Their old Payboo card with Synchrony bank was fine for me, and I thought the
elimination of sales tax with it was great - like 10% cash back. So I applied
for the Comenity card - at least twice now, and finally started looking at
reviews of the bank and its credit cards. All I could find were one star
reviews, and it seemed like a lot of them included the words “scam” and
“fraud”.

I can’t even remember ever having a card application being rejected - I’m
usually in the 800’s credit score range. But they have now rejected me
twice, and for nonsensical reasons. I am not alone. Even the customer service
rep I talked to at B&H said that it seems that’s how they are spending
their days now - fielding complaints about Comenity. So if you are thinking
about applying, or have applied and been rejected, you are not alone, and
might even be fortunate if you have been rejected. An awful lot of the
reviews mention late fees that seemed to be caused by the bank, and that
disputing seems to go nowhere. The other major complaint is that their credit
scores are being dinged because of the bank.

You are warned.

On Mon, 28 Mar 2022 13:25:39 -0500, Bill W <nothing@nowhere.com>
wrote:

>
>Their old Payboo card with Synchrony bank was fine for me, and I thought the
>elimination of sales tax with it was great - like 10% cash back. So I applied
>for the Comenity card - at least twice now, and finally started looking at
>reviews of the bank and its credit cards. All I could find were one star
>reviews, and it seemed like a lot of them included the words “scam” and
>“fraud”.
>
>I can’t even remember ever having a card application being rejected - I’m
>usually in the 800’s credit score range. But they have now rejected me
>twice, and for nonsensical reasons. I am not alone. Even the customer service
>rep I talked to at B&H said that it seems that’s how they are spending
>their days now - fielding complaints about Comenity. So if you are thinking
>about applying, or have applied and been rejected, you are not alone, and
>might even be fortunate if you have been rejected. An awful lot of the
>reviews mention late fees that seemed to be caused by the bank, and that
>disputing seems to go nowhere. The other major complaint is that their credit
>scores are being dinged because of the bank.
>
>You are warned.

My credit score rating is well above 800, has been for many years, and
I have an unblemished record at Equifax.

I applied for a Playboo card in anticipation of a planned purchase and
a savings of the 7% tax for my state. My application was denied for
the reason that there was no record of my credit standing. It wasn't
important enough to me to re-apply.

I made the purchase from another vendor. I'll still deal with B&H in
the future, but they lost this sale.

--

Tony Cooper - Orlando Florida

I read and post to this group as a form of entertainment.

On Mar 28, 2022, Tony Cooper wrote
(in article<fi044hpfdqh031hasvh9s7fgl64fh2uqd1@4ax.com>):

> On Mon, 28 Mar 2022 13:25:39 -0500, Bill W<nothing@nowhere.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> > Their old Payboo card with Synchrony bank was fine for me, and I thought the
> > elimination of sales tax with it was great - like 10% cash back. So I
> > applied
> > for the Comenity card - at least twice now, and finally started looking at
> > reviews of the bank and its credit cards. All I could find were one star
> > reviews, and it seemed like a lot of them included the words “scam” and
> > “fraud”.
> >
> > I can’t even remember ever having a card application being rejected -
> > I’m
> > usually in the 800’s credit score range. But they have now rejected me
> > twice, and for nonsensical reasons. I am not alone. Even the customer
> > service
> > rep I talked to at B&H said that it seems that’s how they are spending
> > their days now - fielding complaints about Comenity. So if you are thinking
> > about applying, or have applied and been rejected, you are not alone, and
> > might even be fortunate if you have been rejected. An awful lot of the
> > reviews mention late fees that seemed to be caused by the bank, and that
> > disputing seems to go nowhere. The other major complaint is that their
> > credit
> > scores are being dinged because of the bank.
> >
> > You are warned.
>
> My credit score rating is well above 800, has been for many years, and
> I have an unblemished record at Equifax.
>
> I applied for a Playboo card in anticipation of a planned purchase and
> a savings of the 7% tax for my state. My application was denied for
> the reason that there was no record of my credit standing. It wasn't
> important enough to me to re-apply.
>
> I made the purchase from another vendor. I'll still deal with B&H in
> the future, but they lost this sale.

