Credit Rating ruined???

WaveyDavey13

Hi all,

I've just signed up for a little advice on a situation that my wife has at present.


Basically just over a week ago she was in Debenhams and was asked if she wanted to have one of their 'Store cards' she asked a couple of times during the process if it was just a normal store card to make purchases within Debenhams stores ONLY and was told it was.

The card has arrived today and it is a full blown Santander/MasterCard credit card with a huge credit limit (approaching 5 figures!!!). She's phoned through to have the card cancelled and has been back to the store in question to pay off the £12 purchase she made on the account on the original visit.

What she is very concerned about is how badly this will have affected her credit score etc... Obviously there is a bit of difference between a store card for use in one chain of stores with maybe a few hundred pounds limit and the credit card they have sold her with a massive credit limit too.

She has cancelled the account/card in relation to the 14 day cooling off period but she has been told that because there was the one original purchase made on it the 14 day cooling off period isn't relevant and it will indeed stay on her credit report.




Any advice would be much appreciated.




Cheers

Dave.

DevCoder

It will have a slightly positive effect, although not as positive as keeping the card open and paying off in full the balance owed every month.

You could always have asked them to lower the credit limit if you think future lenders may be concerned about your "available credit"

The_Boss

I can understand most questions here (even those from people who believe the Experian scores) but I just dont get why anyone would think that opening and then closing a credit account could 'ruin' a 'credit rating'

jamesd

A positive effect unless she is planning to apply for substantial credit in the near future. In general, nothing to be concerned about other than the customer service failings. A credit card issuer is required to accept requests to decrease credit limits, though higher is not necessarily bad, it depends on such things as income, percentage of credit that is used overall and on individual cards.

Some lenders might be less willing to offer credit just after a new account has been opened, for a few months until they see how the new account is operated. M&S, say.

StuC75

its all about account 'conduct' assuming purchases made and payments are made promptly.

Her Credit file hasn't been ruined nor have they sold her anything. As for the card, something that allows general usage is far more beneficial than a single 'store card'..

Is there something you are not mentioning here as to the 'fear' of such a card ` facility.. credit history and usage is a benefit to the overall 'credit score'.

janiebquick

I am at a complete loss to understand why you think that being given a credit card with a large credit limit would badly affect anyone's credit score

HappyMJ

WaveyDavey13 wrote: »

Hi all,

I've just signed up for a little advice on a situation that my wife has at present.


Basically just over a week ago she was in Debenhams and was asked if she wanted to have one of their 'Store cards' she asked a couple of times during the process if it was just a normal store card to make purchases within Debenhams stores ONLY and was told it was.

The card has arrived today and it is a full blown Santander/MasterCard credit card with a huge credit limit (approaching 5 figures!!!). She's phoned through to have the card cancelled and has been back to the store in question to pay off the £12 purchase she made on the account on the original visit.

What she is very concerned about is how badly this will have affected her credit score etc... Obviously there is a bit of difference between a store card for use in one chain of stores with maybe a few hundred pounds limit and the credit card they have sold her with a massive credit limit too.

She has cancelled the account/card in relation to the 14 day cooling off period but she has been told that because there was the one original purchase made on it the 14 day cooling off period isn't relevant and it will indeed stay on her credit report.




Any advice would be much appreciated.




Cheers

Dave.

She's got good credit. She still has good credit. Nothing to worry about. I'd keep it open for the special offers you will get.

WaveyDavey13

Thanks for the replies.

The issues we were worried about were any possible detriment in credit rating having been issued this card with such a high credit rating which wasn't what was expected. As I said originally my wife was under the impression it would be a card that could ONLY be used in Debenhams stores rather than a normal mastercard. She asked this at the time and was told that it was just a store card and not a credit card.

She has been back in store today and staff asked straight away if she had been shown the relevant info leaflet for the card which clearly shows it to be a credit card. The sales assistant who originally served my wife never showed or gave my wife this leaflet and this issue has been raised to the store manager and Debenhams themselves have asked us to put all the details of this case in writing to them so they can investigate our case further.

The reason we were asking about credit rating etc... is that we are possibly in the near future looking at borrowing some money to extend our home and were worried this may affect any such application etc....


I hope that makes sense.





Cheers

Dave.

Thrugelmir

WaveyDavey13 wrote: »

She asked this at the time and was told that it was just a store card and not a credit card.

Does that matter. Considering it's her choice where to use the card.

WaveyDavey13

janiebquick wrote: »

I am at a complete loss to understand why you think that being given a credit card with a large credit limit would badly affect anyone's credit score

Because we don't personally understand the full ins and outs of credit scores. Which is why I thought I would ask on a forum such as this.


I'm sure there may be things that you are not too knowledgable with in my own area of expertise (telecommunications) that you would no doubt ask about in relevant forums online but which I would be at a complete loss to understand why you weren't aware etc....




Cheers

Dave.

WaveyDavey13

Ok. From reading some of the replies I just want to say the fact the card was a normal credit card rather than a Debenhams stores ONLY card is not the issue.


The question was more regarding the difference in effect, if any, on credit score etc... Between, what she thought was going to be a store card, with a limit of a few hundred pounds and a credit card with a limit of nearly £10,000. If there would be no difference then no worries and we can just get on with things but if she is going to be adversely affected by this when applying for credit, loans etc.... in the near or not so near future then we are going to need to take this further.


Looking at JamesD's reply earlier I'm assuming that it may well affect our possible application to borrow to fund an extension to our home in the near future which is why we're trying to get as much info as possible at the current time.

This is the reason we are so displeased with Debenhams and are asking for advice so we can take the relevant steps to take the issue further if need be.




Cheers

Dave.