What is Household Doing????

[newportgambler]

ok.... i'm really confused now..... had both comp usa and best buy accts with a 10k limit on each. Went into compusa to make a purchase and was declined at $4700, well within the limits. Household is closed when trying to make the purchase and no one is there to answer any questions.....

 

Now checking my best buy acct and the 10k limit is gone????? What the f***. These guys are giving the cards with limits and then erasing them? Anyone else have this happen recently?? Best Buy's open on Sunday and I'm calling them on this in the morning (sat night now), totally confused....

 

Had applied for a sony account and northern tool account with a costco in the past but they are all "separate" entities wihin the units I thought??

 

I'm either really pissed off on this or totally confused??? Thoughts????

[Delego]

wheww you have some heavy credit lines for being in the newbies. How old is your business?

[KevPochop]

You guys need to be careful going on application sprees. This can cause a closer look at your company and its background.

 

When I applied for my Sams Club account. I had to speak with a credit analyst. They went over each account I had with GE Capital.. Applying for too much credit under one bank can be a red flag.

[rigirl]

A particular underwriter may be in the process of having his work audited, and if they find one instance where he or she gave unqualified credit lines then they will look over all the their recent work and undo anything that was done.

[jenyphur]

Phew...I just checked my account with Best Buy online:

 

Last Billing Date 01/17/2005

Last Statement Balance $0.00

New Purchase(s)/Debit(s) $0.00

- Payments $0.00

- Credits $0.00

Current Balance $0.00

Amount Due $0.00

Payment Due Date NA

Amount Past Due $0.00

Credit Line $15,000.00

Available Credit $15,000.00

 

 

Account still shows $15k credit.

 

 

Have you checked your account online? If so, what does it say?

[KevPochop]

From my own experience Household seems to be the only bank strict on their "must be a corporation for two full years NOT just in business for two years."

 

Someone's actions because they slid through on one account and didn't on the other 5 applications might have repercussions on others on this board.

 

Please be careful guys. Think about your other family members here.

[losartworks]

ok.... i'm really confused now..... had both comp usa and best buy accts with a 10k limit on each. Went into compusa to make a purchase and was declined at $4700, well within the limits. Household is closed when trying to make the purchase and no one is there to answer any questions.....

 

Now checking my best buy acct and the 10k limit is gone????? What the f***. These guys are giving the cards with limits and then erasing them? Anyone else have this happen recently?? Best Buy's open on Sunday and I'm calling them on this in the morning (sat night now), totally confused....

 

Had applied for a sony account and northern tool account with a costco in the past but they are all "separate" entities wihin the units I thought??

 

I'm either really pissed off on this or totally confused??? Thoughts????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Welcome to my world! as you've noticed in my other posts, Household had me approved with BB and Sony and because I figured it may be a good time to apply with Northern Tool and CompUSA it cost me. Some supervisor or underwriter not only flushed my new apps but took my previously opened Sony and BB existing accts down the drain too!

 

As someone else suggested here. Too many applications. Got caught by the red flag system and despite our businesses being legitimate, we undoubtedly were granted credit with Household erroneously. My Duns file would not likely be condusive to an approval if you go by their strict criterea. If you go by some Joe Blow underwriter who was approving anything that moved, you got approved. But Joe isn't supposed to approve us and subsequently draws attention.

Since I was just told my Duns in a RED code becuase its allegedly in a residential area is even one more reason they wouldn't have given me that credit. Forget that the computer telling them its residential is wrong. I can exit my business and go to the Chevron station to my right or the mini storage in back of me or the Dairy Queen a few more yards away. Yes, there is a residential area near here, but even that is laced with businesses. a lot of places here are also designed to look like 3 story condos and look residential in structure but are businesses also. his area is clearly commercial zone... or I would think so unless you can now build Chevron stations in residental zones..hahah. Does kind of make sense to me now when I realize I was on the phone with GE/Lowes yesterday getting a CLI, the agent asked about if I had a gallery (Duns reports Im an art gallery for some dumb reason and I am actually an art broker and liquidator. that red code thing was probably showing up to him. guess it didn't bug him enough to not give me the increase. whew!