B&H is one of my favorite companies ever, so I’m hoping it’s not
something that’s changed over there, and they just don’t care about this
problem.

On 2022-03-28 14:55, Tony Cooper wrote:

> My credit score rating is well above 800, has been for many years, and
> I have an unblemished record at Equifax.

For reasons that are unclear to me I hit the max 900 last time I checked
(about 1 month ago). No idea why that happened, my habits haven't
changed much. (I check every year or so though I don't have any reason
to). Usually in the mid 800's.

Per the score sheet, 20% of people are in the 833-900 band.
Next 20% are in the 790-832 band.

This is not something I worry about IAC.

(I assume that's Canadian score bands).

--
Beginning in the 1970's, all birds in North America were replaced by
drones made to look and act like birds. By 2004, no real birds are to
be found. They are all drones. They all belong to the government.
They spy on everyone. All of the time. Birds are not real.

On 2022-03-28 18:25:39 +0000, Bill W said:

> Their old Payboo card with Synchrony bank was fine for me, and I thought the
> elimination of sales tax with it was great - like 10% cash back. So I applied
> for the Comenity card - at least twice now, and finally started looking at
> reviews of the bank and its credit cards. All I could find were one star
> reviews, and it seemed like a lot of them included the words “scam” and
> “fraud”.
>
> I can’t even remember ever having a card application being rejected - I’m
> usually in the 800’s credit score range. But they have now rejected me
> twice, and for nonsensical reasons. I am not alone. Even the customer service
> rep I talked to at B&H said that it seems that’s how they are spending
> their days now - fielding complaints about Comenity. So if you are thinking
> about applying, or have applied and been rejected, you are not alone, and
> might even be fortunate if you have been rejected. An awful lot of the
> reviews mention late fees that seemed to be caused by the bank, and that
> disputing seems to go nowhere. The other major complaint is that their credit
> scores are being dinged because of the bank.
>
> You are warned.

My application for the new B&H PayBoo went through without issue, and I
received the new card in January. I also used the previous Synchrony
Bank version of the PayBoo card. I have a credit score with the three
agencies in the 830 range.
I have only used it once this year to buy another 4TB external SSD.

That said, your warning has been noted.
--
Regards,
Savageduck

On Mar 29, 2022, Savageduck wrote
(in article<2022032908094167615-Savageduck1@REMOVESPAMme.com>):

> On 2022-03-28 18:25:39 +0000, Bill W said:
>
> > Their old Payboo card with Synchrony bank was fine for me, and I thought the
> > elimination of sales tax with it was great - like 10% cash back. So I
> > applied
> > for the Comenity card - at least twice now, and finally started looking at
> > reviews of the bank and its credit cards. All I could find were one star
> > reviews, and it seemed like a lot of them included the words “scam” and
> > “fraud”.
> >
> > I can’t even remember ever having a card application being rejected -
> > I’m
> > usually in the 800’s credit score range. But they have now rejected me
> > twice, and for nonsensical reasons. I am not alone. Even the customer
> > service
> > rep I talked to at B&H said that it seems that’s how they are spending
> > their days now - fielding complaints about Comenity. So if you are thinking
> > about applying, or have applied and been rejected, you are not alone, and
> > might even be fortunate if you have been rejected. An awful lot of the
> > reviews mention late fees that seemed to be caused by the bank, and that
> > disputing seems to go nowhere. The other major complaint is that their
> > credit
> > scores are being dinged because of the bank.
> >
> > You are warned.
>
> My application for the new B&H PayBoo went through without issue, and I
> received the new card in January. I also used the previous Synchrony
> Bank version of the PayBoo card. I have a credit score with the three
> agencies in the 830 range.
> I have only used it once this year to buy another 4TB external SSD.
>
> That said, your warning has been noted.

Yes, what I would take away from all of those bad reviews is be very careful
about the correct payment due date, and about payment methods and how
promptly Comenity would process the payments. I would just pay very early -
well ahead of the due date.

