Shell Oil card cancelled!

[aja8888]

Two months ago, DW got a notice she missed a Shell credit card payment when she got a letter from Shell. Surprise! Well, the post office (my favorite pet peeve ) apparently did not forward the bill to our new address so it went unnoticed. They have done a lot of non-forwarding of our mail from what I can tell....(but that's another story).

So we paid it and called Shell to have the bill sent electronically from now on (been doing more of this lately, too). They were happy to oblige. Well, DW went to the station today and her Shell card was rejected!

She called them and the rep said the account was closed. DW said we never missed a payment for the last 20 years and this lost bill should not be reason to close this account. Shell rep said the "bank" closed the account, not them. I find that hard to believe.

So much for an 800+ credit score....

 

[robnplunder]

Good riddance!

I voluntarily canceled my Shell card as their rebate program got pretty weak several years ago. I now use other cards that gives me 3% rebate on gas.

 

[REWahoo]

Good riddance!

+1

Oil company credit cards are so 1990.

Get yourself a PenFed Platinum Cash Rewards Visa card and get 5% cash back on all pay-at-the-pump purchases no matter the name on the service station sign. If you aren't already a PenFed credit union member, anyone can join.

 

[aja8888]

+1

Oil company credit cards are so 1990.

Get yourself a PenFed Platinum Cash Rewards Visa card and get 5% cash back on all pay-at-the-pump purchases no matter the name on the service station sign. If you aren't already a PenFed credit union member, anyone can join.

(DW is sooo 1990's ()

I use the PenFed card. She sticks with "old hat"! Now she is using her Chevron card (I wonder how many of these oil company cards she has in hiding?)

 

[NW-Bound]

So much for an 800+ credit score....

Probably not anymore. Not with that non-payment resulting in a card getting canceled.

Speaking of credit score, the last time I checked ours was 5 or 6 years ago. Yes, it was in the 800+. Perhaps I should check again to make sure my identity has not been stolen and some guys have not racked up tons of charges.

 

[athena53]

Were you using it only for gas? Maybe the bank felt that the account wasn't profitable enough (in terms of the fees it could rake off the amounts charged on the card) and used the late payment as an excuse to cancel it.

Isn't it wonderful to be in a position where you can laugh and use another card with better perks? With an 800 credit score I'm sure you'll find something.

 

[audreyh1]

Get the PenFed 5%* cash rewards on gas VISA card instead!

*5% if you have assets at PenFed.

 

[target2019]

Get the PenFed 5%* cash rewards on gas VISA card instead!

*5% if you have assets at PenFed.

+1
We are only using the card for gas now. Also helps when a store won't accept Amex.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

One reason to carry multiple cards. I used to use a Chase Visa. I must have had it for 10-15 years, never missed a payment that I know of, usually paid off the whole balance each month, and they kept upping my credit limit, I guess because I used it a lot. One time while I was out of the country (I had used it there many times before) it wouldn't work. Later found they had set the limit to what I currently owed on the account. Turns out that during some review, they thought I had too much in unsecured loans outstanding. But the loan was an 80K mortgage secured by a 750K house, that of my ex-wife. Even though I had a perfect payment record, without notice the reduced the limit to what was owed. There was no prior notice. Pissed off, I haven't used that card since. Very unsettling when you are out of the country to have this happen.

 

[heeyy_joe]

Oh I would so definitely apply for a new card - so when I get it I can cut it up and send it to the bank President with some choice words.

 

[Rustward]

Call me whatever you might, but I put future payments due and credit card closing dates on my calendar so I know when to expect to receive a statement, and more importantly, when I have not received a bill on time -- either electronic or snail mail.

I started this after I found out than my car insurance policy had expired when I went in for a state inspection. Turned out that my statement and invoice had been mailed to an address at which I never lived, but I was still covered within the company's grace period. This was some kind of IT error, and having worked in IT for 32 years, and I am aware that these mistakes do happen, and for most people they are rare. Now our credit card statement dates and policy expiration dates are on the calendar.