 

Anyway. Household as we've just learned has an evil side. If you ever get approved, especially for one of those 10-20k lines and your business, or at least business credit or incorporation is just 2-3 years old, it is very likely you shouldn't have gotten it to begin with. If you slip through the cracks, dont apply for anything else and use that acct ASAP to where it would be difficult to shut it off.

If they grant you credit in 'error' and you already havea balance showing, it will be harder for them to turn you off.

 

sorry to hear this. almost makes me wonder if some schmuck at Household reads these type of boards and I helped them out further. Im sure their narrow minded interpretation of people who use these boards is that we must all not be real businesses if we have time to post on a message board.

Im pretty sure that you, I and who knows who else are on Household's internal flag system and probably wont get any accts with them anytime in the near future.

 

as to your Costco, NT etc. yes, seperate entities, but their credit Alll goes through that office in Illinois. We simply got canned for applying for just about everything they offer in trade cards and got flagged. trust me, The first app I made, Best Buy was not exactly a quick approval accident. I had to fax them stuff twice and talk to three different underwriters. No one guy gave it a quick push through approval. The Sony approval was a total quirk and shouldnt have happened. doesnt matter. they took the BB for fun too!

When I look at this I guess I should feel lucky not tohave to deal with Household. As I understand it they are pretty slimey lenders anyway. on a consumer level they are like vultures giving people some pretty nasty finance terms. They love to underwrite places like local furniture stores and such. No finance company is saintly, but have heard HH is pretty nasty on consumer levels. and just as much on business if you ask me.

Edited February 27, 2005 by losartworks

[direct]

Phew...I just checked my account with Best Buy online:

 

Last Billing Date  01/17/2005

Last Statement Balance  $0.00

New Purchase(s)/Debit(s) $0.00

- Payments $0.00

- Credits $0.00

Current Balance $0.00

Amount Due $0.00

Payment Due Date NA

Amount Past Due $0.00

Credit Line $15,000.00

Available Credit $15,000.00

 

 

Account still shows $15k credit.   

 

 

Have you checked your account online?  If so, what does it say?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Does CompUSA have a site to check biz credit activity like Best Buy does? If so, please provide the link. Thank you.

[jenyphur]

I honestly don't know if CompUSA has a site or not. Does anyone know?

 

 

"Please be careful guys. Think about your other family members here"

Kev...I didn't understand your comment. Can you explain what you meant?

 

 

 

I had already decided after I got the CompUSA to not apply for anything else. I certainly didn't want to raise any red flags. $30k of credit is just fine with me.

[direct]

I honestly don't know if CompUSA has a site or not.  Does anyone know? 

 

 

"Please be careful guys. Think about your other family members here"

Kev...I didn't understand your comment.  Can you explain what you meant? 

 

 

 

I had already decided after I got the CompUSA to not apply for anything else.  I certainly didn't want to raise any red flags.  $30k of credit is just fine with me. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's good advice. Leave well enough alone.

 

I believe Kev means that if household catches that they were opening large lines of credit for companies that didn't actually meet their guidelines, they may scrutinize the other accounts that they recently opened. Why? All because of the recent activity by board members with newer credit histories raised a few red flags that wouldn't ordinarily be raised if within a short period of time more than two household affiliated accounts were not applied for. After all, what are the chances of a bunch of new companies with fresh credit histories all applying for Best Buy, Comp USA , Sony and more within a month of each other? Most likely, if one account was opened, used for a year or so with payments made on or before due date, it would never be an issue if another account was opened a year later. I believe to open 3 or 4 accounts without activity or payment history in a short period of time would seem suspicious.

 

For example, my company probably has at least 6 accounts underwritten by citibank, but we didn't apply for all 6 in a month's time, first we obtained staples about 4 years ago, then a year later, Office Depot, then recently OfficeMax and Shell. We already established a good track record with Citibank so it didn't seem suspicious, but if we applied for all of our accounts within 30 or 60 days, I am sure it would have.

Edited February 27, 2005 by direct

[newportgambler]

Called best buy today, spoke w/ a CSR, she told me that this account and the comp usa account i have was closed due to an address variation. I'll call them in the morning. We've been in biz 8 since '98 and prior to our new address was a home address, possibly they got that messed up. She couldn't give me any add'l info since it was being handled by another department.

