Cashmonkey's cautious AOR

National City sucks.

Noticed today on Yodlee that instead of an $18k balance, my Nat City card has a $2k credit balance.
Logging into Nat City, I see an "adjustment" for the amount of my BT check, which I deposited about a week ago.

Come home and find the following letter from them:
Dear Cashmonkey,

Since your account was opened, we have been unable to verify important information and therefore have closed your account.

Please take the following items to the nearest National City Bank branch to help us reevaluate our decision:

1. Photo identification (driver's license, passport, or state ID)
2. Social Security card
3. Your utility bill for the last three months (power, gas, etc.)
4. Your last three paycheck stubs

WTF?! If this happened before I deposited the check I wouldn't mind so much, but dammit - now it'll bounce, my bank will charge me, and I need to get back the $2k I prepaid to Nat City! I am angry.

Also, the banks I conduct my personal banking with are not local. Not that I would jump through these silly hoops even if they were.

I'll call them tomorrow, though I doubt it'll help... @$(*&*(&$#!!

edit:
The letter is dated March 19. I made the deposit the next day. The sockcuckers could have called me!

Just called and spoke sternly to the nighttime fraud rep. He said that usually they do call, and he sort of apologized, but he couldn't help me, since he's "just a nighttime rep." He also said that yeah, that check probably won't go through. $()#@&*(*&!!!

Never heard of 3 months of detailed info------ worst than CrapOne.

Ok, National City doesn't suck.

Called their fraud department, first rep immediately suggested transferring me to a manager after hearing my problem:
that they didn't notify me before closing the account, and that I relied upon them when depositing the check they issued.

Supervisor was very nice, understood the problem immediately, apologized sincerely for their not having called me.
She then asked if I could submit the documents they asked for.

I said sure, I've got them right here, but the bank I do my business with isn't local, could I just fax them?
She said they would still have the identity issue - nothing to compare the drivers license picture to, for example,.. but then she said she may be able to take care of it over the phone.

She then asked me a few questions - what my drivers license number is, how long I've been at this address, etc.
I volunteered my previous address and my parents' address, which shows up on my credit report because of the joint card (see OP).

She then took a few minutes to pull up some questions from what was almost certainly my LexisNexis file:
"Based on your experience, what county is this address in / Which of these people are you most closely associated with / etc."

Before asking me the questions, she said she would need to call me back afterwards.
She called me back almost immediately, asking what my parents' phone number is, and whose voice is on their answering machine.
I gave her the number and said it may still be mine - it was - and at that point she was satisfied as to my identity.

Looks like this whole problem was caused by multiple addresses on my credit report and an overeager fraud department which decided not to call me first.
Anyway, interesting verification procedure, great supervisor.

Now to the BT check: they put a stop on it and you can't remove a stop.

I called my bank to find out the status of the check; it hadn't been returned yet, and normally they would run it through again once it was, but I told them the deal.
They put a note on the account but said that there will still be a $25 returned check fee when it is returned.

I called the Nat City supervisor back and told her the deal.
She was already on the line requesting another check be sent to me, and she said she would put a credit on my account for the $25 fee that my bank will charge.

So I'm placated. I'll lose a couple weeks of interest, but their willingness to help makes me happy.
And hell, maybe my bank won't charge me the returned check fee. (it's a nice, local CU, but still, fat chance!)

I guess I could have suggested Nat City should credit me the 5.05% I would have been getting on the 20k. Heh.

what is cl?

Great thread Cashmonkey... I'm riveted to my seat, looking forward for more updates. I'm likely to buy a home in the next 1-2 years after a relocation, so I'm not performing an AOR until after that, but I"m busy reading all that I can. I appreciate your story because it's recent and not from 2005 like many of the stories are... a lot has changed since 2005.

Please continue to update your thread, I'd like to learn as much from your experiences as possible, as we have similar HHIs, though I don't have 0% for life cards.. .man I wish i did.

may I ask, what is your total monthly minimum payments for the cards?

thanks! and I wish you continued success.

... I'll continue reading the recent AORs reports on SIS's thread.

advocatus said: Great thread Cashmonkey... I'm riveted to my seat, looking forward for more updates. I'm likely to buy a home in the next 1-2 years after a relocation, so I'm not performing an AOR until after that, but I"m busy reading all that I can. I appreciate your story because it's recent and not from 2005 like many of the stories are... a lot has changed since 2005.

Please continue to update your thread, I'd like to learn as much from your experiences as possible, as we have similar HHIs, though I don't have 0% for life cards.. .man I wish i did.

may I ask, what is your total monthly minimum payments for the cards?

thanks! and I wish you continued success.

... I'll continue reading the recent AORs reports on SIS's thread.

2005?

You should look around a little, there are alot of BIG AORs in the last 6 months. with total credit lines over 500,000.

dougneb said: I got hit by National City wanting some more info as well. They sent me a welcome kit and had not received the credit card. I called to transfer a balance over the phone and they transferred me to a different department (the fraud group?). The lady said I would receive a request for information shortly. She was pretty rude and wouldn't answer any other questions and made it a point to talk over me. I wasn't very patient so I hung up on her. Maybe she was a part of the nighttime rep crew.

At least I knew what was going on since I had already read your thread. Sounds like you didn't have to take the info to the bank. Maybe I'll try this when I receive their letter.

I won't even bother with them, I also dropped Discover from my AOR. It's just not worth their crap to me!

I was curious if you had looked at any other CUs in the area offering rewards checking like rivermark or advantis. I was looking at them and also verity (WA - has some restrictions on joining) which according to their rate page is still offering 6% through 4/30. I just did a small business AOR and was looking for a good local bank to hold the funds.

