Comments on: Goodwill Adjustment Letters

By: aua868s

aua868s — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:03:30 +0000

havent been in this situation before…but will definitely use this template if i land in one!

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:14:26 +0000

Mook,

I mailed letters to all of my credit card and auto loan lenders. The credit card companies sent letters saying they wouldn’t change anything, and I didn’t hear from the car loan companies. I haven’t viewed my credit report since sending the letters so I don’t know if the auto loan companies did anything. My credit score has been on a steady increase due to hard work and strict budgeting, and I guess it was worth a try, just in case it had worked.

By: mook

mook — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:04:53 +0000

hi rebecca, did mailing off a goodwill adjustment letter to your lender work?

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:16:15 +0000

Where would you recommend sending the letter? Should I use the address I send my payments to, or address to a specific person within the company?

Thank you!

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:15:33 +0000

Nice d20 reference.

By: Student Scrooge

Student Scrooge — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:39:43 +0000

Nice template — I’ll have to keep it in mind if I ever find myself in that situation. I hate doing these things over the phone, so I’d probably jump straight to a written request.

By: Cap

Cap — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:37:04 +0000

Gods, the roll reference made me cringe (purely because I can relate). Good template and suggestions though. Note for others: there’s a clear distinction between asking for goodwill adjustment and disputing incorrect information. If negatives are shown in credit report that aren’t due to your mistake, skip the letters and dispute accordingly!

By: jim

jim — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:53:53 +0000

I wonder if cards would reply with a letter letting you know if your request has been accepted or rejected. I do suppose keeping the card but not using it isn’t going to hurt. Please let us know how it turns out if you do send a letter.

By: Glenn Lasher

Glenn Lasher — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:37:16 +0000

Forgot to mention . . . as Larry pointed out, this same card has been generally responsive with requests to waive fees.

By: Glenn Lasher

Glenn Lasher — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:36:20 +0000

Jim, I have a card that have been generally unresponsive to verbal requests for a lower rate. I will be paying them off and shutting them down shortly, exactly as I have verbally promised them I would do, but I was thinking of making one final written appeal. That was the sort of thinking behind my initial response.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:47:27 +0000

This actually happened to me a couple of days ago. a company overcharged me 12 times in error and I overdrafted in my checking. I called them up requesting them to kindly remove the overdraft fees and they said that since it was not a bank issue they would only meet me half way. I then brought up the fact that I have been a ‘loyal customer’ for the past 10 years, have my student loans with them AND just opened a savings account.

After 2 minutes on hold the overdraft fees were fully waived

No harm in asking!

Larry @ theluckymoneycat

By: Mr. ToughMoneyLove

Mr. ToughMoneyLove — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:39:07 +0000

I’m guessing that letters like these will work better if you not only pay on time but also are a profitable customer by carrying balances and paying interest. On the other hand, if this is a revolving credit account which you pay to zero every month, that is not a good customer for them.

By: Gates VP

Gates VP — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:43:48 +0000

…d20 save vs. financial realities sucka…

Jim, you’re my kind of nerd. Awesome!

By: jim

jim — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:18:43 +0000

Yes, you definitely could, but I think that for many of those you can just call rather than make a written appeal. Threatening to change providers is a great way to get concessions but you can’t go that route with this sort of thing.

By: Glenn Lasher

Glenn Lasher — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:46:22 +0000

There is no real reason why you couldn’t use a further variation on this template to request other kinds of concessions as well, e.g. an increased credit limit, lowered interest rate, extension to a promotional rate, etc. For that matter, it is also not constrained to creditors. It essentiall boils down to this: “I’ve been a good customer. Want to keep me? This would be a nice thing for you to do.”