Hi All,
I applied for a personal loan at Citibank a month ago and, during the application process, the associate suggested I apply for a credit card (she said they would together only count as one hard pull, which has proven not to be the case). I'd been eyeing the AAdvantage card for a while but wanted to wait until my balances were lower. Long story short, I was denied. I had a false derog removed from my credit report and sent them a letter stating that my income had increased and highlighted that I'd never made a late payment and stated I'd be happy with a low limit. I also explained why my balances were high and gave some other info. I called to ask about the status of my appeal, and was told I could only be notified by mail. This morning I received an email stating that I had been approved for a credit limit of $2,800!
I also sent in an appeal for the loan (stating that the associate had encouraged me to go larger than I wanted due to the lower interest rate, had encouraged me to appy for the card against my better judgement, and also explaining my situation as above (and including the deletion letter from the creditor, of course). I called to follow up and was told my appeal hadn't been received in time, even though it was sent CMRRR two days before the deadline and received the day of. I was upset since I was told postmarking by the date would be fine and have proof that it was even received by the deadline. I am currently waiting for a call from a supervisor since the associate I spoke to over the phone would not/could not help me. I'll let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, if anyone has been denied and feels a bit of explanation could nudge the decision in the other direction or has false info on their CR, I would encourage you to try an appeal. Let me know if you have any questions.