u/BrutalBodyShots

For the first time in probably 2 decades turbotax for whatever reason would not let me e-file, so I had to print and mail my return. This was back in early March, probably 10 weeks ago or so. I think the standard is something like 6-8 weeks for a mailed in return, which I've definitely gone beyond. What is troubling to me is that when I go to their "Where's my refund" link and fill in the information for "Refund Status" nothing can be found using the information I enter in. I've tried both the online form and the hotline. Is this normal? How do I know if it's sitting there still waiting to be processed verses getting lost in the mail or something? Thanks for any insight from those that have been through this.

This myth is near and dear to me, because believing it burned me twice in the past. Both times were before I understood how credit worked. In both cases, I co-signed for people that had subpar credit and weren't capable of an approval without my help. Like many, I incorrectly believed that I had no true obligation to the debt and that the only person responsible for it was the person I co-signed for. Of course, I was wrong.

Not only did my misunderstanding aid in trashing my credit, but it also adversely impacted my finances when I was left paying back those debts that I initially didn't think I was responsible for.

It's important to understand that when you co-sign for someone, you assume equal responsibility for the account in question. Both of your names are tied to the account and the account lands on both of your credit reports. You are both equally responsible for ensuring that the account remains "paid as agreed."

The typical story that we frequently see sounds something like this:

"I co-signed for someone and they didn't keep up with their payments, so now it's hurting my credit."

The misconception here is that it's not their payments. The required payments are just as much the responsibility of the co-signer. The lender doesn't care about a verbal agreement between the two names on the account as far as who is "supposed to pay" - they simply care that the account is paid as agreed and will hold both of you accountable for that happening.

My general advice is simply "never co-sign." There are far more examples of people regretting doing so than it working out great. The entire reason people need a co-signer in the first place is because their credit profile isn't capable of an approval on its own. Often that's because of previous payment history issues, or lack of credit history. In either case, as a co-signer you are taking a gamble that the lender isn't willing to take. It's a great deal for the lender, but a risky one for you. Unless you are 100% comfortable with the idea of making every monthly payment required yourself, co-signing is a bad idea.

As another aside, since co-signed accounts do land on your credit reports, it's important to monitor them monthly just like you should with all of your credit accounts. Sometimes as a co-signer you don't see monthly statements that are sent to the person you co-signed for, so an account can go delinquent without you necessarily receiving any warning. By checking in on the account monthly, you can ensure that an issue doesn't go unnoticed.

Sort of a follow up to CM#56 (linked at the end of this post) is the myth that a FICO score will always be lower than a VantageScore (VS). Typically when we say VS, we're referring to VS3 (the most common VS) although VS4 is sometimes referenced as well.

We see this most often when someone posts a VS3 pic (typically from Credit Karma) and someone replies with "Your FICO score is probably 60 points lower" or something similar. That's not how credit scores work. You can't just take a VS3 and state that a FICO score will be X points lower based on the VS3. And, to further support this point, one has 40 different FICO scores to begin with. Saying "Your [singular] FICO score" in and of itself isn't correct.

I've also see the converse of this thread title presented at times, although far less often. That one sounds like "Your FICO score is probably 30-40 points higher than your VS3" or something similar. Most people that make these claims are just comparing their VS3 to a FICO score and incorrectly assuming that what they see as a variance is what everyone will see as a variance. That's untrue, as there are an infinite amount of different credit profiles out there that will result in an infinite amount of different scores relative to one another.

In conclusion, it's a myth that any model score must be lower than a different model score when presented as a blanket statement.

https://old.reddit.com/r/CRedit/comments/1jkfc2w/credit_myth_56_vantagescore_is_a_good_predictor/

This one comes up quite a bit. Typically it sounds something like this: "I'm thinking of becoming an authorized user on my dad's credit card and he has a credit score of 820. Will that help me?" The incorrect assumption here is that if your score is X and you become an authorized user (AU) on an account of someone that has a score > X it means your scores will increase.

The credit score that the person who you wish to "borrow" the account from has no bearing at all on yours when you become an AU on their card. The only thing that matters is the information about the specific account in question. It's that account information that will land on your reports and may impact your scores. Nothing else about the credit profile of the person you're becoming an AU on the account of can be score-impacting.

People with very good credit scores can have weak accounts. People with very bad credit scores can have strong accounts. If one wishes to become an AU on an account, the account itself needs to be considered and not the credit score of the person that has the account.

It's also worth mentioning that AU accounts don't actually build credit though, which is a topic covered in a previous Credit Myth series installment. That information more or less goes hand in hand with this thread topic, so I'll link it below and not go into it here. Most of the time when people touch on this myth they are focused on score, and an increased score as a result of an AU account isn't actually building credit.

https://old.reddit.com/r/CRedit/comments/1lv1o3f/credit_myth_70_authorized_user_accounts_are_a/

I never saw value in the PR to begin with. I just got it for the greater SUB knowing that my end game (card I actually wanted) was the UCR. I waited a year and contacted them once I saw the $95 AF hit. Now I just need to wait and see that $95 returned.

I will say that the PC process with BoA is more time consuming than it needs to be. I've done successful PC/downgrades with Amex, Chase, Capital One and Citi in the past and all were far quicker than this. I'm almost certain all of those were done through chat/message meaning never having to speak to a human being.

I started my request with a BoA chat session. I was quickly informed that a PC cannot be done via chat, so I was given a number to call. After calling that number and talking to someone for 3-4 minutes, I was told I needed to be transferred to a different "specialist" to move forward with my request. A little more wait time, then 20+ minutes on the phone with the specialist to get the job done. Lots of questions, small talk, being put back on hold briefly, and being thanked for being a customer more times than I can count. Total call duration was 32 minutes, which was more time than I had expected to invest.

Anyway, the PC is complete so overall success. I'll enjoy the remaining time of the elevated rewards with Preferred Rewards program before the nerf kicks in ;)

What are your experiences with Dexcom Support chat?

I've been trying to chat for the better part of an hour. Each time I initiate it, I'm told "Live Chat - Wait time 1 minute. Hang tight while I connect you with a live agent." Sounds great to me! After maybe 5 minutes, the chat session ends and the button appears to "start a new chat session" if I'd like. Twice I've had a live agent pop on and give their standardized greeting. Within the 10-20 seconds of me typing in my question, the agent disconnects the chat. Again, I "start a new chat session" and the process repeats.

This is my first experience with Dexcom Support chat, so I'm wondering if this is a fluke or if this type of crap is standard protocol and calling via phone is the better approach?