In article <0001HW.27F23523004CA2A330A61538F@news-us.newsgroup.ninja>,
Bill W <nothing@nowhere.com> wrote:

> I can¹t even remember ever having a card application being rejected - I¹m
> usually in the 800¹s credit score range.

credit score is just one factor, and different lenders use different
scoring models and will have a different score. another factor is
whether you pay in full or finance, which determines how profitable
you'll be. those with higher scores generally are less profitable and
therefore less desirable for subprime lenders such as comenity.

> But they have now rejected me
> twice,

did you recon or re-app?

> and for nonsensical reasons.

they have to give *a* reason, which is somewhat based in reality.

On Mar 29, 2022, nospam wrote
(in article<290320221628412511%nospam@nospam.invalid>):

> In article<0001HW.27F23523004CA2A330A61538F@news-us.newsgroup.ninja>,
> Bill W <nothing@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
> > I can¹t even remember ever having a card application being rejected - I¹m
> > usually in the 800¹s credit score range.
>
> credit score is just one factor, and different lenders use different
> scoring models and will have a different score. another factor is
> whether you pay in full or finance, which determines how profitable
> you'll be. those with higher scores generally are less profitable and
> therefore less desirable for subprime lenders such as comenity.

And that is probably the problem. I have multiple cards, and never carry any
balance on any of them. I am not exactly every card issuers dream customer.

> > But they have now rejected me
> > twice,
>
> did you recon or re-app?

I’m not sure what you mean.

> > and for nonsensical reasons.
>
> they have to give *a* reason, which is somewhat based in reality.

The first time the reason given was that I had a lock on one of the reporting
agencies. That’s been on for years, and I have never had anyone report a
problem checking my credit, and it’s been checked many times. The second
time the reason was that they couldn’t verify my identity, something else
I’ve never heard before. They said I had to call them. I did. They asked
one question, and person then said - “oh wait”, we don’t need anything
else, it’s already gone through”, and they said my card was on the way.
And then a couple of weeks later I got a letter saying once again it was
rejected because they couldn’t confirm my identity. So I called once again
because I found something funny in a strange way about all this, and they
told me that they couldn’t explain what happened on that call because their
records showed that they had never talked to me. But “I was welcome to
apply again in 30 days. I don’t think so...

In article <0001HW.27F3CC6800904C7D30D95538F@news-us.newsgroup.ninja>,
Bill W <nothing@nowhere.com> wrote:

> > > I can1t even remember ever having a card application being rejected - I1m
> > > usually in the 8001s credit score range.
> >
> > credit score is just one factor, and different lenders use different
> > scoring models and will have a different score. another factor is
> > whether you pay in full or finance, which determines how profitable
> > you'll be. those with higher scores generally are less profitable and
> > therefore less desirable for subprime lenders such as comenity.
>
> And that is probably the problem. I have multiple cards, and never carry any
> balance on any of them. I am not exactly every card issuers dream customer.

that's definitely part of it, but not all of it. different card issuers
weigh things differently.

other factors include oldest account (longer = less risk), newest
account (multiple recent requests for credit = financial distress), how
long a card is kept (many open and soon closed = undesirable churner),
number of inquiries (many = financial distress), income (which they can
usually verify), spending patterns and more. they also want a mix of
people who pay their bills on time (low risk) versus those who carry a
balance (moderate risk but profitable).

> > > But they have now rejected me
> > > twice,
> >
> > did you recon or re-app?
>
> I¹m not sure what you mean.

asking to reconsider the existing application to resolve whatever
issues prevented its approval versus re-applying anew. from your
description below, you reconned.

> > > and for nonsensical reasons.
> >
> > they have to give *a* reason, which is somewhat based in reality.
>
> The first time the reason given was that I had a lock on one of the reporting
> agencies. That¹s been on for years, and I have never had anyone report a
> problem checking my credit, and it¹s been checked many times.

are all of them locked? if not, it's possible the other card issuers
checked the ones that weren't locked, or they soft-pulled because of an
existing relationship (amex does that, for example).

different card issuers check different credit agencies, sometimes more
than one. capital one is famous for a triple-pull, checking all three.

there's actually more than just the big three, innovis being the little
known fourth credit agency.

