Care to share your stories? I'll post mine too.
First Bank offered a number of spiffs to their “good” customers in exchange for several sequential months of prompt payments. The spiff I chose was a percent off the interest rate. They never reduced the interest, ever.
BankOne used to debit your checking account before crediting deposits, even if the deposit took place before the check hit. My husband caught them doing it and they punished him by reporting him to the bad check agency, which is much worse than a hit on your credit report. You can be locked out of new checking accounts for up to seven years!
We finally went to our local credit union and had no further problems.
We’re in the danger zone here people. Credit cards are a good thing and don’t forget it. Where else can you spend thousands of dollars and only pay back $45 a month? No one else.
The people who want to punish credit cards want more and more people dependant on govt programs and everyone knows this.
First USA depositing payments but not crediting the account until 4-5 business days later to be sure that it is past the due date.
Good post - now, the “begats”:
Providian became Wamu, which is now Chase. Chase is famous for ratejacking. Capital One will ultimately sue everyone who goes to collection. Beware the default judgment.
This is one of the LEGITIMATE functions of a government: To keep predatory businesses from abusing citizens and violating contracts!
In other words, to keep the playing field as level as possible.
Imagine that—the credit card companies doing something dishonest???? I’m shocked, shocked I tell you! (do I really need a sarcasm tag here?)
This kind of crap doesn’t happen when you use cash :P
A class action lawsuit is probably the most proper way to handle such a thing, though it could take years or at least many many months to settle out.
Once, I took a cash advance from Fleet Bank at 9.5% and when it arrived, my statement showed a 10.7% interest rate. When I called and asked why, the gal whom I dealt with over the phone (and yes, I got her name and tel extension) had been either terminated or reassigned.
I got the names and wrote very polite and accomodating letters to the CEO and chief corporate attorney enclosing in fat manila envelopes “as a courtesy” copies of the five complaint letters I had written 1: to the US Postmaster (for mail fraud) and 2: to the Investigations Section of the Boston branch of the Federal Reserve Bank and 3: to the State Banking Examiner for Massachusetts, 4: to the Better Business Bureau of Boston, and 5: to the Mass. Dep’t of Consumer Affairs, #4 and #5 for “bait and switch”; as well as a copy of both the offer and my filled-in acceptance form for the cash advance. I never sent any of the 5 complaint letters but I was certainly prepared to.
I spent about $5 for Xeroxing and postage and materials, and undoubtedly a couple of hours of word processing composure time but my rate changed back to 9.5% on the next statement.
I use just one credit card (mainly so I can easily see where all my money goes) and pay in full each month.
My BOA card did that to me. Upped my due date by 6 days after it was the 14th of the month for 18 years. I have a 799 credit score and have never been late with a bill.. They hit me up with a $30 late fee which they took off after I complained about it.
Do you know what cc companies call customers who pay off their bill each month?
DEADBEATS.
No kidding.
While credit card companies need no defending on some of their practices, some of this is the fault of the trial liars (i.e. the Democrats) who file class action suits knowing the banks would rather settle than drag it through the courts. And when the trial liars pilfer millions of dollars in settlement money from the banks, who do you think eventually pays the bill? It's the cardholders who get the cost of the settlement passed along to them in the form of larger fees and tighter credit.
I was a plaintive in one of these suits against Fleet Bank who absorbed my card account from another bank, jacked up my interest rate from 10.9% to 21.9% and claimed they had two months before even notifying me that they were the new bank behind my card. The lawyers got millions in the suit. I got $2.13.
One bit of advice for anyone caught in a bad credit card situation. My 401k allows me to take out a loan for up to half of your balance which can be paid back through a payroll deduction. Doing this allowed me to close the Fleet Bank account which I did *before* sending letters of complaint to every member of the U.S. House and Senate Banking Committees and the Better Business Bureau about Fleet's practices.
One other piece of advice is to clean out any credit card accounts you have with banks that took TARP money or other bailouts. They've jacked up interest rates but you can find banks and credit unions who will still give you great rates. That's what I did with my Citibank card when they arbitrarily yanked my interest rate from 4.9% to 13.9% right after getting bailout money.
After a couple of aggravations, I started paying ON LINE. When I receive my statement I mark the envelope 3 days before the due date. Then I go on line (now I’ve added insurance bills) on the indicated date. Using the computer I get..
1. An on-screen receipt that I instantly PRINT OUT and staple to my statement. This ALWAYS shows the date and usually tells me an e-mail is on the way.
2. The e-mail shows up and I print out THAT also.
Now I have two printed pages from the creditor showing the amount of payment, a CONFIRMATION NUMBER, and a ,from them, generated DATE OF PAYMENT.
All it costs me is 2 pieces of printer paper. Then the payment shows up on my bank statement.
All this because a major credit card company charged a Late Fee because a horrendous snow storm delayed ALL the mail so the payment was received LATE in the day it was due, and NOT posted until the next (but LATE) day.
Takes a couple of minutes, and does save on stamps.
You just need a computer.
bttt ... the war against capitalism and credit continues.
Before you cancel out that 8-10-15 year old card think twice. It really hurts your credit score especially if you have just taken out a new card. Pay off the balance and throw the card in the draw. One method the credit agencies use to obtain your credit score is by how long you have had credit with a certain company.
Would you rather hire an employee who has worked for a prior comapny for 5-8 years or somone who changes jobs every 6 months.
About three or four times I was assessed late or other fees that I felt were unjustified. In each case, I have called the card company and they took off the charge. I have had cards with Bank One, Chase, Cap One, First USA and MBNA. Chase was the worse, IMO, and my current card, Cap One seems to treat me better than the rest, with a longer grace period, among other things.