Disaster

Westminster

GingerBob wrote: »

Come off it! Row with the lender, including direct email to the CEO, and then, surprise surprise, turned down for a credit card that would normally be a sure fire acceptance. it's almost certainly the reason, and this opinion is nothing to do with my views on banks or anything else; it's so obvious.

Let's all get our tin foil hats on. :eek:

I also heard that they have a team of 1000's of people monitoring CCTV in the car parks for people that don't return their trolleys to the correct place or who change their mind about buying something in store and don't put the product back in the exact right place and then tracking down the miscreants so they can also be added to the mythical blacklist

austonic

You are not likely to be much of a profit generator for them based on what you've shared with us, so almost certainly don't fit the customer profiles they are currently trying to fill.

Keep in mind that the mythical credit score is just one element of the decision process. There are many other factors, the most important part being their business plan/strategy which will bias their decisions in order to build an overall customer base meeting that plan. For example (crude), they might have a lot of older customers and decide to concentrate on younger ones.

The communication to the CEO would not be useable for the credit review under data protection rules.

20aday

Although there are many factors which will lead to acceptance/decline etc OP (and Sainsbury's will never disclose this to you) part of me wonders if it's because you're retired and/or credit ratio to income is high.

** Happy to stand corrected here by the way. **

As Nectar is a separate entity to Sainsbury's Bank that would have no bearing on their decision; they do use Nectar to administer the loyalty programme i.e. make sure your points are linked/added to your account.

Looking at their website re: credit scoring they primarily use Experian for their credit search; I'd also check Callcredit (Noddle) and Equifax (Clearscore). Those websites are free to use. Ignore their scores and make sure everything on your credit reports is accurate.

Out of interest if you pay your accounts in full every month is there a particular reason why you went for the Low Rate card?

meer53

GingerBob wrote: »

Come off it! Row with the lender, including direct email to the CEO, and then, surprise surprise, turned down for a credit card that would normally be a sure fire acceptance. it's almost certainly the reason, and this opinion is nothing to do with my views on banks or anything else; it's so obvious.

You are very naive to believe that an email addressed to a CEO actually gets to the CEO. I'd also like to know what inside information you have access to that confirms this application would be a "sure fire acceptance"

Me_ma

20aday wrote: »

Out of interest if you pay your accounts in full every month is there a particular reason why you went for the Low Rate card?

I based my decision on the fact that I am not looking to transfer a big balance from my existing card, nor to change my existing spend pattern, so I discounted the balance transfer and the purchase card options and went for the other one advertised on the Sainsburys Bank website, which was the low APR card. All I was looking to do was get something to replace my 123 card, with no fee but still with a bit of a payback and, since I shop mainly at Sainsburys, their card (which would give me some extra Nectar points alongside my standard reward card) seemed a good option - the Nectar points would be something to use periodically to offset my shopping costs. That was all that was in my mind when I applied. I assumed it would be a paper exercise, perhaps that was big-headed of me ... my current 123 card is a Mastercard, so is the Sainsburys one so I thought that would be helpful; as already explained I do clear the account "IN FULL" (to quote Martin) every month without fail. You would think they would welcome with open arms someone who isn't a liability. Not so it seems! As others have said, I don't make companies any money so they don't wish to do business with me. I did look at the card eligibility checker - I wasn't too impressed with my choices, I really don't want Amex, and several of the choices were various incantations of that. I guess I'll forget rewards and just go for a standard Santander card.

I should point out that I only use a credit card because of the added financial security they give and the benefit of not having my debit card details all over the internet, otherwise I would probably just shop on my debit card. Also, I received a standard letter from Sainsburys inviting me to apply for one of their cards!

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to answer my questions. I'm grateful.

Me_ma

MrsTinks

Firstly - Sainsbury and Sainsbury's BANK have 2 separate CEO's... this is because they are two different companies. Part of one group, yes kind of, but they are run and operated separately. I doubt the two of them meet up weekly for a chat over tea and discuss the bad tempered letters they've had and have a good chuckle whilst blacklisting people from any future products in either business

Ignoring the fact that even if it was the same CEO then trust me - unless you had actually caused a drop in their share price and thus their bonus then your letter would have never made it to the actual CEO nor would they have given you a second thought after your letter was processed. Sad in a way, but to them you are just another number/name/face in the crowd.

Secondly - There is NO "sure fire" acceptance of ANY financial product. Ever.

Every lender has their own internal criteria - if you do NOT fit that box they will reject you (it could be that their risk profile is currently "age heavy" - ie demographically they have too many OAPs which potentially could carry a risk if they passed away with debt out standing as if there is no estate makes the debt a write off. So they may reject the next 2500 people in that age bracket for example - not saying that's the cause, ultimately they will have a reason that couldn't get them into hot water about ageism etc).

They also don't have to give you a reason - credit is not a human right

Gaz83

meer53 wrote: »

You are very naive to believe that an email addressed to a CEO actually gets to the CEO. I'd also like to know what inside information you have access to that confirms this application would be a "sure fire acceptance"

I'm pretty sure that at some point in the past the CEO of Experian stole GingerBob's dinner money.

Some vendetta the boy has.

MrsTinks

Me_ma wrote: »

I should point out that I only use a credit card because of the added financial security they give and the benefit of not having my debit card details all over the internet

Remember that unless you are buying large items (and you may well be!) then the credit card security doesn't really greatly come into this. If your main thing is not having your current account details on the internet (totally understand that!) then why not a prepay card? They can quickly be loaded up online if you are making purchases - you could pre-load them if you wanted - and no-one could run up debts in your name even if they got your details or stole your card?

Just a thought

downhillfast

Did you apply using the EXACT address that you have on the electoral roll? Our address can be ambiguous (flats in a converted house) and using the wrong variant leads to immediate rejection for credit checks for us... just a thought...

MallyGirl

Me_ma wrote: »

I do have credit accounts with a few catalogue sites, again, paid in full every month that I use them to buy things, so the report is not "empty".

if you have several credit agreements it may be that your total access to credit - when compared to your income - is over what Sainsbury's find acceptable to them. Regardless of the fact that you don't spend a lot and pay in full at the moment, you could just decide not to one day and spend up to the limit on everything.
Add up all your credit limits and compare to your income - rule of thumb is to not have more available credit than 50% of gross income. There are always exceptions but this is a good starting point.
I got rid of my Next account because they kept upping the limit to £5000 even though I never spent more than £100 on it and paid in full.