<https://www.innovis.com>

there are various other databases which can also be checked, such as
the work number for salary info, and if what you claim is sufficiently
different than what your employer claims they pay you, then the app
could be rejected.

<https://assets.equifax.com/wfs/theworknumber/assets/twn_Verification_of
_Income_Sample_Report.PDF>

banks use chex to see how many bank accounts you recently opened,
number of bounced checks, etc. too many and you're a deadbeat and may
refuse to open an account.

<https://www.chexsystems.com/web/wcm/connect/6c1dabbe-13ff-4c25-893e-423
14b1b340e/Sample+Consumer+Disclosure+Report.08.20.2021.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&C
VID=nJzI7eo>

> The second
> time the reason was that they couldn¹t verify my identity, something else
> I¹ve never heard before.

they check various databases to verify that you are who you say you are.

apparently there was an issue, but usually it will ask additional
questions that theoretically only you would know (e.g., which of the
following cars have you owned) and/or submit copies of id cards, etc.

> They said I had to call them. I did. They asked
> one question, and person then said - ³oh wait², we don¹t need anything
> else, it¹s already gone through², and they said my card was on the way.
> And then a couple of weeks later I got a letter saying once again it was
> rejected because they couldn¹t confirm my identity. So I called once again
> because I found something funny in a strange way about all this, and they
> told me that they couldn¹t explain what happened on that call because their
> records showed that they had never talked to me. But ³I was welcome to
> apply again in 30 days. I don¹t think so...

that's very odd.

because you were denied, you are entitled to a free credit report (in
addition to the free annual ones) and it might be worth checking to see
what they saw, although you won't know what actually flagged the
rejection unless there's something major like bankruptcy or some other
baddie, although that would have likely been listed as a reason.

On Mar 29, 2022, nospam wrote
(in article<290320222120152176%nospam@nospam.invalid>):

> In article<0001HW.27F3CC6800904C7D30D95538F@news-us.newsgroup.ninja>,
> Bill W <nothing@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
> > > > I can1t even remember ever having a card application being rejected - I1m
> > > > usually in the 8001s credit score range.
> > >
> > > credit score is just one factor, and different lenders use different
> > > scoring models and will have a different score. another factor is
> > > whether you pay in full or finance, which determines how profitable
> > > you'll be. those with higher scores generally are less profitable and
> > > therefore less desirable for subprime lenders such as comenity.
> >
> > And that is probably the problem. I have multiple cards, and never carry any
> > balance on any of them. I am not exactly every card issuers dream customer.
>
> that's definitely part of it, but not all of it. different card issuers
> weigh things differently.
>
> other factors include oldest account (longer = less risk), newest
> account (multiple recent requests for credit = financial distress), how
> long a card is kept (many open and soon closed = undesirable churner),
> number of inquiries (many = financial distress), income (which they can
> usually verify), spending patterns and more. they also want a mix of
> people who pay their bills on time (low risk) versus those who carry a
> balance (moderate risk but profitable).
>
> > > > But they have now rejected me
> > > > twice,
> > >
> > > did you recon or re-app?
> >
> > I¹m not sure what you mean.
>
> asking to reconsider the existing application to resolve whatever
> issues prevented its approval versus re-applying anew. from your
> description below, you reconned.

I tried that, but their policy is that you must reapply, but you also must
wait 30 days after the date of the most recent letter. Everything they do is
a mess. When I first applied, their website did not give any indication that
my app went through, and I just closed the browser. And there was no email
acknowledging the application like you would expect from everyone. So I
applied again after a couple of weeks, and same thing, no indication they
received it. So I waited, and then got a letter saying was rejected for the
locked credit report, and I called and asked them to reconsider after I
unlocked it, and that’s when they told me about the reapply-only policy.
And since credit scores take a small hit every time you apply for credit, I
took a small hit for each of the three applications I made to them. They are
morons.

