Credit Card Company Fraud (IMHO)

[ToUtahNow]

Guys watch your credit card statements very carefully. When Brenda went to pay our Advanta Business Credit Card bill she noticed they had without warning bumped the interest rate to 29.99% from the original 2.99%. When she called to ask why she was told business trends change and to call back in 30-days so they could see what they could do. After a few minutes of the lady arguing with Brenda and refusing to put a supervisor on she handed me the phone and I requested a supervisor.

The supervisor to my surprise was actually located here and not overseas. She apologized and offer to review the tape for training purposes but that we should retain the account at 29.99%. I told her to close the account and we sent a check for payment in full.

If these Credit Card companies are going to play these kinds of games it tells me you need to closely monitor your accounts and you need to make sure to not extend yourself beyond a point where you can quickly pay them off. These outrageous interest rates eliminates any convenience gained by using the card.

Mark

[tinmack]

Heard about this happening for the last few months. Some guys got burned hard, as they had done balance transfers that were running out. They ddn't pay off the transfer in full and had to scramble elsewhere after the low rate period.

First month after the low rate ended, the rate was 28.9% instead of the 18.9% before the low rate period.

You really do pay for those air miles/points rewards after all.

Another indication of the below prime meltdown, price of oil/gas, slow down in retail sales, increase in inflation, etc. effects occurring on both sides of the border.

I think the cheap money may be drying up to. Low interest offer junk mail has really decreased within the last six months.

[DuckButter]

I have one card that I tend to use more than any other.
The balance goes as high as $7k on any given month, but I usually pay it off immediately.
I just panicked and grabbed a recent statement, my APR is lower!

ONE thing I will also warn you guys about, credit card insurance...it's usually a scam to get you to agree to increase the APR.

I get calls constantly about signing up for it, I always ask them to stop wasting my time.

If you read the fine print, the insurance payments are extremely conditional, in most situations you wouldn't be qualified if you needed it.

[NorthernIllinoisPlumber]

I noticed that if a payment is late, then they can up the rate. They are not in the business to be friendly. It pays to keep up with things.

[Bob D.]

Recently it was reported on the news that CC companies are reviewing CC holder usage and making determinations as to credit worthiness based on the type of use. They are claiming that putting gasoline and food (grocery store) charges on a CC are signs that you are in dire straights and are upping the interest rates.

[Service Guy]

I use a Visa check card (debit) issued by my bank for most purchases, or I sometimes use my Discover card to earn 'cashback'. Since I've had my discover card, I've never paid one single cent in interest, but they've paid me over $70 in cashback bonuses (usually 1% of purchases)! Make the credit card companies PAY YOU!:thumbup2:

[DuckButter]

I use a Visa check card (debit) issued by my bank for most purchases, or I sometimes use my Discover card to earn 'cashback'. Since I've had my discover card, I've never paid one single cent in interest, but they've paid me over $70 in cashback bonuses (usually 1% of purchases)! Make the credit card companies PAY YOU!:thumbup2:

Yer starting to sound like JC....:lol::lol:

[JCsPlumbing]

That almost hurt. :( Until I remembered mine payed me over $150.00. :)

By the way, ALL credit card companies have it written in their "mice type" now that they can change anything about your agreement for any reason. You do not have to be late on payments, paying the minimum etc. for them to change your rate or grace period. Also, they are all tied into the 3 major reporting agencies. If you're late on one card a flag is sent to all of your others cards and they WILL reset the default rate.

Pay off every statement. Period. Grace Periods used to get 30 days. Then they went to 25 days. Now alot have gone to 20 day cycles.

Bottom line is use it as a tool. Keep it clean, where you can find it, and check to make sure it's working correctly often. If it hurts you, get rid of it.

J.C.

[cpw]

Yer starting to sound like JC....:lol::lol:
Things like preschool on a credit card can add up quickly. I spend about 30 times as much on my credit cards than I do in cash.

[PLUMBER RICK]

a warning to anyone that uses a credit card in a foreign country.

they charge a 2% conversion fee when they process the transaction.
problem is they hide the fee into the exchange rate and most people never know it's there.

doesn't sound like much, until you start paying for expenses for 45 people traveling in your tour group.

i can tell you this. probably 5% of the people that i meet on my trips, know this. it's all in the fine print that nobody reads.

both m.c. and visa got sued with a huge class action lawsuit over this a few years back.

i actually challenged american express and won;) plus i won the $100. bet i had with my friend who said i wouldn't win:D

the first time i won, the second time they paid me for their mistake. $50. bonus for my time.

check your statement very careful anytime you travel outside the country and use your card.

rick.

