Yep. My score was mid 700s, then for some reason 1 pre authorized payment didn't go through and it dropped BADLY
1. write a 'good will letter' and mail it certified. "it happened because" , "your company has been good to me", "Build a long history with you", "im trying to buy a house for my kid" yadda yadda, if its your first 30 late and your credit file looks good otherwise they might take it off with just this letter.
2. wait for a month after you see that they received the letter. if you don't get a letter back or see it removed from you credit report....
3. Google for the email of their CEO. write him the same sob story inside of an email. (I successfully did this with capital-one 7 years ago). if you don't hear back from the CEO.....
4. search for articles that include other senior level executives discussing consumer issues and them being in favor of consumer rights. this could even be about free credit monitoring that they offer. credit card companies are evil as shyt but they love this kind of PR. note all of the names of the people quoted or credited (PR executives are going to be a waste of time, keep looking if that's all you find)
5. Find the email addresses of some of those executives. email them the same sob story.
6. If you don't get any response your last hail mary is challenge it with all 3 credit bureaus individually. some make it easy and you can do it right from the web. you're basically forcing the credit card company to prove that you were 30 days late. while they are waiting for proof it might fall of your report and result in a momentary score spike. credit card companies have entire departments dedicated to responding to these challenges from the bureaus. so your chances here are around 2%.
If you don't do any of the above that shyt is going to sit on your report for the next 7 years and haunt you. Most credit card companies will give you an automatic denial with a 30 day late within the last 5 years. Most private mortgage companies that offer competitive rates issue automatic denials with just 1 30 days late within the last 7 years. You get one more of those and you're not eligible for an FHA mortgage for the next 2 years.