zben@umcp-cs.UUCP (03/15/84)
It all started when a local bank (Riggs of Wash DC) decided to sell its credit card operation to some outfit in New York (Central Charge ==> Choice). They sent me a nice letter saying they could not just convert my CC card to a Choice card because there was a problem with my credit rating. I hadn't used the CC card since my favorite local restaurant (which took CC) folded, but my curiousity was piqued by this alleged "problem". I took the time to track the problem down, and found that the problem was with my Sears credit card. Nearly a year before I had ordered a replacement part for a 10 year old Sears blender. I was totally suprised they could come up with a part for a cheap ($19.00) 10 year old appliance, even though it was not the correct color. The part was 75 cents, they charged 50 cents for mailing it to me, so I had a $1.25 charge on the credit card. I didn't pay it for quite a while, figuring I would buy something more substantial on the card and pay it off in one swell foop. So the credit check company (TRW credit services) has records from Sears that indicate that I didn't pay my credit card bill for six months, BUT NOWHERE DO THEY HAVE THE INFORMATION THAT THE AMOUNT IN QUESTION WAS A PIDDLING DOLLAR AND A QUARTER. I am being lumped in with some real deadbeats here and don't like it one bit. Incidently, I got the Sears card when I was a senior in high school making $1.25 an hour as a theatre doorman. I was Xmas shopping in a local Sears store when a nice lady with a clipboard buttonholed me and filled out the application *for* me right there in the store. Can't beat that for convenience. Ben Cranston