Jump to content

OT: Anyone else getting hosed by Credit Card Comapanies?


ace168516

Recommended Posts

I wrote a little rant awhile back about the state of the economy and investments...in all fairness, I have weathered the storm fairly well up to this point. In the last few months, I was slammed by Bank of America...from 11.99% to 29.99% without ever missing a payment or having a late payment in 11 years. That throws a little kink in the budget...so I pull the cash out of equity and pay off the card...too bad that cash was meant for finishing my basement in my house that needs to be done as my son is starting to crawl and walk and to be honest the oak hardwood on the entire upper level is not really condusive to falls or learning such things.

Fast forward to today...get a letter from Chase...who is also my mortgage holder and have a credit line with...again, no missed or late payments in last 6 years...but a smaller balance that I locked at 3.99% for the life of the balance transfer. Since the new credit laws restrict them from raising my rates now, they decide to raise my minimum payment from 2% to 5%, so they can increase their cashflow and probably hope I default so they can raise my rate to 30% as well. I really can't refi again until my house is finished, because the cost of the fees would pretty much negate any positive financial gains, so I guess I am going to have to either swollow this one, or open a line elsewhere since I just paid off 1/2 my debt so another company can hose me with rates in a few months.

I am sure this is happening to millions of people, but it just irks me that I already pay them a good amount of money on my balances and I am holding up my end of the agreement, but their stupid lenders decided to make a bunch a bad decisions, so they change the terms on me. Grrrrrrr. I hate credit card companies!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 59
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

My father used to work in Las Vegas,,, He gave me some sage advice.... Son,,,You can get better finance rates with the MAFIA than any credit card company..... BUT dont miss any payments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Banks are the awful quintessence of greed!

No doubt it won't do a bit of immediate good, but angry correspondence with your senator and congressperson should add to the pile and make them think further about trying to do something about it. It sounds like the banks are trying to react to problems from new laws by "showing" them and us how we can't beat up on them without penalty. They really need to be slapped around

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chase tried to do this about 6 months ago but had to back down because they got too greedy. They not only raised the minimum payment to 5% of balance but added a monthly service charge. The class action suits started immediately. This time, looks like they are giving it a shot without the service charge.

What they want is to get out of all the promotions that worked so well for them before, where they encouraged people to transfer large balances to them at a fixed rate until the balance was paid off. Now they want that balance paid off quicker so they can loan that money out at higher rates.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most banks up here offer several different cards with different features and interest rates, and they'll switch you from one to another if you request it. I rarely use my card with the 12% rate, preferring to use the minimum-feature card from another bank with the 5.25% rate. That one has no minimum payment, so they're probably hoping I'll skip the occasional payment and run up more interest. Not likely!

Both banks have tried some minor tricks, like moving the due date closer to the statement date, meaning I have only a week or so to pay, unlike the three weeks I used to have. When I called up to ask about it, they offered to move both dates, but the gap would have been about the same, so now I just try to pay the bill within a day or two of receiving it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you already refinanced the home you should have cleared out all of your revolving debt. Your mortgage contract is clearly spelled out and cannot be altered. The interest paid on the primary home mortgage is tax deductible unlike any revolving debt interest. Your income qualified with the debt payment so it would have qualified if that debt were relieved. The reasons not to have done a complete debt consolidation would have been if there was not enough equity in the property to cover the debt or if you seriously expected a cash windfall from another source. Personally I carry no debt beyond my mortgage which I now have at 4.625% fixed for 30 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, haven't had any issues with ours. We pay off the balance every month. I have never considered to pay only the minimum payment. I guess that is what credit unions and banks are for: they lend people money, with no changes in payments and a fixed rate for the life of the loan.

I don't know if you ever watch the Suze Orman show, but there are thousands of people who are in CC debt and can't do the math.

Now, please tell us all that you have at least a 9 month cash emergency fund?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just got a bunch of goddies from my cabelas points since I will be getting rid of their cards. (got notice of rate change)

Turning unsecured dept into secured dept isn't always a good thing, they can't take your house for failure to pay a CC.

I was recently looking for a refi, but the fees were really bad on an 80k loan so I went to an equity loan instead, not sure if it would work for you but penfed.org Pentagon credit union still has a no fee (save appraisal) 4.99 fixed.

need a family member in or ex military, or join a booster club of some sort (one time $20 fee)

Hope this helps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree, credit cards should be used for thier 30 day (although my last one reduced it from 30 to 25 and then to 20 day billing cycle after years of not getting any interest from me) float and pay the full balance off. Of course they will then decrease your billing cycle, at that point I basically cancelled my card. The rewards stunk and I don't use it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be honest with you Ace that CC co. did you a favor. You were already getting hosed by the original monthy interest rate. They now have forced you to pay up.

On the equity line: Buck up and get it paid. If you cannot pay for it then and there, do not buy it.

If you need extra money, sell some things on Ebay that you are not using or have a yard sale for big items

What I do: Buy everything on CCs. Yes its true. The key is I pay them off in full every month. Now here is the cool part. They pay ME to use the cards.

Shell Citicard pays 5% on all Shell gas purchases and 1% on everything else. I got $34 on this months statement to give you an idea. You can multiply that times 12 to see a potential for earning. If I need tires, I find my best price and use the card. If I pay $500 for tires, then $5 goes back to me for using it.