 

I'll add to the citi note above, I've also got a few different accounts under the citi umbrella and from what it appeared, it'd be ok under the HRS umbrella too... guess not...

 

She told me that they might have checked the address with the sec of state and then come up upon something later.. I questioned her on whether issuing accounts w/ cards snd then cancelling them 2-3 weeks was "normal" business practice. She said that they can close the accounts at any time w/ this type of variation... Dunno..

 

I'll update everyone tomorrow.... Northern tool wanted proof of address so maybe with all these accounts (BB/CUSA/NT), that they just need a bank statement and/or bill for the address to please them.

 

Afternoon all...

[losartworks]

Called best buy today, spoke w/ a CSR, she told me that this account and the comp usa account i have was closed due to an address variation. I'll call them in the morning. We've been in biz 8 since '98 and prior to our new address was a home address, possibly they got that messed up. She couldn't give me any add'l info since it was being handled by another department.

 

I'll add to the citi note above, I've also got a few different accounts under the citi umbrella and from what it appeared, it'd be ok under the HRS umbrella too... guess not...

 

She told me that they might have checked the address with the sec of state and then come up upon something later.. I questioned her on whether issuing accounts w/ cards snd then cancelling them 2-3 weeks was "normal" business practice. She said that they can close the accounts at any time w/ this type of variation... Dunno..

 

I'll update everyone tomorrow.... Northern tool wanted proof of address so maybe with all these accounts (BB/CUSA/NT), that they just need a bank statement and/or bill for the address to please them.

 

Afternoon all...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I wish you good luck. But when I called them, on a few occasions after this happened, I got a different excuse each time. I figured they had the file flagged and were just throwing pointless non founded excuses at me as at this point, I am not a customer with an account and they don't really need to please me anyway.

My BB application started with an itial denial based on address issues. I faxed them proof until they were pleased and the denial was overturned. Only to be later re-denied. I thought about wasting more time calling them, but after getting three different excuses in a row I figured what was the point in wasting valuable time.

 

I hope you have better luck. But it would seem to me if it was a minor address issue they would have bothered to call you up and ask for more validation or they would have to cancel you. They just cancelled you, which proves they aren't really that concerned with it. I hope I'm wrong. Keep us updated.

[newportgambler]

Losartworks.... thanks... yeah, does seem kind of odd that they'd do ahead and cancel both accounts without telling me about it first. The fact that they'd issue 2 approvals for 10k each, issue the cards and then come back w/ issues seems very strange. I used to be a loan officer and was told "never" go back on an approval. Household apparently doesn't operate this way i guess.... Will do the update. Thanks again.... Sitting in comp usa w/ no recouse yesterday w/ a 10k card and them upruptly cancelling the card really pissed me off....

 

Guess if they come back at me w/ some address questions, I'll be able to answer tem... How did HD, Target, CIT, Dell and others approve be and you didn't??? Wierd again....

 

Argh....

[losartworks]

Losartworks.... thanks... yeah, does seem kind of odd that they'd do ahead and cancel both accounts without telling me about it first. The fact that they'd issue 2 approvals for 10k each, issue the cards and then come back w/ issues seems very strange. I used to be a loan officer and was told "never" go back on an approval. Household apparently doesn't operate this way i guess.... Will do the update. Thanks again.... Sitting in comp usa w/ no recouse yesterday w/ a 10k card and them upruptly cancelling the card really pissed me off.... 

 

Guess if they come back at me w/ some address questions, I'll be able to answer tem... How did HD, Target, CIT, Dell and others approve be and you didn't??? Wierd again....

 

Argh....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I have always thought it best not to offend potential customers (especially those you've alredy approved, through error or not!). The fact that the zapped our accounts is offensive to us. I mean it just shows that ulatimately how apathetic some of these underwriters are. They make this huge leap that because the computer throws up some red flag (address variations, etc) that we MUST be faux businesses who are simply trying to scam credit. And that offends me that some rag making $10-12 an hour is using her better judgement based on her mood. It swings Both ways I think. You can not only get approved in error, but you can also get declined in error! I'm not so sure the high rollers at Household are indeed sanctioning their barely above minimum wage desk jockeys to make such harsh judgements that ultimately will cost them business with our companies.

