Credit Card Companies are the Devil!!!

[noshenanigans]

I'm so, so pissed right now, after getting off the phone with Chase about my credit card. I called up and asked "how much do I need to give you guys so I can just close out the card today?" I just want to be done, I came into the money to do it, "here take it, now leave me alone." You know what the (Indian, by the way, that's where the call center is, naturally) lady told me? "It is company policy to not give out the payoff amount."

WTF?! They won't tell you how much you owe them? It's like the mob! I pay off everything in the balance, and then they send me another bill (with a quicker due date probably so I'll hopefully be late) for finance charges and god knows what else. They are so, so evil. I would never have gotten a card in the first place but I moved and had no job or money and got sick and had to go to the doctor with no insurance.

Now if only I can think of some satisfying way to mail them my card cut up into tiny little pieces.

I will NEVER get another credit card.

Edited to clarify because I wrote this while I was all furious- they will give you the balance amount, but they are saying to me that they will charge me whatever finance charges have accrued in the days between the statement and the payment. Now, I was under the impression that there was a Grace Period or something if you paid off the full amount, but this has apparently been changed.

[Deja Q]

1. The filthy bastards aren't even THAT responsible?

Fuck 'em.

[barb162]

2. What does your last statement say?

It will have the full payoff amount on it. Pay that amount before the due date and you're done.

[noshenanigans]

3. because Im all techno

I got the "electronic statements", and they dont seem to have that on there. Sigh. I just gave them 100 dollars extra and hoped that would cover whatever they're gonna throw at me. And hope I don't wake up with a horse's head in my bed.

[SoCalDem]

4. Usually when you call the 800 number there's an option

to get your balance..:shrug:..

[China_cat]

5. Add an extra amount to whatever it says...even if it's only a nickel.

They'll have to spend about $30 to refund it to you. Oh, make sure you cancel the card the minute you have confirmation that they are paid. If you don't, they can charge you a fee for NOT using the card.

[wryter2000]

7. WTF?

If you don't, they can charge you a fee for NOT using the card.

I never heard that one. Any card that tries that on me will get cancelled so fast their heads will spin all the way to Kuala Lumpur or wherever the "service center" is.

[China_cat]

9. They call it a service fee for keeping the card active.

You might want to check you terms of service with your card company. I'm sure you've probably received about 3 new ones in the last year.

[shanti]

15. that's what the monthly service fee is for

i pay 6.00 a month JUST TO KEEP IT OPEN, even tho i have no balance on it.

[barb162]

10. Gee, when did that start. I just throw the cards I don't use in a

drawer and forget 'em. The bastards better not try it, the service fee.

[wryter2000]

6. They are dreadful

Blood suckers, with apologies to vampires. You're probably right about the short turn-around time. I discovered one of mine is doing the double-cycle thing so I showed a 50 cent finance charge when I wasn't carrying a balance! I swear, if it had been $1 or more, I would have called and screamed at them to take it off.

Thing is, you have to have a credit card these days to do some things. If Chase has pissed you off, cancel their card. Then, get another one (although they're all bad!) and keep it in your wallet but do not use it.

[caty]

8. Find out if there is a fee for not using the card.

If there isn't, don't cancel it. Just stop using it. If you cancel it, it will cancel out part of your credit history. If you haven't made any late payments you can use that part of your credit history to your advantage.

[miss_kitty]

14. credit history of that card will stay on the CBR for years,

whether it's active or not. It will have a date of last activity attached to it-and the only diff is that it may say "Account closed at customer's request" Experion will say that, Equifax won't, And I can't remember how TU handles it.

[MissB]

11. Switch to a credit union's credit card.

[yellowdogintexas]

12. It's a revolving credit line..so you pay the total balance due

on your statement, but there will be one more statement based on the average daily balance of the current billing period. That is just the way those things work.

If your billing period closes on the 24th of the month, and your payment for the balance due arrives on the 10th of the following month, then the final (and very small, most likely) bill will be for the average daily balance (interest only) between the 25th of the previous month and the 24th of the next one. The interest will no longer accrue once the principal balance is -0-. The method for figuring this out manually is a major headache, but I had to learn it when I was training to do customer service for Home Equity Lines of Credit which are structured exactly like credit cards.



I just paid off three cards, and that is exactly how it works.

[miss_kitty]

13. Also when they send promo shit in the future to get a new card

use their post paid envelope to burn them again. Stuff as much junk mail and crap in there as you can-I've taped them shut in the past. Make sure you note you are not intested in receiving communication from them again.

And DO over pay by a little, then request a credit balance refund as someone else suggested.

You know what these bloodsuckers call people who pay in full every month? Deadbeats. That's right. Deadbeats. Because they make no money off of them. They want you to miss a payment anywhere in your credit life so they can jack up the interest rates on their card. And the working poor are most punished by this system. :grr: