"Got Approved But Low Limit.."
My Best Buy® Visa® Card Review
Written by: gerald193 on 2009-11-21
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gerald193's review: 
Well I wanted to purchase a certain tv from them so I applied online at the best buy website. It said congrats you've been approved for the gold reward zone program MasterCard? I didn't even know there was a gold card. So I called them and asked what my credit limit was and she said $300. I told her I was planning on financing a tv and she said there was nothing she could do about a cli. This card is issued by HSBC and I have two other accounts with them. A Orchard Bank card with a $300 limit also and a Herbergers account with a $1200 limit. I even asked if she could match the limit on my herbergers account and they still said no. I checked my credit and they did another hard pull for the cli! My scores are tu 608 eq 595 ex 632.
I hear HSBC is really stingy about cli's I have had accounts there before and they refuse to cli after perfect payment history. I am going to sockdrawer this card for a while. Maybe charge $50-$60 a month and pay it in full for a year and then close. I ended up going to walmart and they approved for $700 so I got the tv I wanted. I used $500 of the limit and paid the rest in cash for the tv. So overall I'm happy! Any advice on how to push HSBC on cli's? I would love to read your responses.
Well I wanted to purchase a certain tv from them so I applied online at the best buy website. It said congrats you've been approved for the gold reward zone program MasterCard? I didn't even know there was a gold card. So I called them and asked what my credit limit was and she said $300. I told her I was planning on financing a tv and she said there was nothing she could do about a cli. This card is issued by HSBC and I have two other accounts with them. A Orchard Bank card with a $300 limit also and a Herbergers account with a $1200 limit. I even asked if she could match the limit on my herbergers account and they still said no. I checked my credit and they did another hard pull for the cli! My scores are tu 608 eq 595 ex 632. I hear HSBC is really stingy about cli's I have had accounts there before and they refuse to cli after perfect payment history. I am going to sockdrawer this card for a while. Maybe charge $50-$60 a month and pay it in full for a year and then close. I ended up going to walmart and they approved for $700 so I got the tv I wanted. I used $500 of the limit and paid the rest in cash for the tv. So overall I'm happy! Any advice on how to push HSBC on cli's? I would love to read your responses.
6 Comments
Comment 1 by colonative
HSBC CLI 
on 2009-11-22
Some people have had some luck but only after a year or two of having the card. Other's have had to play hardball and threaten to close the account.
Overall, you have a better chance at finding a three-legged ballerina then getting a decent CLI from them.
on 2009-11-22 Some people have had some luck but only after a year or two of having the card. Other's have had to play hardball and threaten to close the account.Overall, you have a better chance at finding a three-legged ballerina then getting a decent CLI from them.
Comment 2 by tia530
Re: Got Approved But Low Limit.. on 2009-11-22
I agree with ColoNative, I have this card as well with the same measly 300$ limit that I have had for a year and a half (May 08) they had a computer I wanted on sale for 340.00 so I decided to call in and request a CLI, no dice! Flat denial, I asked the CSR to close the account as it was serving me no good purpose with that small of a credit limit.
She agreed but I had a 19.00 balance, as I went ahead into the store and purchased the computer, and charged a case, to pay the 19.00$ balance was gonna cost me 25$ with her over the phone, wow.
I then told her I'd pay via the website and will call back to pay it. I paid the balance but decided to wait a lil while longer as I am getting rid of all low balance cards, but I don't want to do it all at one time and I recently started this off with Walmart on the chopping block first. My scores are low 700's, low util, perfect payments, array of credit, to include mortgage, auto loan, and major branded CC's, I'm not sure what it will take to get a CLI from them but good luck in the future.
~tia
on 2009-11-22 I agree with ColoNative, I have this card as well with the same measly 300$ limit that I have had for a year and a half (May 08) they had a computer I wanted on sale for 340.00 so I decided to call in and request a CLI, no dice! Flat denial, I asked the CSR to close the account as it was serving me no good purpose with that small of a credit limit. She agreed but I had a 19.00 balance, as I went ahead into the store and purchased the computer, and charged a case, to pay the 19.00$ balance was gonna cost me 25$ with her over the phone, wow.
I then told her I'd pay via the website and will call back to pay it. I paid the balance but decided to wait a lil while longer as I am getting rid of all low balance cards, but I don't want to do it all at one time and I recently started this off with Walmart on the chopping block first. My scores are low 700's, low util, perfect payments, array of credit, to include mortgage, auto loan, and major branded CC's, I'm not sure what it will take to get a CLI from them but good luck in the future.
~tia
Comment 3 by tia530
Re: Got Approved But Low Limit.. on 2009-11-22
Whoops, I meant to say call back to close the account, sorry about that.
~tia
on 2009-11-22 Whoops, I meant to say call back to close the account, sorry about that.~tia
Comment 4 by eugene66
Re: Got Approved But Low Limit.. on 2009-11-23
This card has three versions 1. Gold with a fee 2. Gold with no annual fee. 3. Platinum with no annual fee which gives you a better rate and credit limit and increases.
on 2009-11-23 This card has three versions 1. Gold with a fee 2. Gold with no annual fee. 3. Platinum with no annual fee which gives you a better rate and credit limit and increases.
Comment 5 by rockin35
Re: (Eternal 500) on 2009-12-01
I canceled this card after having it for like 2 years. I started with a $300 limit, and they increased it to $500 and it remained $500 up until the day I canceled it. It's still a good MasterCard to have, because the APR is often times lower.
I would keep it I were you, if it's one of your newer cards and why waste the credit hit? But congrats!
on 2009-12-01 I canceled this card after having it for like 2 years. I started with a $300 limit, and they increased it to $500 and it remained $500 up until the day I canceled it. It's still a good MasterCard to have, because the APR is often times lower.I would keep it I were you, if it's one of your newer cards and why waste the credit hit? But congrats!
Comment 6 by macy
Re: Got Approved But Low Limit.. on 2009-12-07
Keep it a year but no longer than 2 1/2 yrs because then it affects your score when you close. Closing before 1 year is a wasted hard pull.
on 2009-12-07 Keep it a year but no longer than 2 1/2 yrs because then it affects your score when you close. Closing before 1 year is a wasted hard pull.
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Disclaimer: This content is not provided by Citibank. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by Citibank. Review content is powered by Finance Globe.