CU,rate, balance limit, debit POS tx/mo, dd/ach req,Login once per mo,link
rivermark, 5.1%, 25k, 12, N, Y, Link
advantis, 5.5%, 30k, 12, Y, Y, Link
verity, 6.01%, 40k, 12, N, Y, http://www.veritycu.com/verity.cfm?tn=nw3col&menuid=513&pageid=714

[edit] couldn't get verity to link for whatever reason

Update on AAFCU:
I didn't receive the promised phone call from a rep after opening my account, and I couldn't seem to enroll in their online banking service (I-Branch) with the password I'd provided during my application.
Emailed them and they just called me this morning:

Turns out that password put in during the application is just for talking with reps (like mother's maiden name).
This is a bit awkward since I put numbers into the middle of it.

To enroll in I-Branch, your initial password is your 9 digit SSN (no dashes). It may need to be activated first, but mine apparently was activated shortly after they received my application.

In other news: I've received my debit card already, still waiting on the pin, and I haven't gotten any other welcome materials yet either.

dougneb said: I did the same thing with the password, giving them my login password instead of a 'talk to reps' password. I hate it when that happens. Same thing happened with Citi.On a subsequent call I asked if I could change the password and the rep said he'd send me a form to do so (by mail).

I also requested some starter checks. The rep said my balance was too low (it's still only my $5 opening deposit). I didn't want to order a checkbook, just get some starters, but he couldn't help me out.

I emailed a rep that I'd dealt with earlier, and she said she'll mail me some starter checks and deposit slips today, no problem.

cashmonkey said: ...
I also requested some starter checks. The rep said my balance was too low (it's still only my $5 opening deposit). I didn't want to order a checkbook, just get some starters, but he couldn't help me out.

Wait, you opened an AAFCU account and did not fund it with a rewards cc for $30K or so? What was the point then? I thought cc funding was the most important aspect of AAFCU ...

dougneb said: Funding AAFCU with CC is a YMMV. Some cards treat it as a cash advance, others as a purchase. I opened my Chase Free Checking with a Citi and it was a purchase. I didn't try it with AAFCU but would love to get some data points.

Well, almost everything in this world is YMMV. The fact is (unless I'm totally out of my mind) that AAFCU allows cc funding and has been reported to treat it as a purchase. So, one just have to use the card that's right (e.g., that would not be a PenFed or a BOA card, but Chase and CITI may be ok)

cyberkost said: Well, almost everything in this world is YMMV.

Quoted for preservation. This belongs in the hall of fame.

cyberkost said: The fact is (unless I'm totally out of my mind) that AAFCU allows cc funding and has been reported to treat it as a purchase. So, one just have to use the card that's right (e.g., that would not be a PenFed or a BOA card, but Chase and CITI may be ok)

Thanks. I'll use Citi to set up my wife's AAFCU account.

Update:

Minor adverse action from Juniper, as seen by many others:
They reduced my $15k line to $300 above my current $13k balance.
I haven't received any letters or anything, just noticed it through Yodlee.

Thankfully they did this after the statement posted, so my credit reports don't show 98% utilization on this line.
I guess I'll pay down to 89%.. and then they'll probably repeat the process. Oh well.

In other news, I've bumped off all my TU inquiries with PM123 and CreditKarma.
Especially happy about this since Citi pulls TU for me and they've been very inquiry sensitive lately.

edit: added links

Those sockbiters at Juniper just made another EQ hard pull!!
WTF?! That's their third inquiry, second after approval.

Question: if I freeze EQ, can I still get bumpage?

cashmonkey said: Hmm, doesn't look like bumpage is going to happen anyway.
After pulling my EQ report (directly from EQ, to dispute these damned inquiries), here are my PM123 inquiries:

TRUE CREDIT/VERTRUE 04/22/08, 04/20/08, 04/19/08, 04/18/08, 04/17/08, 03/31/08, 02/29/08, 01/31/08, 12/31/07, 11/30/07

Other than April, each month only has one entry, while I was pulling almost daily. *sigh*
Looks like EQ has remedied bumpage by removing any duplicate entries on a monthly basis.

Yes you can still B* a frozen report, I got 3 B*ed off inbetween the march/april choppage. I'm trying again now with 6 EQ softs a day.

cashmonkey said: Those sockbiters at Juniper just made another EQ hard pull!!
WTF?! That's their third inquiry, second after approval.
I'd lock up EQ before they train-wreck the report. I currently have a lock on EQ in my AOR, am planning to lock up TU after the last "missing inquiries" post, and will probably lock up EX just for post-AOR safety's sake. Probably isn't a bad idea these days anyhow, and gives you more control.

I use EQ's Credit Watch and TC to handle lockage/unlockage; EX looks like it can be done online but they don't have a "service" for it.

- Signed up for TC and locked my TU account (note: if you cancel your TC subscription, your lock is removed!)
- Signed up for EQ Creditwatch and locked that account. (anyone know if this survives Creditwatch cancellation? Edit: as per my cancellation email, it does not!)
- Experian's online security freeze doesn't like me, despite asking me pertinent ID questions. I have to do it by mail.

Sent an email to Juniper protesting their excess hard inquiries.
Also tried disputing them using Equifax's online dispute service.
Will see how it goes.

FYI there are a lot of reports that the use of EQ services to pull reports causes choppage, which effectively halts b*. Don't use the EQ service to pull your report unless you have to.

markkundinger said: EQ's deletion of soft pulls seems to be due to too many pulls from any source, it doesn't matter if it's and EQ service or not.
I know it's going on regardless of what services are in use, but I thought I caught a report of all softs disappearing immediately after an EQ pull.

But then... none of the "choppage" has completely blown all softs off of a report before, so I guess I should have read that more carefully... ok nebbermind