Here goes a story:
I applied for Barclays US Airways card (4 months ago) and got approved with a $10,000 credit limit
. I was surprised by the credit limit, because I had previously only had one card (for 4 years) with a $2,500 credit limit. When I activated the card, they told me that I'm entering the wrong social security number
. To make a long story short, my credit report was merged with my cousin's (almost the same name), and my cousin has a great credit history. Interestingly, Experian (who had the mix-up) told me that Barclays made the inquiry with the correct social, but when they reported the account, it was with the wrong social. Anyways, I told Barclays about the error, and they switched the social security number over to my SSN.
This was 4 months ago. Comes last week, and suddenly my credit limit dropped from $10,000 to $1,000 dollars
. I called them up and they said that they revaluated based on my correct credit report, and they cannot give me more than $1,000 limit. They said that the terms and Conditions state that they can lower the limit at any time based on a change in credit worthiness. I argued that I never had a change in credit worthiness, just that they had initially made an error (that was completely their responsibility). They said that there is nothing they can do
. I forced him to call customer service and refund my annual fee (saying "the card is worthless to me with so little credit"), and he did that instantly. I hung up happily. (Since I got that card, I've been approved for other cards, so a had other cards to use with far greater limits
.)
Now for my question: I got an alert from Experian Credit Tracker (I'm a member) that there was a decrease on a credit limit on one of my accounts, and it could serve as a red flag to other banks because they see that a different bank lowered my credit limit. What should I do? Could I call Barclays and make them delete the record that I ever had a $10,000 limit? Or should I call Experian and try to do something through them?
If you're reading this, then I appreciate you reading through my long post. Thank you.