 

I am gaining respect for Citi and GE. Citi tends to go straight by what the computer says. But their guidelines are pretty laxed as far as Im concerned. My Duns is apprently showing an alert that says Im located in a residential area. Citi isn't concerned with this I am guessing.

GE I believe while not overly generous with initial credit lines Does have the power to manually intervene (frankly I think taken to a high enough level ANY finance company can intervene). GE guy booted my Lowes up to $5k from 1500 with no payments made. So they are ok in my book.

 

Anyway, let us know how your rematch with Household goes!

[losartworks]

I called Duns this morning just to see what kind of screwed up info they were reporting this time. Apparently one of the sweethearts who was trying to sell me creditbuilder by messing with my info, he not only reported my history as incomplete (something I had already had corrected) but today they were showing my structure as Sole Prop! Eeek! Funny how it seemed to happen around the same time the incomplete status of history was listed. I got it corrected back to corporate status. But if a SP was showing, that would sure explain why Household canned my accts. I asked about my location status stating that it was possibly showing up as residential. they told me it wasn't, but have to wonder if any thrid party databases are listing this address as residential. This is a pretty small area with a lot of residential spotted into the commercial area. Its so small, I can wonder if the zoning is recorded properly. What once may have likely been residential is now commercial.

Either way with outdated databases and some people who process apps thinking everything they read on their monitors is the up to date error free gospel, it puts a wrench in the works of legitimate efforts.

 

I honestly don't think that the Household accts of $7500 lines or higher are going to be all audited any time soon. That just seems unrealistic. I think if it were one 'rouge' underwriter giving everyone an approval then maybe it could be traced. But I think that there are Many underwriters who simply get burnt out on their job and when all those apps come across their screen every day that they sometimes just fail to verify everything their supposed to.

I don't think those who have accts with them and have used their accts and have goods already really have much to worry about. I think it would be quite counterproductive to go sifting through everyone with a 10-20k limit on their best buy and giving the account the flush because it wasn't 100% verified.

Best Idea as I've mentioned before. If you slip through the cracks. DO NOT apply for other HH cards or even call an agent regarding the acct you got. wait for the cards. then verify the credit still exists by calling the number on the back of the card. then go use the card. As per this thread's starter, theres ample reason to check the credit still is there before going to the store. I can't imagine the feeling is very pleasant to be at the counter with $4700 in purchases only to have the guy at the counter half thinking you were trying to pull a fast one or otherwise by having a card that apparently isn't worth the plastic it's made on.

Now THAT would make me mad! I hope your on the phone getting some satisfaction, and if not, telling one of those snooty underwriters who just said they can not help you get you acct back that it was a big embarassment being on the spot the way that they handled it.

if HH was going to take your acct they should have at least had the guts to call you and give notice of this 'change'.

[newportgambler]

spoke w/ the folks at household today... the CSR got me nowhere, got transferred to someone in credit.. he got me nowhere either. apparently the account(s) are being handled by a specialty department which handles fraud/problem accounts. I asked the gentlemen if they check d&b and experian reports prior to issuing a card w/ a 10k limit. He said they do. I asked him how the "specialty" department can then cancel the acct. He came back with some consumer driven statement mentioning that they did this for my protection... yadda yadda.... bottom line is I think I just need to provide them some proof of biz address and they'll reopen it... dunno....

 

agree with the above notes... don't like standing at a counter w/ $4700 in merchandise after being in the store for an hour only to have them be useless and unable to help. Here's my card w/ a 10k limit.... oh wait... it's no good? no problem..... oh its household doing the approvals huh? can I use confederate money instead... worth about as much.....

 

argh....

 

I left a message w/ the "specialty" department tomorrow, I'll ream them in the morning.... not gonna play nice w/ them....

[losartworks]

Sorry to hear this. I was considering calling them back just for the sake of annoying them as much as they have me, but was waiting to see if you were able to reach a human with a brain there. Seems to not be the case and they are clearly passing the buck in hopes that you (and me) will just go away.