[HouseOfAtlas]

I spend about 30 times as much on my credit cards than I do in cash.

I got some cash for my birthday from a couple people. I haven't seen money in so long I forgot what it looked like LOL! I usually pay everything with my Check Card.

[ToUtahNow]

We work out of town 75% of the time so we use credit cards for everything which makes it easier to track expenses. The card in question was 0.0% for the first 90-days. Then for over 5-years it was 2.99% and without reason Advanta bumped it to 29.99% based on the fact that business trends are changing (whatever that means). I'm not sure which trends they are watching but they are not watching mine. I am already at 6-figures above last years gross and I still have 4-months left in the year.

I have several cards with $25,000 limits and for the most part they are all paid to a zero balance every month. This was a lousy $8,000 limit which had around $5,000 on it. None of my other cards have adjusted my rates. When I Googled the card company I found a bunch of complaints where some people had their rates raised to 34.99%. I truly believe they are doing this for people who don't notice it or those who cannot afford to pay the balance when it happens.

[JCsPlumbing]

Absolutely true. Keep a close eye on your other cards' statements. It's not uncommon for them to automatically bump the interest rate and shorten your grace period when ANY of your cards changes. Might take a month or two. Watch them.

J.C.

[PLUMBER RICK]

a few years ago i opened a home depot charge card. you got anywhere from 6 months to 1 year free financing on purchases over $300.

great, free money for 6-12 months:D

so every month the statement would come and the first page would show nothing due.

sure enough, you had to look deeper into the 3rd. page to find that the special offer that are due.

unless you throughly read all the pages of the statement, you would have been charged a large finance charge from day 1:eek:

sure enough i was late by a couple days as i discovered that the front page was only for day to day charges and the last page was for the special offer.

i was p-offed and went to h.d. to pay off the entire card.

when i went to customer service, 3 different people including 2 managers said that nothing was due at this time:eek: my point exactly.

showed them the fine print and they were also confused at the way the bill was laid out.

h.d.corporate said customers liked the bill this way.

i said you like to print it this way to catch the customer off guard.

once again, i didn't pay any late charges or finance charges:D
but i did pay off the entire $2700. bill that night and cut up the card with their scissors:way-to-go:

rick.

[piette]

That must have been a while back Rick, as all Home depot credit cards are through chase now, and have been for a number of years as I understand it. After my home depot card gave me a bunch of crap, (which I fought and won and successfully had my credit score cleaned), I went to home depot and broke my card into pieces right at their service desk. Three people who were applying for cards at the time put down the pens and said "no thanks, obviously we don't want one of these accounts".

I won.

Funny thing is, the same cashiers still ask me to fill out a credit application every time I walk in the store.

Jeff

[PLUMBER RICK]

jeff, it's been a good 2-3 years since i cut mine into pieces at the counter too;)

rick.

[ritajones]

I noticed that if a payment is late, then they can up the rate. They are not in the business to be friendly. It pays to keep up with things.

That's true, I learned this lesson the hard way. But it did teach me to never be late on a payment again.

[ToUtahNow]

New credit card company story. I received a new statement from Citi Bank bumping my rate up to 18% from 9%. Brenda gave them a quick call this morning and they dropped it down to 7.24%. Unlike Advanta they were willing to take a realistic look at the facts.

Mark

[woodenstickers]

New credit card company story. I received a new statement from Citi Bank bumping my rate up to 18% from 9%. Brenda gave them a quick call this morning and they dropped it down to 7.24%. Unlike Advanta they were willing to take a realistic look at the facts.

Mark

Thanks for the tip Mark. I have always been a pay as I go type until a few years ago when I found out no credit is worse than bad credit. I use my card for everything now and pay off the balance in full every month, but I am going to see if they bumped my rate just in case I do need to let a balance slide for some reason some day in an emergency.

Eli

[cactusman]

Here is a different twist...
Yesterday I received a letter from Sears telling me that since I do not use my card a lot they were "lowering my credit" They dropped my limit by $5000.00!!!! I think the card
is via Citibank.

Now I have been with then before Sears bought out Roebuck! I also always paid the balance off in full.
On one hand I can still live on the $6000.00 new limit but on the other hand I wonder how this unsoclisted change in credit limit will effect my overall credit score?

