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OT: Anyone else getting hosed by Credit Card Comapanies?


ace168516

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I'm not saying anything good or bad about it. It's just businesses seeing possible restriction in the future, so they're raising rates while they can, just in case.


Sorta like a pickpocket getting a last few wallets before the cop makes it onto this end of the street?

I can't really disagree, but it's just human nature I guess.

If you hear there's going to be a ban or restriction on a product you like - you're going to stock up.

If you hear the rates you charge are likely to be restricted in the future, you'll go ahead and raise them before the restriction kicks in.

Imagine the run on Klipsch speakers if we found out they were going out of business or would be restricted to only selling small bookshelf speakers made in Malaysia - by Bose? [+o(] ... [;)] The going price for Heritage, Reference, etc. would go through the roof.

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There's a big difference. Buying speakers is a good and not dishonourable thing, unlike gouging consumers, some of whom actually need the items they're borrowing money to buy.

Unfortunately, opportunism of all sorts is human nature.

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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.

This is why I don't have cable, dish, cell phone, etc.

I'll pay for the box I want, the dish I want, the phone I want, you bill me for what I use, and I'll send you a check. Don't like my terms? Fine you won't get my business.

Actually my wife has a cell phone. Net10. $0.10/min anywhere, any time, minutes roll over when you buy more minutes. $15/month and never a problem. All I have to do to cancel is not buy more minutes. Exactly the way it should be.

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This is a great time to buy a house. I'd say, get the smallest (lowest priced) one you can squeeze down into, put the most money down you possibly can, and get the shortest possible mortgage you can afford - 15 years preferably. Then pay it off as fast as you can making extra principle payments each month. It's not all that hard to have it paid for in 10 years.


That's great advice in nearly any market condition. Pity so few people do it.
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Yeah, you'd be surprised at how unloading your money on crap periodically seems to get in the way of this goal. Once, we started paying extra, it was easier and easier to pay more and more. I, too, highly recommend getting a 15-year. The differential in monthly payment is nominal - provided you don't over-buy in the first place. I agree with Mark's 10 year assessment. We did it in 7. That's what enabled me to blow so much time around here.

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I'm a total capitalist pig but I have to admit that the CC companies are pushing the limits. I'm fair in my business transactions and I expect the same from the people I do business with. It's clear that the CC companies are not treating their customers fairly. I still use a CC but I view my CC company as a hostle business environment and make sure I protect myself. If anything changes, fees, interest or grace periods (not that I use any of that) I'm dumping the card completely. I only use it because it's easy so as soon as they add any complication to that I'm gone, for good.

Thanx, Russ

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"It seems that in the US you have two choices, 15-year or 30-year, that's it."

As mdeneen and others have mentioned, just as with a credit card, as it is with a mortgage - you are not restricted to just making the minumum payment. You can shorten the mortgage period by making principle payments over and above the minimum.The sacrifice is worth it - you pay off the house sooner and
not only save hundreds of thousands of dollars, but
looking forward, you no longer have yet another 20 years or so of house
payments in front of you!

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Glad I saw this thread because it reminded me to cash in my points before my card co. decided to cancel the program. I now have a $300 check on the way. With the new CC laws coming, the CC companies are going to hose people who carry balances. Also, your float period might be shortened even if you pay off your card every month so make sure to READ ALL FINE PRINT from now on and check the inserts when you get your bill!!!!

Before we sold our CC portfolio back in '98, a bunch of us would sit in a conference room and figure out the most profitable way to screw our customers. I did many analyses to figure out who the most profitable customers were and how to best rape their bank accounts. The best customers were (and still are) those middle of the road FICO score folks who keep a high balance and make the minimum payments. That's why it pays to read the fine print. We moved our headquarters from MD to VA because they had fewer restrictions on fees and interest rates. When a customer was late just once, we put them in the "penalty box" and jacked up their rate to around 30%. On occasion, the accrued interest would put a customer over their credit limit and we would charge them a $35 overlimit fee. You have no idea how many people don't even notice. The ones who did would usually call to complain and we would reverse the charge. ALWAYS CALL TO COMPLAIN. Unless customer service has explicit instructions to do otherwise, you will almost always get a fee reversed or be able to negotiate a lower interest rate at least once. If you do it all the time, they'll know you have no other option and probably tell you very nicely to go jump in a lake.

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I would strongly suggest that anyone who wants to, or needs to, have a credit card join a Credit Union. All you need is a close relative that belongs and you are in. In other words about 99% of the population qualifies.

Interest rates on cards are significantly cheaper, and you can almost always get a better rate on car loans etc. and marginally better interest rates on cd's, savings accounts etc.

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