 

I am mad about the BB going south. I jumped through their stupid hoops for 3 days to get that acct. Had I been in a store and that happened to me I would probably have ripped them a new one by now. But at this point I am still questioning the futility factor to my valuable time. I don't think a win is possible, so I figured whats the point. Guess maybe I was hoping that if a human of some brain depth could be reached, I would try to get the BB reactivated. But thats a long shot in reality Im sure. These people are morons. At least the high horse select underwriters who think it's their own personal funds they are granting you and on top of that are the parinoid type who reads a company memo about watching out for fraud and thinks the best way to combat fraud is to offend all customers by making them guilty until proven innocent. I'd hate to tell you what countries used to abide by this policy!

Sorry again for your troubles. I sympathize!

[wtcorp]

Same thing happened to me today. Had merchandise to purchase and my card was declined I have a 10k limit. I called the credit department and they said they froze my account because they want a PG!! I always thought a PG was required before a account is opened & not after. Who knows!! Not even a letter or a phone call to notify me of these changes! Very unprofessional...

[bfit01]

Has anybody tried PFB for these accounts?

[losartworks]

Same thing happened to me today. Had merchandise to purchase and my card was declined   I have a 10k limit. I called the credit department  and they said they froze my account because they want a PG!! I always thought a PG was required before a account is opened & not after. Who knows!! Not even a letter or a phone call to notify me of these changes! Very unprofessional...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats three of us now. and who knows how many others who don't even use message boards and just found the same bad luck. They aren't making any friends this way. How long did you have the account before they canned you?

[bizdebt]

OMG!!! This is horrible!!! I'm sorry you guys...

 

What in the world is going on? Don't they WANT to make money??? They will already be getting interest at the rate of 21% annually from us!! Why on earth would they turn down this type of return??? Unfreakin'belieavable!

 

The only thing that would make sense to me is if they recently somehow got burnt by some biz owners, maybe? I seriously doubt it's anything any of us here did. Argh!!!

[losartworks]

OMG!!!  This is horrible!!!  I'm sorry you guys... 

 

What in the world is going on?  Don't they WANT to make money???  They will already be getting interest at the rate of 21% annually from us!!  Why on earth would they turn down this type of return???  Unfreakin'belieavable! 

 

The only thing that would make sense to me is if they recently somehow got burnt by some biz owners, maybe?  I seriously doubt it's anything any of us here did.  Argh!!! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

true, our small group probably makes up a hundredth of one percent of all businesses who apply. By the same token if three of us got nailed, imagine how many people out there have had their accounts flushed without notice and have had the same fate when it comes time for the card to be swiped on the cash register at the store! that is way unprofessional! I can't imagine what is going through their heads to risk trashing our accounts.

[newportgambler]

Ok.. latest part of this saga continues... spoke with a csr today and she got me to someone in their credit department. I explained what happened and she mentioned that the address on file was a mailboxes etc and that caused the closure of the account. I mentioned that the home address is also used and I've got other Citi related cards that are registered to this account and haven't been a problem. She said that if the home address can be verified, then she could look into it. I gave her the info and she verified the info. Said the account(s) were flagged by this address....

 

She also asked if I'd applied for Costco, Compusa, Northern Tool, and Best Buy accounts. I told her yes and they were all relatively in the same timeframe. Told her that I didn't realize how LARGE Household is and didn't realize all of these companies use HRS for their cards. Ok.. that was a complete fib but wanted to get this process over with....

 

She told me that she's reviewing the case w/ a manager and will give me a call in the morning. I told her that all the articles of inc, resale license, and legal documents of the corporation refer back to this mailboxes etc address along w/ the banking information too. I asked if they'd looked at the Experian and D&B Profiles either.... She finished up the call and told me she'd call in the morning...

 

I also had to point out to her how embarassing the situation at comp usa was (the original beginning of this saga), but didn't seem to care.....

 

Wierd thing is that when I had called about my costco app a week ago, one of the credit people said it'd probably be declined w/out giving me any information. Wierd....

 

So who knows.... maybe the call will be good in the morning and maybe it'll be bad... Saying a few prayers to hope it turns out well.... I'd like to have the Best Buy and Comp USA Accounts reopened, Northern Tool was a thought and the Costco card was a real hope.....

