Thread: Macy's Credit Card Application? Read This Review First!

I was just talking about a credit card from GE Money bank and I was under the impression they were easy to qualify for. If he got denied with his credit then I'm in big trouble!

Originally Posted by fbe1998

My husband, who has had an account in the past, was invited in-store to save on his purchase by opening an account. I have no idea which kind of card it was.

My husband has just retired, and we have put a couple of expensive things (cruises) as well as all the daily stuff (groceries) on credit cards for the rewards. We pay in full every month, and there are no negative indications on the report. We have the income to cover what we charge without his job.

Can these decisions ever be appealed? Is it worth doing?

Could be something wrong with the application. Maybe for income you put 0 or a low amount or something. I've had people put income 0 (especially retired). And if it really is true (though almost impossible) then why apply for something you can't pay back?

If I were you, I would call the recon number for a review of the application. You just won't get the discount.

Originally Posted by DarkLabel

My managers say it was a move by Macy's to encourage people to spend more. Since you don't know your available credit, the theory is that people tend to spend more when there isn't a defined limit to how much you can spend. The Amex version does report a limit though.

For us, it just leaves headaches and us having to say the dreaded "Sorry, your card is declined".

Thanks, DarkLabel. When I applied a few years ago I did not see the "Only consider me for a Macy's Store Charge" box when applying at the store so they ended up sending me the Visa. I wouldn't really have cared that much except that the way Macy's/Bloomie's opperates is that if you use your Macy's Visa (now Amex) at Macy's, the Macy's purchases get applied to a separate retail account. So you have two tradelines. Then a year or so ago they stopped reporting the credit line on the revolving accounts. Whenever I call them they say that the credit line is a "guideline" of what you can spend. Good grief!
Also what kind of turned me off is that I qualified for the Gold Star Rewards within three months of opening the account, and then the next year I also qualified. But I had some medical bills in 2009 that took priority so I didn't spend the $500 at Macy's to requalify for Gold Star Rewards so they sent me a lowly Red Star card. With the Gold Star I used to get killer coupons and now I only get them around the holidays. Sorry to ramble on, I just couldn't believe how weird the Macy's credit division (FACS) is.

Originally Posted by fbe1998

My husband, who has had an account in the past, was invited in-store to save on his purchase by opening an account. I have no idea which kind of card it was.

My husband has just retired, and we have put a couple of expensive things (cruises) as well as all the daily stuff (groceries) on credit cards for the rewards. We pay in full every month, and there are no negative indications on the report. We have the income to cover what we charge without his job.

Can these decisions ever be appealed? Is it worth doing?

What was the specific reason that your husband was declined for? As part of the CARD Act issuers are required by law to ask for income. That doesn't mean that they investigate it (except for Amex) but they have to ask it. And it has to be individual income, not household income (which has upset a lot of people whose spouse makes the money). If your husband has a pension, social security and or a 401K payout, that can be considered income. Just take all the sources of monthly income and times it by 12 for the annual income. They do use a calculation that has been set up to determine if you can repay the obligation. So if you are over extended and provide a small income, this could result in a decline as well. If this is the reason he was declined, it should be as simple as a phone call to the Macy's backdoor number and they should be able to take the income information over the phone and reconsider their original decision.

Update on Macy's Credit Card:

Seems like by the end of the year, they will begin reporting the credit limit again.

I am sure this is great news for everyone as it was annoying when they wouldn't tell you.

I have read that in a few forums. That is good news. Not sure why they stopped in the first place. I wonder if we will get our old limits back or if they will assign new limits.....

Check your credit report. Our credit scores were harmed by not closing our credit card accounts when we requested it two years ago. Remember, a card opened at Macys may be listed as AMEX Department Stores on the credit report. Although the balance of one account was $0, the report showed the account "30 days past due"?!
Safer action is to never open a department store credit card.
Our action is to never shop Macys again!

Originally Posted by NevershopMacys

Check your credit report. Our credit scores were harmed by not closing our credit card accounts when we requested it two years ago. Remember, a card opened at Macys may be listed as AMEX Department Stores on the credit report. Although the balance of one account was $0, the report showed the account "30 days past due"?!
Safer action is to never open a department store credit card.
Our action is to never shop Macys again!