Some Chase cards pay 1% on everything too.

Do not use CCs as a way to borrow long term. Its a total ripoff! Instead, do it the old fashioned way. Save up for what you need or want first then purchase! Think of all the money you will save.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed, as to the statement about not using a home loan to consolidate unsecured debt. It almost never works. A propensity to borrow in order to pay off a debt remains a propensity to borrow. The best thing a person could do is not borrow any more and just suck it up and start paying off the debt.

Frankly, I would find a way to pay off the 11.99% credit line (or whatever rate it was stated to be) before undertaking the basement re-finish. By not doing it in that order, basically, what you are doing is allowing yourself to take out an 11.99% mortgage. Of course, you are not buying a house at 11.88%; you are just buying part of a house at 11.99%.

Nobody in their right minds would accept an 11.99% mortgage, yet when it comes to smaller debts, they don't mind the 11.99%. It makes no sense. A debt is a debt, and if it is too high for a mortgage, it's too high. So, pay it off. The good part is then, you won't have a relationship with a credit card company that can put the screws to you and drive you to the point of entering rant mode.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with the don't carry a balance thing, I use my card for everything and used to get points, I am switching to a card the pays 5% on gas and groceries, and 1% on everything else.

I might carry a balance 1 time in a year, I'm getting rid of the cabelas cards, more as a matter of principle (raise my rate) NOT!

Of course I do take large cash advances at 0% 12 mo. no fee any time they offer!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be honest with you Ace that CC co. did you a favor. You were already getting hosed by the original monthy interest rate. They now have forced you to pay up.

On the equity line: Buck up and get it paid. If you cannot pay for it then and there, do not buy it.

If you need extra money, sell some things on Ebay that you are not using or have a yard sale for big items

What I do: Buy everything on CCs. Yes its true. The key is I pay them off in full every month. Now here is the cool part. They pay ME to use the cards.

Shell Citicard pays 5% on all Shell gas purchases and 1% on everything else. I got $34 on this months statement to give you an idea. You can multiply that times 12 to see a potential for earning. If I need tires, I find my best price and use the card. If I pay $500 for tires, then $5 goes back to me for using it.

Some Chase cards pay 1% on everything too.

Do not use CCs as a way to borrow long term. Its a total ripoff! Instead, do it the old fashioned way. Save up for what you need or want first then purchase! Think of all the money you will save.

I did that, as well. Well, I still do. But I am getting tired of that, too. For the right person, it makes sense, but what is aggravating is if you are not the right person. Sometimes, I am not in the mood to sit down and write checks, so I put the process off until close to the due date. Now, if I forget during that time period (which has happened a couple of times), I am late and get tagged with a nice finance charge, plus a nice late fee. It is designed to rip-off the unwary or the lazy. In my case, it's the latter, and I have paid for it.

I am thinking I am not the right person to take full advantage and would rather just simplify to fit my lifestyle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have not carried a CC balance in about two years, but carried a $1000-$2000 balance for a few years before that.

Last year they reduced the grace period, in other words, by the time I get the bill in the mail and mail it back, there's no way to avoid an interest payment.

So my wife started paying with "check by phone".

About 4-5 months ago we got another letter in the mail. This time saying "your rate has gone from 11.99% to 14.99% and don't bother calling because we aren't going to lower it. Oh, and by the way we're going to start charging a $10 fee if you use check by phone."

I have words that I can't say in this forum and my wife deson't let me use them anyway.

If the 3% fee they tack on to everything I buy isn't enough for their greed, then they'll get nothing from me, I'll use cash.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes. These various comments remind me of a practice that I am growing to dislike more and more, so I'll go a little further off-topic.

I can't stand the fact that for so many services, you must sign up for a 1-year period (or longer). It almost never seems to fail, that if they fail to deliver what they promise, then you play he77 trying to deal with it, and if you get flustered because they can't fix it, then you can terminate, but not in their minds. They will hound you, make reports on your credit, and call and call.

I am of the opinion that long-term service contracts with these major companies are a bad idea. The only problem is they are, for the most part, unavoidable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah--i got hosed by american express. i had a $25,000 limit and basically lived off the card for four months while remodeling the house. doing the work ourselves with help of friends & family, so providing them lunch and dinner while they were helping got to be very expensive during that time. also, took a 2 week cruise to hawaii and used the card to pay the fare. Ended up getting the balance to $19K and change. long story short, all is well until one day i get a letter from them saying that they were lowering my limit and by the way--you're over your new limit, so you also owe an over the limit penalty. to make matters worse, they also said since i was over my limit, they were increasing my interest rate.
well, shortly thereafter i get dumped by the wife, the house goes into foreclosure and i continue making monthly payments to AMEX--not sending chump change either...payments ranging from 400-750 each month--never missed a month. although with all of their fees they wanted more. I figured that making substantial payments each month would keep them at bay until I recovered--no way. They sent me to a collection agency and now they don't get any money from me. probably not wise on my part; but, i showed a good faith effort to pay. Now, they will wait until i get my settlement from getting ran over by a truck and i'll pay off the balance--until then, their calls and letters will go unanswered--and I'll never do business with them again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stew,

I have heard stories recently about CC companys accepting a "cash offer" since they have or will have screwed your credit by then, when your money comes thru you should call them and offer 30% or so. Can't hurt to ask.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...