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The new Payboo card is one hot mess

GroovyGeek
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

So I have been trying to get the new Payboo card for 3 months and it has been one hot mess. The first time I applied I forgot to lift the credit freeze on my report so a few weeks later I got a "Dear John, your credit is frozen" letter. Then I lifted the freeze and reapplied, and again a few weeks later I got a "Dear John, your credit is frozen". I assumed that this may be because I lifted the freeze on the day I applied. So I lifted the freeze again, applied again, and again got a "Dear John, your credit is frozen" letter (yes I waited 30 days between applications and each time I unfroze all 3 bureaus for 30 days). Today I attempted calling Comenity and the CSR told me that she cannot look up my case or even tell me what credit bureau they are pulling from (I have been unfreezing all three). I am nearing the end of my reservoir of patience here, will give it one more try and then just move on with ordering from other dealers.

@henryp FYI, not expecting special treatment, just surprised at the complete lack of customer service from your selected partner. Who is in this day and age of instant credit inquiries provides a response 2 weeks later via a printed letter?

Apr 22, 2022 at 06:10 PM

pjheller
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

I've had the exact same (BAD) experience. After appying a couple of times, I then got a letter saying I needed to wait another 30 days before applying again. Not sure it's worth the effort at this point to unfreeze accounts and reapply (and the last message indicated they checked a credit bureau that I didn't even know existed. . . maybe it's somehow connected with the big 3 bureaus).

Apr 22, 2022 at 07:23 PM

dallvr
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

Yup, same here. I'm trying for the third time to get things coordinated so that the credit freeze is lifted far enough in advance of the application for the card in order for the application to be approved. Thanks for raising this issue, glad to hear I'm not the only one, and I hope Henry P. can get things straightened out with the card issuer so that B&H's loyal customers can get their Payboo cards issued, for heaven't sake!

Apr 22, 2022 at 08:40 PM

docusync
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

GroovyGeek wrote:
"Dear John, your credit is frozen"

What exactly does it mean?

I gave up on B&H when they started phasing out the old Payboo. Tried to buy a ~$2k lens and they charged me twice. Had to contact their support multiple times with no luck. Synchrony fixed this later for me. In a month or so after the first incident I tried to buy another lens - same [email protected], but this time 3 times. Zero help. All good stuff is on backorder as always... So now I'm simply buying from reputable out of state camera stores. No taxes and free shipping. Didn't even bother with the new Payboo.

Apr 22, 2022 at 08:47 PM

bobby350z
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

I haven't applied for the new card yet. My last big purchase was on the last day of the older card expiring.

Apr 23, 2022 at 09:26 AM

mark1958
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

I got the new card but my credit limit was something like 4K and with the previous I had a 25K limit. So I applied for a higher limit and then increased it to 6500. My income should clearly allow me to have a higher limit and I inquired and. they basically said no

Apr 23, 2022 at 10:54 AM

liggy
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

Had a great experience with the old Payboo card.

Complete opposite with Comenity. Applied twice - rejected because of the freeze. Have spent nearly $20K elsewhere in the meantime that would have likely gone to B&H.

Oh well… It was always a trade off between the two year extended warranty benefit of the Costco affinity Visa vs the tax savings of the Payboo. Comenity has made that decision for me.

Apr 23, 2022 at 12:57 PM

Don Ferrario
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

The Comenity program is a joke. It’s hurting B&H. I had exactly the same experience. Hoping Henry Posner reads this thread.

Apr 23, 2022 at 06:56 PM

EB-1
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

Apr 23, 2022 at 09:27 PM

liggy
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

EB-1 wrote:
How is going elsewhere helping you or do they have a similar rebate program?

EBH

I've been going with Greentoe. You bid and they put the bid up to their network. If they accept your bid the price you spec is the price you pay - the vendor that takes the bid won't charge you sales tax. What I like about it is the fact that I get a USA spec non-grey product from an AD and I can use my Costco Visa which gets me the additional 24 months of warranty on top of the OEM warranty. Oftentimes it comes out to a better deal than B&H but with the additional warranty.

The downside to Greentoe so far has been some really long wait times. It took over 4 months to get the Sony 70-200 2.8 GM. But it's here now and I'm a happy fella.