>
>
> > > > and for nonsensical reasons.
> > >
> > > they have to give *a* reason, which is somewhat based in reality.
> >
> > The first time the reason given was that I had a lock on one of the
> > reporting
> > agencies. That¹s been on for years, and I have never had anyone report a
> > problem checking my credit, and it¹s been checked many times.
>
> are all of them locked? if not, it's possible the other card issuers
> checked the ones that weren't locked, or they soft-pulled because of an
> existing relationship (amex does that, for example).
>
> different card issuers check different credit agencies, sometimes more
> than one. capital one is famous for a triple-pull, checking all three.
>
> there's actually more than just the big three, innovis being the little
> known fourth credit agency.
>
> <https://www.innovis.com>
>
> there are various other databases which can also be checked, such as
> the work number for salary info, and if what you claim is sufficiently
> different than what your employer claims they pay you, then the app
> could be rejected.
>
> <https://assets.equifax.com/wfs/theworknumber/assets/twn_Verification_of
> _Income_Sample_Report.PDF>
>
> banks use chex to see how many bank accounts you recently opened,
> number of bounced checks, etc. too many and you're a deadbeat and may
> refuse to open an account.
>
> <https://www.chexsystems.com/web/wcm/connect/6c1dabbe-13ff-4c25-893e-423
> 14b1b340e/Sample+Consumer+Disclosure+Report.08.20.2021.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&C
> VID=nJzI7eo>
>
> > The second
> > time the reason was that they couldn¹t verify my identity, something else
> > I¹ve never heard before.
>
> they check various databases to verify that you are who you say you are.
>
> apparently there was an issue, but usually it will ask additional
> questions that theoretically only you would know (e.g., which of the
> following cars have you owned) and/or submit copies of id cards, etc.

That’s the process on the phone call I mentioned, the one where they
stopped when they said it was already approved so never mind...

>
>
> > They said I had to call them. I did. They asked
> > one question, and person then said - ³oh wait², we don¹t need anything
> > else, it¹s already gone through², and they said my card was on the way.
> > And then a couple of weeks later I got a letter saying once again it was
> > rejected because they couldn¹t confirm my identity. So I called once again
> > because I found something funny in a strange way about all this, and they
> > told me that they couldn¹t explain what happened on that call because their
> > records showed that they had never talked to me. But ³I was welcome to
> > apply again in 30 days. I don¹t think so...
>
> that's very odd.
>
> because you were denied, you are entitled to a free credit report (in
> addition to the free annual ones) and it might be worth checking to see
> what they saw, although you won't know what actually flagged the
> rejection unless there's something major like bankruptcy or some other
> baddie, although that would have likely been listed as a reason.

There’s nothing in my reports. Other online applications go through in
seconds with no problem. And I didn’t know before you mentioned it that
they play in the subprime area, so that might explain some things, including
some of the bad reviews - even if they are valid bad reviews. But that’s
life. I was buying almost exclusively from B&H, but now I’ll look around a
bit more for better deals.

In article <0001HW.27F400D3009C95AF30D95538F@news-us.newsgroup.ninja>,
Bill W <nothing@nowhere.com> wrote:

> > because you were denied, you are entitled to a free credit report (in
> > addition to the free annual ones) and it might be worth checking to see
> > what they saw, although you won't know what actually flagged the
> > rejection unless there's something major like bankruptcy or some other
> > baddie, although that would have likely been listed as a reason.
>
> There¹s nothing in my reports. Other online applications go through in
> seconds with no problem.

there shouldn't be, but mistakes happen.

On Mar 30, 2022, nospam wrote
(in article<300320220731061241%nospam@nospam.invalid>):

> In article<0001HW.27F400D3009C95AF30D95538F@news-us.newsgroup.ninja>,
> Bill W <nothing@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
> > > because you were denied, you are entitled to a free credit report (in
> > > addition to the free annual ones) and it might be worth checking to see
> > > what they saw, although you won't know what actually flagged the
> > > rejection unless there's something major like bankruptcy or some other
> > > baddie, although that would have likely been listed as a reason.
> >
> > There¹s nothing in my reports. Other online applications go through in
> > seconds with no problem.
>
> there shouldn't be, but mistakes happen.

I’ll get around to looking at it.