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Two-part blog article from Barclaycard... http://www.barclaycardring.com/t5/Barclaycard-Ring-Public-Blog/A-Case-Study-of-a-Credit-Line-Increase-and-Decrease/ba-p/5742 http://www.barclaycardring.com/t5/Barclaycard-Ring-Public-Blog/A-Case-Study-of-a-Credit-Line-Increase-and-Decrease-Part-II/ba-p/5840

I have a Merrick card, formerly Hooters that I had been running high UTL on. Recently decided to take out a small loan from my CU to pay off my higher interest credit card debt (about 4000 total). Anyway, I paid off the Merrick card, so I should be showing 1700 in available credit, however it only shows 875. Is this the start of me getting CLD or is Merrick holding back a portion of my CL until the check "clears." It would suck to go from 1700 to 875. It's also my oldest card so I would hate to have to cancel it.

A couple of years back when Macy's started its fun, new "we're not going to tell you what your credit limit is, but you can call and ask before you make a purchase and we'll let you know if you have permission or not" program, I called their customer service, registered my dissatisfaction with the new arrangement, and sock-drawered my card. I figured if they refused to tell me my credit limit, I'd just refuse to use their card and we'd be even. A few weeks back when I pulled my annual credit report I noticed it showed a $100 credit limit on my Macy's card. Showing any kind of credit limit for Macy's was new--at least since the last time I'd looked--but this was a couple of hundred dollars lower than it was before they stopped telling us a limit (I'd opened my Macy's card at the start of my rebuilding, so the limit - before it went away - was only $300). I finally called the other day to ask why the limit was so low and the customer svc rep said that whenever a card isn't used for a long time, they automatically drop the limit so it won't be used fraudulently. Okay, fair enough. She offered very nicely to see if they could bump it up but said it would be a hard pull on my credit. I told her no thanks. On the one hand, I know that an unused card can sometimes be cancelled and I should have paid more attention to how long it had been. On the other hand, I only stopped using the card because of their change in policy. I know it may seem like a small thing but the more I think about it, the more it bothers me. I used to use my Macy's card on a regular basis. I always paid in full. I only stopped using it because of their experimentation with the very un-customer-centric "guess your credit limit" program (which apparently they've rescinded in the last year and a half). And now I have a virtually unusable card unless I agree to another pull on EX. Does anyone think this is worth a letter to the corporate office or should I just chalk this up to experience and forget the card?

Speaking with a friend today, she received a CLD from Walmart. Her initial limit was $300, and after making her last payment they CLD'd her to $100. Apparently her score fell below a threshold that was acceptable to them. She says lower than 600. Her initial score was about 610 when she received the card. I didn't see the actual notification so I don't have any more details as to the bureau in question, I assume TU. Has anyone else experienced this with Walmart? Did they reinstate your initial line after some period of time? Are any future CLI's out of the question? Should she just pay to zero and sock drawer now? Any helpful information would be appreciated. Thanks!