I plan to chat with them later today

Cactus Man

[Bob D.]

Don't forget everyone that once a year you can get a FREE copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies by going to

https://www.annualcreditreport.com

no other site is free. The one advertised on TV (freecreditreport.com) is run by the credit reporting companies, only annualcreditreport.com will get you a free copy of your report from each of them.

You can get them all on one visit or space them out through the year like one every four months.

[cpw]

Bob,

Good point. Just remember you don't get your "score" for free, just the information that makes up your score.

[JTROANOKE]

I use a Visa check card (debit) issued by my bank for most purchases, or I sometimes use my Discover card to earn 'cashback'. Since I've had my discover card, I've never paid one single cent in interest, but they've paid me over $70 in cashback bonuses (usually 1% of purchases)! Make the credit card companies PAY YOU!:thumbup2:

I'm with you. Pay it off every month, and make them pay you. My credit card has reward points or you can get your rebate in cash. I usually take mine in the form of gift cards, as they give you more than cash - IE 10000 reward points for 100 in cash, or 8000 points for a $100 gift card to one of the Borgs. I usually manage to get 3 $100 :joyful:gift cards per year out of them as my wife and I charge almost everything. We pay it off every month so I don't even know or care what my interest rate is, as I don't pay any. To me it is a checkless check. I know I could use my debit card but they don't pay you for that! Plus I get a statement that lets me know if I need to transfer money into the checking account BEFORE I pay my bill. If both my wife and myself used debit cards instead, making sure every transaction went into the register would be a pain in the drain!

[SlimTim]

I pay as I go. I closed every credit card/ revolving charge account about 3 yrs ago. I got on the Dave Ramsey band wagon and it feels good. Lots less stress.

You may think you're getting money out of them but they will win in the end.
Just wait till they conveniently/accidentally forget to post your payment on time. (It happened to me.) You did everything right but they're in control. Then there's a $50 or more late charge and your interest rates go up and your credit is dinged and you have to spend hours on the phone explaining to a dimwit who doesn't believe you and doesn't care anyway.

No thanks. Freedom is fine.

[Devine Plumbing]

Gotta love Dave Ramsey. Finally someone who tells it like it is. If you're stupid, he's going to tell you that you're stupid. Still slowly trudging through baby step #2, but hope to have this mess cleaned up in 18 months.

[cpw]

I like what Dave Ramsey says in theory, but I have signed up for lots of debt in the last two years. I like having my cars and house more than having money in the bank; especially when the interest rates are so darn low. I do avoid credit card debt, but like others put nearly everything on it, because it makes budgeting easier (and I like getting $$$ in cash back every year). I've also paid about 50% more principle on my mortgage over the last two years than I would if i were just paying the regular payment. I know that it may not be the best financial move (why lock the money up when you can have it liquid in the back), but it makes me feel good.

[JTROANOKE]

Lots less stress.

No stress at all for me. It would be a lot more stressful wondering if all the transactions on a debit card were in the checkbook register or not!

You may think you're getting money out of them but they will win in the end.
Just wait till they conveniently/accidentally forget to post your payment on time. (It happened to me.) You did everything right but they're in control. Then there's a $50 or more late charge and your interest rates go up and your credit is dinged and you have to spend hours on the phone explaining to a dimwit who doesn't believe you and doesn't care anyway.

This has happened to me twice in 20 years. Both times, after getting a supervisor on the phone, I got the charges taken off, even when it was my fault for being one day late. Once I told them to look at the history on my account, and asked them if it was worth 50 bucks to lose my business, the problem went away! The trick is to get to a supervisor and not spend a lot of time screwing around with the clerk reading their script!

No thanks. Freedom is fine.

Jim

[SlimTim]

I'm not trying to change your way of life, just saying I lived like that for 30 yrs and I like it better now.
If I were worrying if I had enough money in the bank to cover what I'm about to buy on the debit card, I wouldn't buy it.
If I'm laid up in bed with a bad back (as has happened to most of us and one of our brethren on the forum is in that predicament now) I would rather have 6 months of expenses banked than use the cards and face 20k in debt and tell my wife to go out and get a job, quick!
Life happens HARD sometimes, and the credit card companies don't give a ff about you, your business, or your family. Only what you owe them and how long can they string you out.

But don't worry, if BHO get in, we'll all get 3 mos vacation like the French and $1000.00 to boot!

[Bob D.]