This does not make sense. So you requested to have the account closed in 2009 and you had a $0 balance. But now you say the tradeline is reporting as opened and 30 days past due? How is it past due if the balance was $0? Now, if you were 30 days past due at any time in the past 7 years it will show up as a 30 day late and this is correct.

Best action would be to contact DNSB and find out when the account became past due and see if they will remove it. You could also dispute the tradeline with the bureaus; however, if DNSB's records indicate a late payment, disputing with the bureau will not be much help.

Originally Posted by Money card

Dark label the Macy's charge card or Macy's American express card makes sense for a lot of people.
somebody who's in their early 20's and has no credit cards, has been turned down by the popular 6, this would be a great card to start out with. Macy's is a very popular store and affordable. there's nothing wrong with getting their charge card.

if you work there it's great to have their charge cards.

it allows people to be responsible, people who have Visa, mastercard, American express, Jcb, and Discover. a lot of people are in debt, for the ones who aren't in debt still carry a balance. with this charge card it's harder to get into debt. This card makes sense.

I would like to chime in here as someone who has worked for Macy's before and say that:

As a minor correction, actually, the prepaid card that Macy's employees can get CAN help you build up credit IF the card gets converted into a credit/revolving account (which means the card gets reported to the bureaus).

My first credit card was actually my prepaid Macy's store credit card which I got when I first started working for Macy's during my senior year in high school. I was too young to be given credit under my own name and so I was given a prepaid card account instead. When I became 18 and showed good spending and paying-off habits, Macy's converted the account into a revolving line of credit and now, many years later, my Macy's card shows up as my oldest credit card and all of the credit bureaus have a notification on my account saying that I started establishing credit before the 'legal' age to do so - meaning, my once-prepaid account ended up being reported as a revolving account with the start date beginning when I got the card as a prepaid card - w00t!

For this exact reason, I have never considered cancelling the card because it IS my oldest account and it is also in perfect standing along with the former Visa which turned into an AMEX.

That aside, I have to agree and say that the Macy's card - like any other credit card - has its upsides and downsides and that people shouldn't be so quick to judge.

YES, the APR is craptastic.

BUT if you're not the sort who carries a balance and you watch your spending habits, you reap instant rewards like the immediate Use Your Card bonus discount which gives you the opportunity to immediately save an additional 15% to 20% off of your sale and clearance purchases and then you get the coupons in the mail and the advance notifications about the private sale events. Additionally, if a card carrying customer has issues with a transaction or just anything in general about the store, the associates and management will try their hardest to help. At least... when I was working for them, that was the policy. Not to say that I didn't help non-card holders just the same, but if there was a little extra in-store 'magic' we could do for the card holders, we would surely try.

It doesn't sound like much to some people, but for the people who shop at Macy's often and who have no reason to bother with the APR, it is literally a convenient way to save both time and money.

Everyone's thoughts are different, I'm sure, so that's just my own 2 pennies and speaking as someone who has worked at Macy's before and is a card-carrying member, still, after all these years.

I recently set up automatic payments on my Macy's account in the month of January to begin automatically deducting from my checking account beginning the month of February to avoid late fees. I called Customer Service on Friday 02/10/12, my due date, to make sure my payment had either been received completely or at least received for processing, if not then I would like to make a payment by phone to make sure it is on time.

The representative I spoke with over the phone, Jacob, said my payment had been received for processing for the month of February. It is now the 13th & I called again because the payment had not been deducted from my bank account & the representative I spoke to said my payment had been cancelled. I then told him I had called on Friday to avoid this inconvenience & he said his supervisor would take care of the late fee by the end of today & that I could go ahead & make a payment with him over the phone.

So as he proceeded to very my information he did not disclose that there was a bank processing fee of $14.95 until I had to ask. I told him I did not want to pay for making a payment that should have been done automatically online so he said he would reduce it to $4.95. I told him not to process the payment if I had to pay extra for something that is clearly not my fault & he transferred me to someone else to make the payment without a charge.

There is horrible communication between the customer & the representative because they can hardly speak English! I am extremely frustrated for this inconvenience it has caused me. I have been a customer of Macy's for many years & I am about 99% sure I will not do business with Macy's again & I have a wide range of friends & family whom also shop there & I'm sure they will back me on this & discontinue shopping with Macy's!