Macys credit card/ 12 months no interest

[Sallyr70]

I saw an after Christmas sale ad for furniture- with $999 purchase on the Macy's card, you get free delivery and 12 months to pay with no interest. I saw a dining set that looked good (about $1400) and went into the Home store to check it out. Decided to purchase. I've had a macy's card for years but only use it occasionally for small purchases. (I prefer to use my AMEX Blue cash or Nordstrom VISA to get the cash rewards.) While filling out the purchase paperwork, the system prompted the salesman to call in. No big deal to me since it was a larger purchase. They asked if they could run my credit report. I said yes with confidence,as I just refinanced my home 2 months ago and received a full set of credit reports- everything was spotless and credit scores 800-810. Result: Macy's denied me for the 12 month financing. But the sales rep graciously announced I do qualify to put that amount on my revolving, gee no thanks. Well I really wanted that table- great price and exactly the style I wanted- so I used one of my other cards and I'll just pay it off, and still got free delivery. So I'm thinking, okay maybe the refi caused my credit to temporarily be lowered... today I got a form letter from Macy's saying I could request a specific reason I was denied... at the bottom it showed they used Equifax and my credit score is 820. My question is, how high of a score does someone need for Macy's? I'm just shaking my head in amazement here. I wrote a short but direct email to them about how ridiculous their company looks, to deny someone with a high credit score. Maybe it's bait and switch... advertise the 12 month no interest and then deny most of the customers and get them to put it on the revolving account?

Frankly I'm shocked because I've never been denied credit, at least since I was 18 or so. Wondering if this is common for Macys or even other retailers? I purchased furniture a couple years ago from Thomasville on a 12 month (it was a brand new account) and had no problems qualifying for a much larger purchase amount.

[YLTL_Dan]

Maybe they've developed a conscience and realized they're usually ripping people off with those deals

It sounds like you would've paid it off in time, but I've read that around 80% of people don't pay off their furniture before the 12 month free date, and then they get whacked with high interest.

[Tonyall]

12 months of no interest is basically nothing anyway (with interest savings rates so low). If the furniture is not a critical need, you are better off saving up your money first and then buying it with a card that will give you a reward.

They did you a favor.

[Tree0164]

You are better off without those same as cash or no interest offers You can get slammed with interest .

Save up and pay cash

[bjl584]

It's interesting that you would be denied with near perfect credit. I would definitely ask for a specific reason as to why you were denied.

[phantom]

I find that really strange. If this is anything other than a bait and switch as you suspect, I would assume that there was something specific on your credit report other than the overall score that Macy's screens against. Maybe something like a name change that makes you look like a potential fraudster?

Maybe your score was too high or maybe they have some other way of detecting people who are unlikely to make the mistake of not paying the purchase off in time. I wonder if it's illegal to do something like that.

[Sallyr70]

Yes, you are all right. It's better this way. I will get 1% back on my purchase using the AMEX and have more than enough cash sitting in the bank... I just hate to see that much money withdrawn at once, but I'll get over it. The good thing is that I won't be worrying in month 11 about making sure the final payment is posted in time to avoid the interest. I do believe that they deny many people and hope they use the regular credit.

[Gailete]

Could be the fine print said it was for new customers only, not for long term card holders.