feel like Samsung abused me in such a way that I have to do SOMETHING. Executive office might be the way to go.

Hello! I am seeking advice and also to share my experience disputing a transaction on my Synchrony PayPal Mastercard. To make a long story short, my dryer stopped working. It is a Samsung, so I contacted them. It was just out of the warranty period, so I was going to have to pay to get it fixed. The issue was the wiring from the plug to the back terminals of the dryer had melted for some reason, causing an issue with the electrical connections. I called Samsung and even did a video chat with their India call center showing them the issue. They then sent me a repair form, where I further explicated the issue. They said the cost of the repair would be $278. I wasn't exactly happy about that but I thought it would be cheaper than a new dryer. So they come out. The repair tech replaces the motherboard even though I showed him what was wrong with it. Even the dryer was saying an error code for electrical voltage. He replaced the motherboard anyway even though that wasn't the problem. He didn't fix it. I made him very aware of that problem. Then he left. Then Samsung billed my card for the full $278. In response to all that, I called Samsung and complained and asked for a refund. Another lady in India said she was submitting a request to escalate the issue. They did not refund the money or ever respond to my call. After that, I disputed it by phone with Synchrony/Paypal. They didn't ask for much information. Basically, the dispute was submitted as "goods and services received were not as expected." About 2-3 weeks later, I see the amount credited to my account. So I figured the issue was resolved. NOPE! They submitted an adjustment for the full amount back onto the balance about 2-3 more weeks after that. I haven't gotten any letters or correspondence from Synchrony, so I'm not sure what to do next. I feel like the issue is partly their terrible dispute process and the rep only providing them limited information, which is not the case for most of my other credit accounts. I ended up buying an entire new dryer because this left such a bad taste in my mouth regarding Samsung. But now I am on the hook for the original dryer, which was about $800, just over a year ago, $288 for a pointless repair, and about $800 for a new dryer. I am pissed. So please advise me on what you think might be a good next step. I haven't had to do a lot of chargebacks, so I'm not sure what else can be done.

They always make up something. Because at the end of the day, if you don't have a perfect 850, there is always a mathematical factor that can be improved. Honestly, considering all the different variables used in credit scores, it is probably next to impossible to get a perfect 850. A fun example for me right now, in terms of credit scores hilarity, is that my Experian score is my highest at 704, but that's with 4 paid charge offs showing that are about to age off in a few months. But my Equifax score is about 668 and my TransUnion score is 697. Both of those reports are completely clean. Having too many inquiries, too many new accounts, and too high of utilization is what's keeping my scores down. The scores don't even seem to be acknowledging the delinquencies at this point.

Yeah, you are fine to include your spouse’s income as well as any income y’all have coming in from those business properties too. And if they ask about housing costs, I would not include the other property because it is a business liability, not where you live personally. It sounds like y’all are doing ok even if you do have some bills.

So that denial sucks, but I have seen US Bank giving out denials left and right over the past couple of years. Last year, I got the Cash+ secured card with a $500 CL. It just graduated this month to the unsecured version, after about 13 months. Anyway, I’ve used the crap out of this card for my utilities and internet bills. I don’t think I have maxed out the 5% categories, but it has been well worth my while, even without getting the signup bonus. Since mine just graduated, I opened one for my husband. He was approved and we just put in $500 again. We are going to use his for 5% on cell phone bills and sporting good stores. It’s gonna be a second moneymaker. Personally, I knew they would never approve either of us for an unsecured card because we are rebuilding, so that’s reason number one. But even if our credit was completely clean, we would still both be denied for new accounts and inquiries. So rather than waiting 1-2 years, I just decided to go the secured route. Now I have an extra $200 in cash back from that first year, with more coming this year. Not mad at it for a no annual fee card.

I'm just tired of keeping track of all the credits and other nonsense associated with it. Once they added a preset limit to my card for no good reason, I was done. While you can make a profit on the Platinum card, I think the Delta Reserve AmEx or another card offering lounge access just makes way more sense for me, especially for less money. But word on the street is they are going to reduce the benefits on that card as well.Once I am under 5/24 and my credit is completely clean (that will be in 12/23), I definitely want to try for the Chase Sapphire Reserve or maybe even the Cap1 Venture X.

My lawsuit stuff is finally done. Got settlements accepted with Equifax, Experian, and an unnamed big bank. I am waiting on settlement papers from Experian and I'm very glad I didn't have to do their discovery requests. They wanted every document I have written to them and any other credit bureaus in the last 5 years, which is a lot, at least for me, lol. And that's not even mentioning the 20 other requests they mad for documents and admissions. But I did get the deletions of the negative account this week from the bank itself. It was removed from Innovis, Equifax, and Experian. It had been deleted from TransUnion several years ago via a dispute. My Experian FICO8 rose from 685 to 704. Not sure of the impact on my EQ scores because I don't follow it as closely. According to Experian, my EQ FICO8 is now 668 and TU is 697. It will go up more once some inquiries fall off and I pay off some more bills. But I am glad to have that awful albatross of an unpaid charge-off deleted from my reports because almost every lender was holding that against me and auto-denying me for stuff. Even Comenity has been denying me for CLIs because it was on my Equifax reports. I only have negative accounts remaining on Experian, all of which are scheduled to be deleted by January of 2024.

LOL I hear you on the mental capacity issue of managing a lot of cards. It’s a lot, especially trying to keep them active. You can go down an entire rabbit hole of time wasting with cash back deals, using which card for which purchase, hitting credits that offset annual fees, etc. I’m ready to simplify my setup significantly, especially on cards that don’t want to grow or that have a high annual fee with too many caveats.

Have you ever considered upgrading to the Venture X? It’s possible but I know that card isn’t for everyone.

Approved for Synchrony Premier World MasterCard - $1,500 Approved for graduation on my US Bank Cash Plus secured card. I had to ask myself and got a hard pull on TU, but I am going to get my money back after just 12 months. I have already gotten about $200 in cash back from the card during this first year on my utility bills, so it’s clearly a moneymaker Nordstrom card CLI of $500, bringing me up to $2k DH was approved for Mattress Firm for $2,500 and US Bank Cash Plus secured for $500. We decided to add a second one to add on some extra 5% cash back categories.

I guess they didn’t like my letter, because the accounts were deleted from all the credit bureaus today.