I'd rather go with B&H as they are more timely but Comenity can go ahhhh... you know the rest. If B&H continues to partner with them I'll just buy local or go another way.

Apr 24, 2022 at 01:50 AM

jwpstl
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

If B&H gives me the best service and a competitive price I’ll use them without the card. I’m not going to affect my credit and deal with bad service to save a few dollars.

Apr 24, 2022 at 10:33 AM

peter_n
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

Sorry to read of all your problems with B&H. I signed up for a Payboo card shortly after it was released and have had no problems at all including the recent renewal card. My experience with B&H has been very good and that includes the no tax bonus and the two calls I've made to them; both employees were knowledgeable and helped me out in short order.

Apr 24, 2022 at 11:36 AM

EB-1
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

liggy wrote:
Had a great experience with the old Payboo card.

Complete opposite with Comenity. Applied twice - rejected because of the freeze. Have spent nearly $20K elsewhere in the meantime that would have likely gone to B&H.

Oh well… It was always a trade off between the two year extended warranty benefit of the Costco affinity Visa vs the tax savings of the Payboo. Comenity has made that decision for me.

EB-1 wrote:
How is going elsewhere helping you or do they have a similar rebate program?

EBH

liggy wrote:
I've been going with Greentoe. You bid and they put the bid up to their network. If they accept your bid the price you spec is the price you pay - the vendor that takes the bid won't charge you sales tax. What I like about it is the fact that I get a USA spec non-grey product from an AD and I can use my Costco Visa which gets me the additional 24 months of warranty on top of the OEM warranty. Oftentimes it comes out to a better deal than B&H but with the additional warranty.

The downside to...Show more →

Is that the Cardinal Camera store? It's not a viable alternative for anything buy a few large purchases. (My experience was not good and I ended up not getting the item, but no money was lost.)

The value of stores like BH and the Adormama is that they have a variety of hard-to-find smaller items and accessories. I think it would be better if they gave back a lower amount, perhaps 50%, but used a better provider. One would still be gaining some benefit.

EBH

Apr 24, 2022 at 01:25 PM

liggy
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

Without breaking disclosure- I have had several GT vendors and the store you referenced has been one of them.

Sales tax in my city is 10.2% so the no sales tax benefit can be significant on its own. Add that to whatever discount from MSRP you may get and we’re talking about real money.

Apr 24, 2022 at 06:51 PM

Jun Zhou
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

I just applied my BH card this afternoon and got approved instantly without credit hardpull or credit inquiry, it looks like a soft-pull to check my credit.

Apr 24, 2022 at 07:03 PM

Andre Y
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

Same experience here: all three rejections were issues with Lexis having a credit freeze. First time was my fault since I was unaware Lexis had a freeze on my credit report, so I asked for a temporary lift well beyond the application period and a week before I applied. Same rejection: credit freeze on Lexis. Third time, I called Lexis, and they confirmed that my freeze would be lifted in about 15 minutes after the call, but I still waited a week and then applied, but got the same rejection. Ironically in the same time period, I got approved for a large car loan in about 24 hours from two different lenders.

I'll try one more time but this time with a permanent removal of the credit freeze from Lexis (which is in itself Kafkaesque in how it deals with normal consumers) and see what happens.

Apr 26, 2022 at 03:40 PM

Merlin_AZ
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

I guess I was one of the lucky ones.
I removed all 3 credit freezes online for 24 hours, and had no issues getting approved.

Apr 26, 2022 at 06:13 PM

GroovyGeek
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

What is Lexis?

Andre Y wrote:
Same experience here: all three rejections were issues with Lexis having a credit freeze. First time was my fault since I was unaware Lexis had a freeze on my credit report, so I asked for a temporary lift well beyond the application period and a week before I applied. Same rejection: credit freeze on Lexis. Third time, I called Lexis, and they confirmed that my freeze would be lifted in about 15 minutes after the call, but I still waited a week and then applied, but got the same rejection. Ironically in the same time period, I got approved...Show more →

May 01, 2022 at 12:28 AM

sjms
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

i just applied and done.

May 01, 2022 at 05:15 AM

sjms
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · The new Payboo card is one hot mess

It does seem the ”hot mess” seems to be a two sided issue.

May 01, 2022 at 12:23 PM

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