"Just wait till they conveniently/accidentally forget to post your payment on time."

That is what one CC company was caught doing, even worse they were shredding the payments as they came in w/o even opening them and then saying they never got them to make you be late so they could bump the rate up to the max. Employees testified to this in court that this is what they were told to do.

[Devine Plumbing]

It's interesting to see how people justify getting and using credit cards. Like the college student who signs up for a credit card so he can get the free t-shirt. A wise man once said, "Play with snakes, and you're going to get bit."

[JTROANOKE]

I'm not trying to change your way of life, just saying I lived like that for 30 yrs and I like it better now.
If I were worrying if I had enough money in the bank to cover what I'm about to buy on the debit card, I wouldn't buy it.
If I'm laid up in bed with a bad back (as has happened to most of us and one of our brethren on the forum is in that predicament now) I would rather have 6 months of expenses banked than use the cards and face 20k in debt and tell my wife to go out and get a job, quick!
Life happens HARD sometimes, and the credit card companies don't give a ff about you, your business, or your family. Only what you owe them and how long can they string you out.

But don't worry, if BHO get in, we'll all get 3 mos vacation like the French and $1000.00 to boot!

I'm not worried about whether or not the money is there. I am more worried about my check register not balancing with my statement as my better half is fanatical enough to spend two hours if her balancing is a nickel off! And if Momma aint happy, nobody's happy! It's just easier to make one transfer at the end of the month, and not worry about the recordkeeping. My visa record is automatically downloaded by Quicken and sorted into categories, so I can track my budgeting. I have over a year's takehome in short term (non-401k)savings, so no worry there unless the bank goes under.:eek:

[ToUtahNow]

Because of what I do I spend 75% of my time on the road. The CC make it much easier to pay for things and track costs. However, as I posted earlier don't put yourself in a situation where you can't pay it off in a heart beat if something happens.

Mark

[cpw]

It's interesting to see how people justify getting and using credit cards. Like the college student who signs up for a credit card so he can get the free t-shirt. A wise man once said, "Play with snakes, and you're going to get bit."

Credit Cards are like alcohol. They have their place, but can be abused. Some people shouldn't drink; others probably shouldn't use credit cards. Some people can drink responsibly, some people can use credit cards responsibly.

[SlimTim]

I'm surprised Dunbar hasn't weighed in,especially since Mark started the thread because of Advanta shenanigans and Dunbar's latest signature is apropo.

What about it Dunbar, are you still dancing with the devil?

[Tyman]

Here is a different twist...
Yesterday I received a letter from Sears telling me that since I do not use my card a lot they were "lowering my credit" They dropped my limit by $5000.00!!!! I think the card
is via Citibank.

Now I have been with then before Sears bought out Roebuck! I also always paid the balance off in full.
On one hand I can still live on the $6000.00 new limit but on the other hand I wonder how this unsoclisted change in credit limit will effect my overall credit score?

I plan to chat with them later today

Cactus Man


They just did the same thing to my wifes Sears card. She has used it maybe twice in two years. I hope that doesn't affect her FICO score.

[JTROANOKE]

They just did the same thing to my wifes Sears card. She has used it maybe twice in two years. I hope that doesn't affect her FICO score.
I doubt that it will hurt your fico score. Fico score is based primarily on debt/income ratio, payment history, and available credit to income. It is also based on how long term your accounts are (they prefer that you keep and use the same accounts for years) It may even help your score as having too much credit available can hurt your score, since even if your history is good the opportunity is there to screw it up. I read an article the other day that a lot of the card companies are doing this to limit their exposure, as a lot of people who lose their jobs start living off credit cards and then default. I haven't paid attention to any of my cards - the only one I use is my Visa and occasionally my Lowes card. I am probably due to pull my annual reports.

[cpw]

I doubt that it will hurt your fico score. Fico score is based primarily on debt/income ratio, payment history, and available credit to income. It is also based on how long term your accounts are (they prefer that you keep and use the same accounts for years) It may even help your score as having too much credit available can hurt your score, since even if your history is good the opportunity is there to screw it up. I read an article the other day that a lot of the card companies are doing this to limit their exposure, as a lot of people who lose their jobs start living off credit cards and then default. I haven't paid attention to any of my cards - the only one I use is my Visa and occasionally my Lowes card. I am probably due to pull my annual reports.
It can hurt your score, because part of your score is the utilization of revolving credit lines. If you reduce the total, the utilization percentage becomes higher.