 

Wish me luck and i'll update later in the day w/ info....

 

Bye

[bizdebt]

OMG!!!  This is horrible!!!  I'm sorry you guys... 

 

What in the world is going on?  Don't they WANT to make money???  They will already be getting interest at the rate of 21% annually from us!!  Why on earth would they turn down this type of return???  Unfreakin'belieavable!  

 

The only thing that would make sense to me is if they recently somehow got burnt by some biz owners, maybe?  I seriously doubt it's anything any of us here did.  Argh!!! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

true, our small group probably makes up a hundredth of one percent of all businesses who apply. By the same token if three of us got nailed, imagine how many people out there have had their accounts flushed without notice and have had the same fate when it comes time for the card to be swiped on the cash register at the store! that is way unprofessional! I can't imagine what is going through their heads to risk trashing our accounts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can't either. I agree 100%, it's definitely unprofessional. It's one thing to just NOT approve someone, but quite another to approve THEN close your account for BS reasons. The ironic thing is that recently I've seen a bunch of ads, both print and TV, of Best Buy trying to aggressively market their small business services. How is Household turning away small business owners helping their (Bests Buy, etc) efforts?

 

Just an idea... I suspect Best Buy or CompUSA are probably not aware of what Household is doing. Maybe, instead of PFB-ing Household, you guys should PFB Best Buy or CompUSA and spill the beans on what Household is doing to you, which is detrimental to their efforts of attracting small businesses. Just a thought...

[losartworks]

OMG!!!  This is horrible!!!  I'm sorry you guys... 

 

What in the world is going on?  Don't they WANT to make money???  They will already be getting interest at the rate of 21% annually from us!!  Why on earth would they turn down this type of return???  Unfreakin'belieavable! 

 

The only thing that would make sense to me is if they recently somehow got burnt by some biz owners, maybe?  I seriously doubt it's anything any of us here did.  Argh!!! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

true, our small group probably makes up a hundredth of one percent of all businesses who apply. By the same token if three of us got nailed, imagine how many people out there have had their accounts flushed without notice and have had the same fate when it comes time for the card to be swiped on the cash register at the store! that is way unprofessional! I can't imagine what is going through their heads to risk trashing our accounts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can't either. I agree 100%, it's definitely unprofessional. It's one thing to just NOT approve someone, but quite another to approve THEN close your account for BS reasons. The ironic thing is that recently I've seen a bunch of ads, both print and TV, of Best Buy trying to aggressively market their small business services. How is Household turning away small business owners helping their (Bests Buy, etc) efforts?

 

Just an idea... I suspect Best Buy or CompUSA are probably not aware of what Household is doing. Maybe, instead of PFB-ing Household, you guys should PFB Best Buy or CompUSA and spill the beans on what Household is doing to you, which is detrimental to their efforts of attracting small businesses. Just a thought...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

The day after it hit the fan with me I called my Sony rep and told them. Initially they were amazed saying he hadn't heard of anything like this happening. he put me on hold to get to the bottom of it and ten minutes later came on saying that apprently the account was opened in error. he was going to hand it off to his supervisor as it seemed quite odd and call me back. Well, they never called back. Apparently not enough people are complaining to the actual vendor when it happens so when a case does go to the vendor it is ultimately an isolated incident. I would also bet they don't know how much this is happening. Again, if three of us from this small group got nailed I can only imagine this probably happens on a relatively frequent basis.

 

Newport, if you get anywhere let us know so I can start calling and annoying them. Seems like they are probably just blowing you off. The way I see it there are probably people that would have helped us given the story. But once they see our file it is obviously tagged/branded with some info that takes our credibility out the window. They gave me at least 3 distinct different reasons when I called them. So it seems that the files are branded fraudulent in some way and when the owner calls to have it investigated the reps take it with a grain of salt as it was apprently branded as possible fraud from someone slightly higher up the food chain. By this they simply refuse to look at it seriously. These people, if so compelled can reopen an account in 15 seconds, if they are so inclined to do so.

 

the fact that these people are canning accounts and not caring about the guy who takes his card to the store and the potential embarassing situation to come... It's just wrong. Much as Id like to shop at some of those stores, I won't bend over for Household again.