Most credit card companies don't "change the terms" after you are already in debt -- the terms of their lending agreement specifically allow them to do these things, which is why you should always read the fine print on every piece of paper you get from your banks and credit card companies.
If you are carrying a balance on a low-interest credit card, you should ALWAYS be prepared to deal with a potential scenario where your credit card company raises your interest rate to about a bazillion percent on short notice. If you can't address this situation, then you shouldn't have an open line of credit in the first place.
No you are wrong. If you make a late payment the credit card company will sell your account to another company that will change the terms on you.
I never once signed an agreement that allowed interest rates to go above 20% even if I was in default. But when I did get in trouble they all shot up to 27%, even though I had only been late a couple of times and only on one card.
When I was a college student, every classroom was plastered with credit card offers. Now I hear that a lot of high schools are filled with credit card ads. I’m sorry, but 95% of young adults have no financial savvy and little common sense. They see their friend’s new iPod, want to impress their date with a nice dinner, see that rich jerk’s nice clothes and they charge away. “But so what,” the college freshman thinks, “I’ll be rich when I graduate! I’ll pay off all these student loans too.” Yeah right. He doesn’t even know how to balance a checkbook.
Is it this guy’s fault for being in debt? Sure, we’re all responsible for our actions. It’s also his fault for not reading the fine print, not understanding that he won’t be “rich” upon graduation, and not spending his Friday nights poring over Byzantine financial disclaimers in five-point type. But he’s a dumb kid, the card companies know it and prey on him accordingly. They want him in debt slavery to them for the rest of his life.
As I mentioned before, these companies are changing the rules in the middle of the game. Just like the Dems try to do every election. That is wrong and I’m disgusted that the party to which I gave money is doing the dirty work.