 

[aja8888]

Oh I would so definitely apply for a new card - so when I get it I can cut it up and send it to the bank President with some choice words.

Joe, I am sure that a Shell card application will grace our mailbox sometime in the future, and we will apply just to see if we get it. Then we will cut it up and send it back!

The part of this whole business that got under our skins is that they never notified us that the card was cancelled. They just waited until DW tried to use it and rejected it at the pump. That's a sad case for Shell and their bank.

 

[Telly]

Oil company credit cards are so 1990.

I didn't know they still existed!

I had a Standard Oil card once... many decades ago.

 

[Andre1969]

Probably not anymore. Not with that non-payment resulting in a card getting canceled.

Speaking of credit score, the last time I checked ours was 5 or 6 years ago. Yes, it was in the 800+. Perhaps I should check again to make sure my identity has not been stolen and some guys have not racked up tons of charges.

Yeah, that'll teach ya! BTW, I recently got a smackdown, despite having a credit score of 834. I applied for a personal loan at Lendingtree.com, and initially was approved for $30K. But then they came back and said that after running my credit, they couldn't give me that much, but I could reapply for a lower amount.

BTW, if you have an 800+ credit score, how much would missing one credit card payment ding that, I wonder? Would just one card be enough to tank your score?

Oh, and aja8888, as a shareholder in Shell Oil, let me personally apologize for my company. I'll pull some strings and see what I can do! Not that the few shares I own would give me much clout...

 

[imoldernu]

Found this explanation of credit card scores. Interesting part about averaging different ratings.
Highest Credit Score

excerpt:

The reporting bureaus make money from sharing these numbers with lenders, banks, creditors, etc. The way a FICO highest credit score is broken down is simple. Thirty five percent is attributed to having a record of paying bills on time, thirty percent for total balance on credit cards and other loans compared to total credit limit, 15% for length of history, 10% for new accounts or recent applications for financing, and 10% mix of credit cards and loans. The highest credit scores will result in an individual having a lower balance to limit ratio and a balance of revolving accounts with installment loan accounts.

 

[aja8888]

Oh, and aja8888, as a shareholder in Shell Oil, let me personally apologize for my company. I'll pull some strings and see what I can do! Not that the few shares I own would give me much clout...

Andre, thanks for the offer of help . On a side note, my BIL worked for Shell for 43 years and made it into a VP slot before retiring. He could not help either! I guess you have to be Dutch to have any "pull" in that company.

 

[cranberryjoe]

This is one reason to use electronic statements. No paper statements to get lost in the mail.

Like others, I keep a calendar with all bill payment due dates on them. I login to each account a week before the due date to check the statement and pay the bill.

 

[brewer12345]

Joe, I am sure that a Shell card application will grace our mailbox sometime in the future, and we will apply just to see if we get it. Then we will cut it up and send it back!

The part of this whole business that got under our skins is that they never notified us that the card was cancelled. They just waited until DW tried to use it and rejected it at the pump. That's a sad case for Shell and their bank.

Nah, just fill the prepaid postage return envelope with powdered sugar and pop it in the mail. They will enjoy the sweet treat.

 

[aja8888]

This is one reason to use electronic statements. No paper statements to get lost in the mail.

Like others, I keep a calendar with all bill payment due dates on them. I login to each account a week before the due date to check the statement and pay the bill.

Electronic statements is the way to go, for sure. Along with a Google calender notification system which I am setting up.

That Shell card got infrequent use (not every month since she has a PenFed VISA card too!) and DW never called Shell to set up electronic notification. I think we have one more paper statement coming in (Entergy) and I do nothing with it because they e-mail me the bill too!

My real pet peeve is the postal system. When I look at the volume of junk mail that shows up, I am shocked. When we moved to the new address it seems more junk was coming and it is entirely possible the postman had first class mail buried in some junk catalog or flyer and it (the Shell bill) got inadvertently tossed out. The risk of this happening seems pretty high.