BELLEVILLE, IL – Kinjii Dowd says she knew the credit issue with her Jared the Galleria of Jewelry card was not unlike any other.
“One of the supervisors told me it was an isolated event. Which I know wasn’t the case.” said Dowd.
Kinjii’s concern came when she received an alert from Credit Karma, a company that monitors and reports on your credit.
“We thought it was strange because we have a pretty high credit limit on there and we’re thinking why would they close our account before the holiday season?” added Dowd.
Kinjii says in ten years as a Jared card holder she never missed or was late with a payment. That’s a big reason she was shocked to learn her credit score dropped more than two dozen points. News made more troubling by the fact her family is considering moving into a new home.
“This is the time where any negative credit issues would impact us dramatically.” said Dowd.
Eager for an explanation, Kinjii started digging. In October, Signet Jewlers, the company that owns the Jared brand, sold one billion dollars’ worth of loans it made to customers to Alliance Data Systems, a credit card servicing company. Kinjii tells me a representative for Comenity, the bank now handling her account, told her the credit issue could’ve resulted from her account being incorrectly reported as closed.
Fox 2’s Mike Colombo questioned Signet Jewelers. In a statement, a spokesperson said “We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences that our customers have experienced related to the sale of Signet’s credit portfolio to Alliance Data Systems. Where we can, we will relentlessly continue to work to reach any customer with an issue and bring to a positive resolution. Although we continue to reach out to this customer, unfortunately, we have not yet been able to connect. We look forward to speaking with her directly.”
Kinjii says she hasn’t experienced Signet’s relentless pursuit of resolution. That why Colombo contacted the other company involved in that billion-dollar deal. A Comenity Bank representative said as it is customary in these transactions, there can be a delay between the prior and new credit grantor. At this time, we have not reported any card member accounts to credit bureaus and will do so in the coming weeks.”
While the sale of Kinjii’s account and its current closed status could’ve played a part in her credit score dropping, it looks like it’ll be back to normal soon. There are many other factors that can cause your credit score to fluctuate. A good rule of thumb is to monitor your credit closely as Kinjii does and question any red flags that may arise.
